Weekly NFL Picks Thread

[Tonus]

In the military we try to solve things at the lowest rank level. Jumping the chain of command or disregarding it completely won't earn you too many friends. There was a better way he could have gone about it. If you're a 6-4 300 lb dude, surely you can manage to confront your bully, and if not, why not give the coach a shot at resolving the issue? I'm not condoning the things the guy said, but seriously...this thing has gotten WAY out of hand.

The more recent stories indicate that this is most likely to be the case. There are reports surfacing that a coach (or coaches) had asked lineman Richie Incognito (a respected veteran) to "toughen up" fellow lineman Jonathan Martin after the latter, a second-year player, had skipped voluntary workouts. Perhaps the word "voluntary" should be in quotes.

Incognito took the task seriously, to the extent that his harassment frightened Martin sufficiently that he complained to his agent, who contacted the team and was (according to another report) told that perhaps Martin's problems would be resolved if he took a swing at Incognito. "Man up, son" in other words.

The fact that the rest of the team seems to be solidly on Incognito's side is an indicator that this issue is only shocking to outsiders who don't know the culture. Martin, it seems, was expected to understand that the rough treatment was intended to get him to become 'one of the guys' and fit in better with the group. It's just another form of hazing (which is common at many levels of sports). Incognito is being hung out to dry because if it can be presented as just one guy being a racist monster who victimized a helpless younger player, he can be sacrificed for the good of the league. But perhaps there will be a wider net cast thanks to the various leaks that are providing a clearer picture of what was really happening.