Police: Richie Incognito said he was being watched

Veteran NFL player taken to mental hospital

BOCA RATON – Police took veteran NFL guard Richie Incognito to a Florida mental hospital after he allegedly threw weights and tennis balls at gym employees and another patron and told officers the government is spying on him.

Boca Raton police released a report Thursday detailing officers’ interaction with the 34-year-old Incognito after the other patron called 911 on Wednesday to report his behavior.

Officers wrote that Incognito said he was involved with National Security Agency, but that he couldn’t talk about it because they didn’t have a high enough security clearance.

Boca Raton police spokeswoman Jessica Desir said officers received a call Wednesday morning from a patron at Life Time Gym about a disturbance involving Incognito. He was taken into custody under Florida’s Baker Act, which allows for involuntary psychiatric commitment for people seen as a danger to themselves or others.

Incognito announced earlier this year that he was retiring from football after 11 seasons, the last three with the Buffalo Bills. But the Bills released him from their reserved/retired list Monday, leaving open the possibility he could sign with another team.

The four-time Pro Bowl selection has had a series of troubles. Incognito was among the players identified for targeting teammate Jonathan Martin in the Miami Dolphins’ bullying scandal during the 2013 season. The NFL suspended Incognito for the final half of the season and he was eventually released by Miami before being reinstated by the league the following offseason.

Incognito was out of football for 18 months before the Bills provided him a second chance by signing him to a one-year contract.

Incognito has been on a downward spiral for much of this offseason.

His closest friend on the Bills, center Eric Wood, is being forced into retirement after being diagnosed with a career-ending neck injury in January.

The Bills also asked Incognito to take a pay cut in restructuring the final year of his contract. Incognito initially backed the agreement by posting a note on Twitter saying he was “thrilled to be returning this season and fired up to get back to work with my Buffalo Bills brothers.”

He, however, had a change of heart weeks later when Incognito abruptly fired agent David Dunn in a post on Twitter.

A week later, Incognito posted a series of vague Tweets which eventually led to him announcing his retirement. He included the accounts of the NFL Players’ Association and the union’s assistant executive director, George Atallah, by posting a note that read, “I’m done,” followed” by a winking emoji with its tongue stuck out.

He sent the same message in a text to The Associated Press later in the day.

Incognito continued posting a variety of tweets over the next five days before abruptly stopping. He hasn’t tweeted since posting his last messages on April 15.