After weeks and weeks of hearing about the Miami Dolphins locker room alleged bullying situation, the report has finally been released. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hired private investigator Ted Wells to look into the claims made by Dolphins’ offensive lineman Jonathan Martin that he was constantly being harassed by his teammates. After conducting interviews with players, trainers, and coaches, the findings were handed over to the NFL and have been made public. Unfortunately, it does sound like some of Martin’s claims were true.
In the press release, it states, “Said Mr. Wells: “The Report concludes that three starters on the Dolphins offensive line, Richie Incognito, John Jerry and Mike Pouncey, engaged in a pattern of harassment directed at not only Jonathan Martin, but also another young Dolphins offensive lineman and an assistant trainer. The Report finds that the assistant trainer repeatedly was the object of racial slurs and other racially derogatory language; that the other offensive lineman was subjected to homophobic name-calling and improper physical touching; and that Martin was taunted on a persistent basis with sexually explicit remarks about his sister and his mother and at times ridiculed with racial insults and other offensive comments.”
Originally, everyone was under the impression that it was Richie Incognito behind the bullying and no one else. To learn that John Jerry and Mike Pouncey, who was also on the Dolphins’ newly formed leadership council with Incognito, were also involved in the harassment of Martin, another offensive lineman, and an assistant trainer. The other player was not named in the report and instead is referred to as Player A for confidentiality reasons.
Wells continues by saying, “‘The Report concludes that the harassment by Martin’s teammates was a contributing factor in his decision to leave the team, but also finds that Martin’s teammates did not intend to drive Martin from the team or cause him lasting emotional injury,’ said Mr. Wells.”
Basically, the teasing and joking went way too far and Martin’s teammates never got the message to lighten up. In text messages released from the days after Martin left the team complex, players and coaches reached out to him and gave him their full support. The assistant trainer who was also harassed texted Martin saying, “I have been dealing with this shit for 6 years. They are relentless sometime…. Some day I wanna do exactly what you did today.”
The report details the friendship between Incognito and Martin and proves that they were indeed as close as Incognito had been saying. It states that Martin did confide in Incognito about his mental health struggles, including being depressed, possibly linked to his poor performance on the field. However, Wells notes that that does not excuse Incognito’s behavior towards his “road dog” as he commonly refers to him.
Incognito promised on Twitter that once this report was released it would be Martin who looked bad, but it seems that the report supports Martin’s claims that he was made to feel very uncomfortable by fellow offensive linemen. It is shocking to hear that other players participated in the taunting, especially Pouncey who is considered a leader on the team. The report claims that offensive lineman coach Jim Turner also participated in the “joking around” including giving one player a male blowup doll as a gift. He, however, denies any knowledge of the harassment that took place between the teammates.
To read the entire report, including the press release, click here.
