He can bully, tease and insult a teammate, but when angry people attack Richie Incognito on Twitter, he can’t be a man and take the abuse. So now America is picking on him, mocking him and taunting him, and he’s no longer Mr. Badass, after a damning 144-page report paints Incognito as a disgusting monster. So now, as the critics and doomsayers tell it, Incognito is getting maybe just what he deserves and obviously is being bullied just like his teammate was behind close doors.
The reaction on social media was belligerent and malicious, and now he’s seeing how it feels to be treated like a wuss, bringing trouble upon himself and jeopardizing his NFL future. It’s quite funny how Incognito begs attackers to behave nicely when his attacks forced Jonathan Martin, a very sensitive man who is particularly affected by insults, to take a leave of absence from the Miami Dolphins and check into a mental health hospital for emotional distress. It’s quite funny how he tries to make peace with Internet bullies when the S.O.B. pushed Martin into even contemplating suicide.
“Pleeeeease Stop The Hate. Happy Valentines Day :),” Baby Richie wrote on Twitter.
What’s a matter, poor guy? Can’t take the beatings like a man? This, to me, is a sick animal who acts like he’s a tough guy when he’s nothing more but a coward. There was nothing that could persuade me to buy into the fact that Incognito’s aggression positioned him at the heart of the team’s sphere of influence. There was nothing that could convince me that this was his way to toughen up Martin, the troubled man who was unwilling to stand up for himself and decided to quit the Dolphins in October after a cafeteria prank.
Incognito, the 320-pound offensive lineman, was never an unquestioned leader, and instead was easily cancerous to the Dolphins locker room because of his abusive behavior, which is a sign that he has emotional problems. It’s not as much of a surprise to hear that he was denounced and targeted on Twitter after the Ted Wells report was released on Friday. This was a man who, upon hearing of the latest news, ranted on Twitter and then deactivated his account.
“I guess I’m as dumb as I look.”
Then he tweeted: “Goodbye twitter. Be well. See you on the other side ?”
While Incognito is still in denial and won’t accept the fact that he’s an evil scumbag, clearly we are not naive enough to think he’s a respectable person with an image that’s beyond repair. He can try to play a nice guy all he wants and paint himself the victim, but he’s still immature, pretends to sound contrite and certainly isn’t someone you’d want on your football team. And one thing all of us can agree upon is that he’s clearly not to be trusted, and wherever he plays — if he does ever play again in the National Football League — he’s quite capable of being a problem child and will likely use someone else as a punching bag.
If commissioner Roger Goodell knows his league employs a phony and a rogue, then there’s no way on Earth they should allow Incognito to remain with a franchise. In other words, he should be banned from the NFL at once. He should not earn a spot on a franchise’s roster, or even be in any NFL locker room. Because, truth be told, he’s someone a team should want to stay away from, unless a franchise is desperate and foolish enough to sign him to a contract and give him a chance. He was bullied for much of his childhood, and while growing up, as he lived a tormented life, he was called “fatass,” “lardass” or a “whale.” It was very immoral for Incognito to bully a big, fat football player twice his size, but it was a way to feel good about himself, as it turned out.
The findings of the report defined a playground bully as vicious and cruel by nature. He’s the guy who used homophobic and misogynistic slurs to shamefully taunt and offend Martin’s mother and sister. So, no, I don’t think Incognito should ever play another NFL game. For one thing, he berated and belittled his own teammate as the ringleader of three players that involved Mike Pouncey and John Jerry and even offensive line coach Jim Turner who “engaged in a pattern of harassment” at Dolphins Elementary. And furthermore, Incognito will go ruin someone else’s day, make other football players a target for torment and bring down the team’s morale. His profane language was odious and insulting. His dirty threats were despicable and cowardly. So yes, this is the right time for Incognito to never show his face in public.
He isn’t a human being, not even close, and he needs to run and run far away for good. If Incognito, suspended indefinitely by the Dolphins Nov. 3 for conduct detrimental to the team, is welcome back in Miami, it would generate a public outcry and would be a double shame for an organization that allowed this kind of dehumanizing and bullying. Yes, of course, Incognito’s definition of bullying is horseplay and he believed in his mind that it was totally acceptable and part of the locker room culture. It’s worth stating, and perhaps it should be, that his ignoble behavior went beyond what he believes is facetious horseplay.
Weeks after he broke his silence, he claimed he and Martin have been good friends. If he was a true friend, he wouldn’t have crossed the line, he wouldn’t have scared off his so-called buddy and wouldn’t have pushed Martin to the point that he considered taking his own life. It wasn’t cute and funny, but what’s sad is that Incognito shows no remorse and obviously didn’t care about Martin’s feelings of depression and suicidal thoughts, playing with the man’s emotions. It’s amazing and overwhelming that the Dolphins and coach Joe Philbin were unaware of Martin’s mental health and any harassment by Incognito and his partners in crime. Meanwhile, Martin’s agent Kenneth Zuckerman said his client feels “vindicated” by the report, and wants to resume his NFL career.
But the future isn’t too promising for Richie the monster as Incognito’s NFL career remains in limbo. He’s guilty of harassing a teammate, and shot himself in the foot. The damage has already been done, and he’s disappeared, leaving behind the NFL. Maybe he leaves it behind for good.
