Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Richie Incognito defended himself in a sit-down interview with Jay Glazer which aired on FOX NFL Sunday against alleged bullying of teammate Jonathan Martin.
Incognito said he had “Jon Martin’s back” and that “Jon never showed signs that football was getting to him. The locker room was getting to him.”
When asked about a voice mail left for Martin, Incognito admitted to leaving it and said that he was embarrassed about it now. The 30-year-old said all of the Dolphins’ offensive lineman have a “vulgar” relationship.
Incognito said the N-word was thrown around a lot by the team and even used by Martin. He went on to say that this issue was not about bullying and that it had to do more with his relationship with Martin.
“My actions were coming from a place of love. No matter how bad and how vulgar it sounds. That’s how we communicate. That’s how our friendship was” said Incognito who went on to say that they were best friends on the team.
Incognito then declared that he was a good person despite his “knucklehead” past.
In the interview, Incogntio alleged that he had texted Martin as recently as Nov. 1.
Glazer reviewed that there had been 1,142 texts between Incognito and Martin which included texts following the Dolphins Week 9 win over Cincinnati. (below)
“Wassup man? The world’s gone crazy lol I’m good tho congrats on the win”
“Yea I’m good man. It’s insame bro but just know I don’t blame you guys at all it’s just the culture around football and the locker room got to me a little.”
Those texts came after Martin left the Dolphins. There have been no words from Martin thus far.
Speaking after the interview, Michael Strahan spoke about the culture of the locker room and how these ways of communication are common place. He said that Incognito’s use of the n-word was unacceptable but these type of comments need to be checked at the beginning.
Incognito remains suspended by the Dolphins and this story shows no signs of slowing down just yet.
