The Super Bowl is almost here, and as the playoffs have come and gone, the long forgotten Miami Dolphins and their bullying scandal have receded into the back of most NFL fans' minds. Miami offensive lineman Jonathan Martin is back in the headlines though, after granting an interview to Tony Dungy on NBC where he discussed his mental state and what caused him to ditch an NFL gig.
"I'm a grown man. I've been in locker rooms," Martin said of the hazing he endured. "One incident doesn't bother me. It was the persistence. I felt trapped, like I didn't have a way to make it right. I thought it was best to remove myself from the situation."
Offensive linemen are often anonymous to the casual fans because their work in the trenches doesn't lend itself well to statistics. In fact, most interior lineman are only noticed when their teams' rushing games are putrid, or they're allowing sacks. Still, Martin was a high-profile player to the organization as a second round draft choice out of Stanford.
High expectations tend to accompany a high draft slot, so his decision to up and leave in the middle of a season made waves. He claims he left because of repeated and vicious bullying that went beyond typical locker room hijinks.
"I have no problem with the normal hazing that you see in the NFL, get a haircut, stuff like that, little pranks," Martin said. "But of a personal, attacking nature, I don't think there's any place for that."
As the story exploded hateful and racist texts and voicemails were released to the media that painted fellow lineman Richie Incognito in an ugly light. One transcribed voicemail reads as follows, as reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter.
"Hey, wassup, you half n----- piece of (expletive)...," Incognito said. He continued on, saying he wanted to release his body waste into Martin's mouth. "I saw you on Twitter, you been training ten weeks. (I want to) (expletive) in your (expl) mouth...."
The findings of the investigation led by attorney Ted Wells is expected to come shortly after the Super Bowl, and neither Martin nor Incognito is expected to return to the Dolphins. "I don't believe so," was team president Stephen Ross' response when asked if the two men will wear Dolphins uniforms again.
He softened his stance a bit later on, but the implications remain clear. "Well, I can't say that. Therefore, I retract that," Ross said. "One [Incognito] is a free agent, by the way; the other is on our roster."
He also said he's aware of most of Wells' findings, and won't be caught off guard once they become public. "I have an idea what's in it," Ross said. "I have been in communication with the NFL and spoken with Ted Wells, who is handling the investigation. I haven't seen the report. I don't know exactly its conclusions.
"Let's put it this way, I don't want to really speculate. When it comes out, we will do what has to be done. But in my mind, I know what has to be done. Stay tuned."
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