Fire Richie Incognito, Now.
What kind of harassment gets you fired? You can be fired for harassing on the basis of race. He did that. You can be fired for offensive touching. He did that. You can be fired for sexual harassment, even male on male. He did that. You can be fired for encouraging and organizing others to create a hostile work environment. He did that. Your can be fired for extorting money. He did that.
So, how much is enough? He’s should have been fired when all this began. He should have been fired a dozen times by now. What does it take?
I don’t know. Maybe, the “macho” culture of the NFL sanctifies moronic and cruel behavior?
When people have said in that past that sports built character and provided role models for young people, I have argued that this was an overblown argument.
No longer.
I deny that sports and, in particular, the NFL, provide any role models that we should expose children to.
A gentleman would never behave like Richie Incognito. Any sport that tolerates this kind of behavior deserves to be hidden from public view, shorn of its public benefits and television air time.
If they can’t clean up their act, it will have to be cleaned up for them. Enough is enough.
James Pilant
(If you have a very, very strong stomach – here are some partial transcripts of what Incognito said:) http://deadspin.com/the-worst-stuff-from-the-dolphins-investigation-updati-1522846626?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
Wells report, Richie Incognito: The NFL’s investigation of the Miami Dolphins locker room is the best report on bullying I’ve ever read.
Ted Wells’ independent investigation of the Miami Dolphins and the culture of their offensive line is the opposite of a whitewash. The investigators’ 140-plus page report on the events leading up to Jonathan Martin’s departure from the team is judicious, persuasive, and a public service. Carefully sifting through the evidence, it concludes that Richie Incognito and two teammates who acted as his henchmen humiliated and harassed Martin, another unnamed teammate, and an assistant trainer for months in ways that no employee should have to endure. This report should be required reading in management courses and for anyone who wonders how ugly, demeaning, and corrosive treatment can lie beneath a façade of “all in good fun” workplace “teasing.”
The report should also be a watershed moment for the Dolphins and the NFL. Its conclusions will only have real power if it leads to real consequences. Given his record of past infractions, Incognito should not play in the NFL. Not next year, and probably not ever. And the Dolphins should fire offensive line coach Jim Turner, who participated in the bullying.
I’ve often half-joked that to really understand an accusation of bullying, you need a police investigation, with all the tools for rigorously evaluating the credibility of everyone’s account. With more than 100 interviews of Dolphins players, coaches, and managers, as well as thousands of text messages, that’s what this report is. For this we should credit not just the professionalism of the investigative team, but the openness of Jonathan Martin. He gave his permission to air sensitive, private information about his struggles with depression and suicidal thinking. It’s a personal sacrifice that will no doubt expose him to hurt and criticism—and that allows for the kind of honest reckoning that can help other victims of bullying, both adults and kids.
From around the web.
From the web site, Tiny Cat Pants.
http://tinycatpants.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/richie-incognito/
Richie Incognito
Two things about this just utterly depress me. One is this idea that you can be that kind of evil hothead and people think that you can just “keep it in the locker room” or “leave it on the field.” I’m not opposed to sports. I don’t think that a person who hits a ball is likely to hit a person. Or that a person who does something while in uniform is destined to do that thing out of uniform.
But I don’t think you can get positive reinforcement for scaring the shit out of people outside of the context of the game and calling names and acting like a jerk and not have it leak out into your regular life. It’s just not a psychological change most people can make. If you get praise for it, it’s very difficult to set it aside when outside of contexts where you get praise for it.
But second, and most importantly, I find the men rushing to Incognito’s defense, trying to explain it away as “locker room” or “its own culture” to be so damn sad. Because you shouldn’t have to work at a job where your co-workers use racial epithets against you. And yet, to see all these guys arguing that it’s okay, it’s obviously okay because that’s the norm. They literally expect no better. They get to be millionaires and cultural heroes and the epitome of manliness. It’s still so ordinary for them to be called or to hear a teammate the n-word or by white guys that they get on TV and argue that it’s okay.
They expect nothing better than Incognito’s actions.
It’s just utterly depressing.
From the web site, (This is a teaching web site, most impressive. The author is Andy Driska, and I’ve got to say, a very clever and skilled teacher. This is a fascinating assignment.) kin445, Michigan State.
Odds are, if you follow sports, you heard some of the coverage of the Jonathan Martin – Richie Incognito affair. If you aren’t familiar with it, see the first source in the list below (USA Today timeline). In sum, Martin left the team suddenly, accusing teammates of bullying and harassment. Sport media focus on this issue first presented a narrative that the accusations of bullying in the locker room were signs that Martin was a “soft” player. Media focused on the commonly held belief that players are simply not as tough as they used to be (noting rules that protect quarterbacks, prevent certain types of tackles, or prevent playing after a suspected concussion). However, as the issue unfolded, and more evidence entered the court of public opinion, including audio of Incognito’s phone messages to Martin (NOTE: I will not provide a link to the audio given its graphic nature, but you can Google it if you must hear these phone messages for yourself), the narrative shifted to place blame on “a failure of leadership.”
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