Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Bengals hire former Dolphins assistant Turner
Coach best known for his role in bully-gate scandal
One of the central figures in the Miami Dolphins’ bully-gate scandal has resurfaced in the NFL.
Jim Turner, the offensive line coach in 2013 when Jonathan Martin quit football in the middle of the season and complained of bullying by his offensive line teammates, has been hired to coach the offensive line of the Cincinnati Bengals, according to multiple reports.
Turner was hired by new Bengals coach Zac Taylor, who served as the Dolphins’ quarterback coach under Joe Philbin, working alongside Turner in Miami.
Turner was fired by the Dolphins in the 2014 offseason and cited in the Ted Wells report commissioned by the NFL for creating a troublesome work environment that contributed to Martin’s depression and discomfort. The report also concluded that then Dolphins guard Richie Incognito, center Mike Pouncey and guard John Jerry were involved in harassing Martin, an offensive tackle.
Wells’ 144-page report indicated Turner’s “unprofessional conduct played a role in Martin’s struggles.”
Turner didn’t find another job until 2016 when he returned to Texas A&M as the offensive line coach. He didn’t even make it to the first game before he was suspended by the team for making sexist jokes at a football clinic for women the team was hosting.
Turner sued the Dolphins for defamation, but the lawsuit was dismissed and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s dismissal.
The appeals ruling referenced three portions of the Wells report that included Turner: Turner’s gift of a male “blow-up doll” to an anonymous lineman taunted for supposedly being gay; texting Martin while Incognito was criticized in the media and accused of bullying; not stopping some of the “sexually crude references” about Martin’s mother and sister. The appeals court did not believe the Wells report defamed Turner when describing any of those incidents.
Since bully-gate, the lives of Martin, who quit football after playing one season with the San Francisco 49ers, and Incognito, a Pro Bowl pick with the Dolphins and Buffalo Bills, have taken a downturn.
Last February, Martin was taken into custody after a social media post he made threatening his California high school, two high school classmates and two of his former Dolphins teammates. California police officials found a loaded 12-gauge shotgun, a large knife, an ax and a cell phone in Martin’s vehicle.
Then on Feb. 23, an Instagram account under his name posted a picture of a shotgun and a dozen shell casings spread around with words that read: “When you’re a bully victim and a coward, your options are suicide or revenge.”
The Dolphins, his high school Harvard Westlake, two high school classmates, Dolphins center Pouncey and Incognito were all tagged on the photo.
The Dolphins head of security notified the NFL, which contacted law enforcement officials in California. Martin checked himself into a mental health facility and has been receiving treatment since.
Last month, a Los Angeles judge ruled he will have to stand trial on criminal charges for the threats he post on Instagram last year. The social media post led to four felony counts of making criminal threats, although the Los Angeles Times reported one charge was dropped when Pouncey said he was not concerned about the post.
Incognito was arrested last August in Scottsdale, Arizona, on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and making threats at a funeral home where his father’s body was being held.