Bullying case leaves mark on the NFL

The NFL is a sausage. It is among the biggest sausages in the world, bedecked in bunting and streamers, banners and colours. It is a sausage with military flyovers and television contracts and ever more lavish stadiums, and it is delicious. People cannot get enough of this marvellous sausage, produced in 32 flavours, each with their own name and distinct packaging. Sure, some versions of the sausage are awful. Cleveland sausage, for example. Buffalo sausage hasn’t been good in what seems like forever. Oakland sausage always tastes weird. And the less said about Jacksonville sausage, the better.

But overall, the product gets more and more popular every year. The only real problem is that we keep finding out more about how the sausage is made. The new thing is the case of Jonathan Martin of the Miami Dolphins, who was apparently bullied and abused by fellow offensive lineman Richie Incognito, and maybe others. There are profane, racially charged and threatening voice mails, tales of borderline extortion — according to the Miami Herald, “veterans using the younger players as ATMs” — and an allegation of a physical attack. More ugly details will surely come.

There are even allegations that Incognito’s father anonymously patrolled message boards alleging that Martin had previously attempted suicide. There are layers, nuances, and an awful lot of people willing to blame Martin for not being able to deal with it.

It seems like a high school of giant powerful sociopaths, run as a gladiator academy, and one boy with Harvard parents with some issues who didn’t belong. The Miami Herald reported the Dolphins asked Incognito to “toughen up” Martin, a second-year second-round pick; Pro Football Talk reported that when Martin’s agent complained about the treatment, Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland recommended that Martin fight Incognito. An NFL personnel director told Sports Illustrated’s Jim Trotter, “I think Jonathan Martin is a weak person. If Incognito did offend him racially, that’s something you have to handle as a man!” Others echoed him.

Players? Nobody is standing with Martin. Former Dolphins offensive lineman (and Incognito’s friend) Lydon Murtha wrote for mmqb.si.com, “What people want to call bullying is something that is never going away from football.”

Former offensive lineman and concussion advocate Kyle Turley told the Los Angeles Times he was given Incognito’s role when he played, and while Incognito may have gone too far, he understood the role.

“It’s absurd for the real world to accept this, and nobody should,” Turley said.