Incognito's Ex-Teammate: He's a Troubled Soul
Richie Incognito's troubles came 'way before he was acquired by the Miami Dolphins, according to one of his former teammates.
New York Giants kicker Josh Brown played with Incognito in college and with the St. Louis Rams. He says Incognito was messed up then.
“[He's] really got some demons that are out of the building,” Brown said to the New York Daily News. “None of it shocks me. I don’t know any details, obviously. The league hasn’t released anything. But Richie seems to be a person with a tortured soul. He’s had these issues for quite a while, and it’s sad.”
When an ex-teammate basically calls you evil, you've got some major issues going on in your life.
Society has come far in recognizing that bullying is more than a playground shakedown. This has led to academic discourses as to its causes, such as the findings published in the Virginia Journal of Education. Here is an excerpt:
All behavior, even behavior as distasteful as bullying, is purposeful. We behave to satisfy the needs that drive all human beings:
- to connect and belong;
- to be powerful;
- to be free;
- to have fun; and
- to feel safe and secure.
These are definitely not one-size-fits-all motivations, which is grounds for further in-depths study as to how this behavior can be effectively confronted, addressed, and resolved.
But back to the Dolphins situation. I don't know what's more upsetting, Incognito's actions or the inaction from the Miami officials.
In the organization's first statement, its spokesperson declared that this wasn't necessarily bullying. Next, the team had head coach Joe Philbin read a statement saying the organization was against this, but now they've cut Incognito, as we reported yesterday. All they're doing now is putting the formalities in place to make it official and proper.
Still, it seems like the Dolphins are trying to do everything they can to cover this up and pretend like they knew nothing about it before this week, but come on, somebody knew.
If nothing else, Incognito's teammates knew, and they turned a blind eye to the situation. Some went so far as to say in private that they thought Jonathan Martin was soft.
But when a man makes racial slurs and threatens another teammate, where is your loyalty? To the person or the company line?
The ugliness of this situation is probably just beginning for the Miami Dolphins. Don't be surprised when more names are dropped in this case.