The other shoe may have dropped--or at the very least, is starting to come down--in the Jonathan Martin affair. This morning's (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel has a story that indicates the Miami Dolphins have a culture that would be unacceptable (to put it extremely mildly) if this was a private-sector company rather than an NFL team. It seems Richie Incognito made his now-infamous call to Martin back in April after his coaches on the Miami Dolphins asked Incognito to toughen Martin up.
Sources say that communication took place when Martin skipped two days of the team's OTA program, and Incognito was encouraged by his coaches to make a call that would "get him into the fold," one source said.
Even though OTA workouts are voluntary, the NFL culture forces coaches to strong arm the team's leaders to make sure everyone attends. Sources say Incognito was doing his job, but they admit he crossed the line.
Gee, ya think?
And it's not as if the Dolphins didn't know what Incognito's idea of "toughening up" would be. TMZ obtained a video showing an obviously drunk Incognito ranting at a South Florida bar sometime this past summer. Watch here.
Now none of us here are prudes by any stretch. But would you want someone like that in a leadership position on any team? I know if I were a father and someone like that were a captain on my son's football team, I'd be demanding that the coach remove him or else I wasn't letting my kid play.
And yet, this is what passes for leadership on the Dolphins. Remember, this guy was on the leadership council. No wonder Martin didn't want to let his coaches know what was going on.
If there was a company with an environment like this in the private sector, we'd be up in arms. This is no different. I initially thought that general manager Jeff Ireland was as much to blame as Incognito. This guy had a history of disturbing behavior as far back as college--and yet Ireland still lets him on the team despite obvious red flags from St. Louis and Buffalo. But after this, head coach Joe Philbin needs to go as well--and go yesterday.
