The 2013 NFL season is over, but that doesn't mean there is no news to report. I have
commented a few times on the Jonathan Martin/Richie Incognito case, in which
the latter was accused of systematic abusive language and behavior against the
former while they both played for the Miami Dolphins, eventually causing Martin
to leave the team. Incognito was suspended by the Dolphins while the NFL
conducted an investigation into the affair. While some decried the “need” for the
juvenile level of abuse bestowed on younger players by veterans, most NFL
commentators sympathized with Incognito, suggesting that Martin had a thin skin
and perhaps had maturity issues. Some former players even suggested that Martin
was a “snitch” who should have kept the issue “in-house.”
My own feeling
is that the behavior of Incognito—an apparent problem since at least his high
school playing days—was reflective of emotional and behavioral immaturity that
could be seen as abusive by certain individuals. The Wells’ report gives one the suggestion
that an important reason why Martin (who is black) was targeted for excessive abuse by Incognito (who is white) and at
least two other offensive line teammates (Mike Pouncey and John Jerry, both
black) was not actually because he was a rookie and then a second-year player, but
because he did “sissy” things, like read books. One suspects that because in
conjunction with Martin’s Stanford education, a few of his teammates likely
believed he was trying to put himself on another social “level,” and he needed
to be taken down a peg or two and “be like them.”
According to
the report, "being like them" meant engaging in coarse and disgusting language,
which Martin told his mother and others felt demeaning and uncomfortable. Since
his suspension, Incognito has been claiming that he was “friends” with Martin,
and that all of his charges are a smear; for his part, Martin claims that the only
reason he tried to befriend Incognito—or pretended to—was to stop the persistent harassment;
try as he might, it didn’t stop. It also appears that at least one other player
and an assistant trainer who is Japanese were also the targets of abusive language,
and it was charged that offensive line coach Jim Turner and trainer Kevin
O’Neill knew of and even encouraged the abuse; Turner even gave the second player a male "doll" to "play" with. Both have been fired in the wake
of the report.
Martin was
referred to as the shortened name “Jmart,” but also “Big Weirdo” because he was “quiet” and seemed
to prefer “intellectual” pastimes that Incognito and others found “offensive”
and Martin needed to be “broken” from these habits. Here are some excerpts from the
Wells’ report that have not appeared in the newscasts; that there is language that is graphic and offensive shouldn't surprise:
When we interviewed him, Martin said he was most
offended by persistent vulgar references to members of his family, with whom he
is close. According to Martin, these were not harmless one-off “yo mama” jokes,
but cutting comments delivered with the intention to demean. The evidence
supports a finding that Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey repeatedly and
persistently made graphic, sexually explicit comments about Martin’s sister, a
medical student whom they had never met. Four fairly typical examples of the
types of insults made orally, according to Martin, are:
We are going to run train on your sister. She loves
me. I’m going to fuck her without a condom and cum in her cunt.
Hey, Jmart’s sister is in town. Get the plastic sheets
ready, she’s a squirter.
I’m going to bang the shit out of her and spit on her
and treat her like shit.
Hear your sister has a wolf-puss. A fat, hairy pussy.
(In his second season with the Dolphins, Martin received
this “message” as a “greeting” from Incognito) Hey, wassup, you
half-nigger piece of shit. I saw you on Twitter, you been training 10 weeks.
I’ll shit in your fuckin’ mouth. I’m gonna slap your fuckin’ mouth, I’m gonna
slap your real mother across the face [laughter]. Fuck you, you’re still a
rookie. I’ll kill you.
Martin was appalled by
this message. He said that Incognito had never before called him a “nigger.”
And although Martin did not regard statements such as “I’ll kill you” as
literal threats, the voicemail further distressed him because he feared that it
signaled that the abuse he had endured during his rookie season would continue
during his second season. According to Martin, a few weeks later, prior to a
dinner at a Fort Lauderdale restaurant, Incognito addressed him in a text
message as “shine box,” which Martin felt was a derogatory term, and he
responded with a message complaining about Incognito’s “racist shit.” At the
dinner, Martin claimed, Incognito made additional offensive racial comments to
him (although he said he laughed them off at the time). The comments, Martin
said, included jokes about slavery, and he claimed that Incognito called him a
“nigger” to his face at the restaurant. Incognito also insulted Martin in
person and in text messages with other racially charged language, including
referring to Martin as a “liberal mulatto bitch,” “stinky Pakistani,” “shine
box” and “darkness.”
In the 2013 season,
Incognito began openly, at various times, to refer to Martin in the locker room
and on the practice field as “my bitch” or the “O-line’s bitch.” Martin was
insulted to be called another player’s bitch, and he believed that Incognito
was invoking terminology commonly used in prisons to refer to an inmate who is
under the control and protection of a dominant inmate. In one instance, Martin
claimed Incognito came to his defense in a fight with a defensive lineman in a
scrimmage, but then immediately following the altercation began to say to
Martin in a demeaning tone, both on the field and in the locker
room, in the presence of other teammates, “you’re my bitch.”
The “you’re my bitch” comments added to name-calling
that had begun in 2012, Martin’s rookie season, when Incognito, Jerry and
Pouncey began regularly calling Martin a “cunt,” a “bitch,” a “pussy” and a
“faggot.” Martin was not surprised to hear these words used by football
players, but believed they were frequently hurled at him with demeaning intent.
The evidence shows that these words—at least at times—were spoken to Martin in
a cutting tone or with the intent to humiliate him. According to Martin, these
types of taunts were a routine part of his life with the Dolphins.
For the most part, Incognito does not dispute saying
or writing any of the statements that Martin claimed offended him. Further,
Incognito admitted that at times the very purpose of the verbal taunts was to
“get under the skin” of another person. From Incognito’s perspective, however,
the statements in question were an accepted part of the everyday camaraderie of
the Dolphins tight-knit offensive line. Incognito told us that Martin (and
other offensive linemen) all recognized, accepted and, indeed, actively
participated in “go-for-the-jugular” teasing, and that vulgarity and graphic
sexual comments were not only a staple of their locker-room culture but also
helped them bond. In contrast, Jerry downplayed his role in making vulgar
comments about Martin’s family, and Pouncey denied making or hearing any such
remarks. We do not find Jerry and Pouncey credible on these points, largely
because both Martin and Incognito, plus other witnesses, agree that these words
were in fact said to Martin.
Ultimately, there is
little question that Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey persistently made insulting
and derogatory comments about Martin and his family members.
Nor is there any dispute that Incognito called Martin a “nigger,” his “bitch”
or a “stinky Pakistani.” As set forth in the next finding, the evidence shows
that Martin was humiliated by these insults and was not a willing participant
in the verbal taunting.
On April 22, 2013, Martin wrote to his mother:
I figured out a major source of my anxiety. I’m a push
over, a people pleaser. I avoid confrontation whenever I can, I always want
everyone to like me. I let people talk about me, say anything to my face, and I
just take it, laugh it off, even when I know they are intentionally trying to
disrespect me. I mostly blame the soft schools I went to, which fostered within
me a feeling that I’m a huge pussy, as I never got into fights. I used to get
verbally bullied every day in middle school and high school, by kids that are
half my size. I would never fight back, just get sad & feel like no one
wanted to be my friend, when in fact I was just being socially awkward. Most
people in that situation are witty & quick with sarcastic replies, I never
have been. I’m awkward around people a lot of the time because I simply don’t
know how to act around them . . .
We found that the
Assistant Trainer, who was born in Japan, was the target of frequent and
persistent harassment, including insults relating to his race and national
origin. Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey admitted that they directed racially
derogatory words toward him, including “Jap” and “Chinaman.” At times,
according to Martin, they referred to the Assistant Trainer as a “dirty
communist” or a “North Korean,” made demands such as “give me some water you
fucking chink,” spoke to him in a phony, mocking Asian accent, including asking
for “rubby rubby sucky sucky,” and called his mother a “rub and tug masseuse.”
Martin and others informed us that Incognito and Jerry taunted the Assistant
Trainer with jokes about having sex with his girlfriend. Incognito admitted
that these types of comments were made to the Assistant Trainer.
On December 7, 2012,
the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Incognito, Jerry and
Pouncey donned traditional Japanese headbands that featured a rising sun emblem
(which the Assistant Trainer had given them) and jokingly threatened to harm the
Assistant Trainer physically in retaliation for the Pearl Harbor attack.
According to Martin, the Assistant Trainer confided in him that he was upset
about the Pearl Harbor comments, finding them derogatory toward his heritage.
Martin and another
player we interviewed both believed that the Assistant Trainer awkwardly
laughed along with some of the racial insults, even though he was in fact
offended. And both players seemed offended by the flagrant racial harassment of
the Assistant Trainer. In a text message sent on November 4, 2013, Martin told
a friend: “I always felt so bad for [the Assistant Trainer] . . . it was really
racist.” Martin claims that a number of Dolphins employees saw how the
Assistant Trainer was humiliated but did not intervene, including his
supervisor, head trainer Kevin O’Neill, who allegedly even laughed at some of
the racial insults. As far as we know, none of the players, including Martin,
confronted Incognito, Jerry or Pouncey about the racist comments directed at
the Assistant Trainer or demanded that they cease.
When interviewed about
these matters, the Assistant Trainer initially pleaded that he not be required
to answer certain questions, implying that he could not be forthright because
he was concerned about losing the trust of the players. The Assistant Trainer
further claimed that Incognito was his friend and asserted that Incognito had
never offended him. He told us that he could not recall if Incognito had called
him a “Chinaman” or a “Jap,” and refused to answer the question whether
Incognito had said anything about his girlfriend, saying that the inquiry made
him “very uncomfortable.”
We did not find the
Assistant Trainer’s denials believable. Notably, hours after Martin left the
team on October 28, the Assistant Trainer sent him a text message indicating
that he had indeed been personally offended by the insults directed at him by
Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey: “Hey JM I understand how [y]ou feel man… They are
relentless sometime…. Some day I wanna do exactly what you did today.”
(emphasis added and ellipses in original). The ceaseless racial ridicule
directed at the Assistant Trainer was appalling and plainly over the line in
any workplace.
But the issue of whether Incognito’s ultimate
motivation for his persistent harassment of Martin was in part racial animus is
complicated by the fact that John Jerry (who is black) and Mike Pouncey (who is
bi-racial) often joined Incognito in the abusive behavior. Presumably, they
would not have followed Incognito’s lead if they thought he had selected Martin
for abuse out of racial animus. It also is significant that Incognito, Jerry
and Pouncey subjected a number of other linemen to harsh treatment. Most are
black, but at least one is white (Nate Garner). Indeed, many players thought
Garner was treated the worst. This suggests that Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey
were equal-opportunity harassers. Further complicating this issue are reports
(from both Incognito and Martin) that Jerry and Pouncey on occasion accused
Martin of not acting “black enough”—statements that seem to reflect a
problematic attitude toward racial identity and socio-economic differences and
that reinforce crude racial stereotypes (although they do not seem to
demonstrate racial animus).
Finally, when considering racial animus, certain of
Incognito’s text messages that do not relate directly to Martin are relevant to
assessing his racial attitudes. Specifically, on December 13, 2012, Incognito
and a former Dolphins offensive lineman, who is white, communicated about purchasing
guns, apparently for recreational purposes. (We identify this former Dolphin as
Player B.) The discussion veered into jokes about shooting black people:
Player B: Fuck yea! That what I’m doin my .338 in.
Badass
Incognito: That’s gonna be sick
Player B: Especially if u plan living in Arizona in
the future, that’s exactly what you want
Incognito: Yea. For picking off zombies 32
Player B: Lol isn’t
that why we own any weapons!?
Incognito: That and black people
Player B: Mmm def all black ppl
Four days later, Incognito and Player B discussed
rifle scopes in text messages.
Player B: Yes. That’s a solid optic made specifically
for a .308 battle rifle
Incognito: Perfect for shooting black people
Player B: Lol exactly
Player B: Or Jeff Ireland
We accept that these messages are nothing more than
thoughtless banter, with no underlying malicious intent. But such jokes are
nonetheless reprehensible and arguably reflect deep-seated racial hostility.
In sum, while there is no question that Incognito made
offensive racial comments to Martin and others, and displayed a troubling
insensitivity to racial issues in general, the evidence is sufficiently muddled
and conflicting that we decline to make a finding on whether Incognito’s
conduct toward Martin, considered in full, was necessarily motivated by racial
animus.
Incognito told us that he and other
offensive linemen routinely speculated, albeit in jest, about which of their
teammates would “break first” in response to taunting, and notations in the
fine book substantiate this. One lineman, Nate Garner, was subjected to so much
derision that a joke developed that Garner, who owned several guns, might
“break” by coming to the Dolphins facility and shooting everyone. On September
30, 2013, for example, Incognito wrote a text message to a former teammate in
which he stated: “Nate is on the verge of killing us all.” When asked to
elaborate, Incognito explained: “Since we cut [another player] we have been non
stop on nate. Even turner is in on it. He looks like he’s about to cry 24/7.”
Martin traced the onset
of what he considered to be verbal harassment to around the first game of the
2012 season, when, according to Martin, John Jerry began to call him a “bitch”
repeatedly, in what Martin said was a disrespectful and demeaning tone. Martin
reported that at one point, Jerry dared him to “say something back,” and soon
after he did not, the insults escalated, with Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey
routinely calling him a “bitch” as well as a “faggot,” a “cunt” and a “pussy.”
Martin said that, in keeping with his reserved nature, he generally was
reluctant to respond aggressively to the name-calling, and he believes that his
failure to respond encouraged his teammates to intensify their verbal attacks.
Martin acknowledged that profanity is often thrown
around casually by college and professional football players. He said he was
not surprised or bothered to hear vulgar words directed at him from time to
time. In his view, however, Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey repeatedly and
frequently hurled profanity at him, and not in a joking manner, but in a
demeaning tone, a view the evidence supports.
At some point early in the 2012 season, in September
or October, Martin mentioned his sister in a conversation with other offensive
linemen. Martin’s sister is a medical student; none of the linemen has met her
in person.
According to Martin, after learning that he had a
sister, Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey started making repeated graphic sexual
remarks about her. Typical insults, Martin reported, were along the lines of
the following statements:
We are going to run train on your sister. She loves
me. I’m going to fuck her without a condom and cum in her cunt.
Hey, Jmart’s sister is in town. Get the plastic sheets
ready, she’s a squirter.
I’m going to bang the shit out of her and spit on her
and treat her like shit.
Hear your sister has a wolf-puss. A fat, hairy pussy.
Martin informed us that
his initial reaction to these insults was to object, saying things like, “stop
it – that’s disgusting,” or “that’s gross,” but that these tepid responses
merely emboldened Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey. On occasion, by Martin’s
account, he responded by saying, “fuck you,” to which a teammate might respond,
“I’m still going to fuck your sister.” Once, upon hearing vulgar comments about
his sister while waiting for an offensive unit meeting to begin, he says that
he threatened “to start swinging in 30 seconds” if the comments did not stop,
but his threat was not taken seriously, and the comments stopped only because
coaches arrived and the meeting began. Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey said they
did not recall hearing Martin issue this challenge, but another player recalled
that on several occasions Martin told them to stop and threatened to start
swinging.
Martin also recalled
that the comments about his sister were sometimes accompanied by obscene
physical gestures. For example, he claimed that on the practice field,
Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey would call his sister a “squirter” and then squirt
water onto the field from their water bottles, and that while engaged in
certain warm-up stretching exercises, they would simulate having sex with his
sister. Incognito confirmed these allegations.
Although the vulgar comments about Martin’s sister
were most often made orally, a few appear in text messages we reviewed. For
example, on September 14, 2013, the following text message exchange took place
among members of the offensive line:
Incognito: J mart. Ur such a fucking nerd. THAT’S A
FINE
Pouncey: He’s salty about his fines!
Incognito: I would be too if I smelled like a camels
dick
Pouncey: Lol
Jerry: Bap Bap
Martin: You know what a camel dick smells like?
Pouncey: Lol sensitivity fine!
Incognito: No Ur mother told me in vivid detail tho
Pouncey: Lmao!
Clabo: Mom jokes!
Incognito: Bap bap
Jerry: Chill Bro Chill!!!!!!
Incognito: I flew jmarts sister into Indy. My dick is
dry and needs some of her healing squirt juices
Jerry: Wow I want in
Pouncey: I will pay
Martin: Ohh SICK BURN you guys are so original. . .
Not
Clabo: I just wanna watch
[photo omitted]
Pouncey: Lol we are going to fuck u up
[photo omitted]
Incognito: Caught red handed
Pouncey: Clabo you’re a perv
[photo omitted]
Incognito: Clabo can watch We need someone to
videotape
Martin said that he had hoped that his teammates would stop insulting
him during his second year, as he was no longer a rookie. But, as the 2013
season began, he contends, the vulgar and demeaning comments showed no sign of
letting up, and in fact got worse in three respects.
Martin related that one
day when he showed up to practice one day without showering, Incognito began
calling him a “smelly,” “dirty” or “stinky” “Pakistani.” Martin said that
Incognito’s teasing about body odor continued, even when he was wearing heavy
deodorant, and that it bothered him significantly, particularly because it had
a racial element.
Incognito interpreted the incident on the practice
field in precisely the opposite way, citing it as an example of how he cared
and looked out for Martin. Incognito did not deny calling Martin his “bitch” or
a “stinky Pakistani,” but claimed, about such language generally, that this was
good-natured fun that Martin understood and accepted as such.
After Martin left the team,
Incognito exchanged the following text messages with
Pouncey:
Incognito: Fuck Jmart That faggot is never [allowed]
back
Pouncey: Bro I said the same thing I can’t even look
at him the same he’s a pussy
Incognito: My agent just asked if we held mandatory
strip club meetings Jmart is fucking ratting on everyone
Pouncey: Lol wow are you serious he is a fuck boy
Pouncey: He’s not welcome back bro I can’t be around
that fucking guy
Incognito: Fuck that guy if Ur not with [u]s Ur
against us
Pouncey: No question bro he’s a coward for snitching
Incognito: Snitches get stitches Blood in blood out
Fucking guy
Pouncey: He’s dead to me
Over the next couple of
days, Incognito sent the following text messages to Martin:
Incognito: I need you buddy I’m getting killed in the
media.
Incognito: Bro can we talk? The dolphins are talking
about releasing me
Martin did not respond to these text messages, and we
understand that he has not had any further communication with Incognito.
It would appear that the verbiage and actions of Incognito were inspired not by an effort "toughen-up" Martin, but from a deep well of self-consciousness and his own insecurity. His past was that of a personality that could not control asocial impulses (he was once voted the "dirtiest" player in the NFL), and such incidents dated back to his high school and college days--so much so that he was expelled from the University of Nebraska, and lasted all of one week at the University of Oregon before he was kicked off the Ducks' roster. Martin was as different as could be: He is a Stanford grad who studied classical history, and many members of his family are graduates of Harvard. It is clear that the language used by Incognito (as well as Jerry and Pouncey, who obviously identified with his point of view) was purposely meant to demean Martin and bring him down to his "level." It is not surprising that Martin--who was "quiet" and "introspective," was the type who would take this as a personal affront.
I was reading Jerry Kramer's diary on the Green Bay Packers' 1967 season,
Instant Replay, and Kramer noted that Vince Lombardi--himself conscious of his Italian heritage and short, stout stature--would never tolerate any such personally offensive and demeaning behavior, even to rookies. That is something that Miami coach Joe Philbin--who allowed all of this to happen despite his pleading of ignorance--never learned during his stay in Green Bay.
