I’ll Admit It, I Was Wrong About Richie Incognito

On Monday TheBigLead.com released over 1,000 text messages exchanged by former Miami Dolphins teammates Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito. The texts provide some welcome insight into the relationship between with the veteran offensive lineman and the young guy he was allegedly asked by coach Joe Philbin to help ‘toughen up’.

Last Halloween Martin abruptly left the team and went back to California, where he checked himself into a hospital claiming he had been bullied and emotionally abused by his teammates. Chief among the offenders was Incognito, the alleged ringleader of the “personal” and “racial” attacks Martin claimed he was the victim of.

Though the initial information released regarding Incognito’s behavior seemed damning, his teammates were quick to defend him and there were members of the media that urged caution in rushing to judgement before the investigation into the matter had concluded. I did not heed those warnings.

As far as I was concerned, Incognito was guilty. Everything I knew about his personality and his past behavior—on and off the field—made him a very believable villain. While Martin was equally believable as the victim. I felt there was no reason to doubt Martin’s story and every reason to assume the worst about Incognito.

Truth be told, I only read through all 48 pages of texts to confirm what I already thought I knew. Which is why I was so surprised when instead of providing an after the fact confirmation, the texts actually challenged everything I thought I knew about the situation and the two key figures.

Keep in mind that I’m not completely dissolving Incognito of any responsibility, nor is it my intention to turn the tables and take aim at Martin. There is more to the story than just texts, something I should’ve considered before condemning Incognito in the first place.

That being said, here are some of the many ways in which I was wrong:

These were all exchanged in a single day, just three weeks before Martin peaced out.

1. I assumed their relationship was cold and distant, with Incognito menacing Martin and Martin just trying weather the storm. If that was the case, 48 pages of mostly reciprocated texts wouldn’t have been exchanged over the course of a year.

This was the first page of released texts—the next 47 pages paled in comparison.

Incognito sorta crossed a line here, but Martin didn’t skip a beat.

Classic overshare.

Martin isn’t into hookers, but strippers are a different story.

2. I assumed that Incognito was a foul-mouthed troglodyte and Martin, a Stanford grad, was, for lack of a better word, a gentleman. In reality they’re both a couple of hard-drinking, skirt-chasing, douchey bros who enjoy the many perks that come with being a professional athlete.

The trip to Las Vegas was widely reported on by the media.

Hopefully Martin took Incognito’s suggestion on this one.

3. I was left with the impression that Incognito had been, in a sense, extorting money from Martin for trips he was being pressured into taking. But the two texted often about taking trips together with no mention of money involved and it was usually Martin bailing at the last minute.

4. I assumed that Incognito fundamentally didn’t like Martin and was probably happy to see him go. This is the one I felt worst about after reading the final few texts they exchanged in the three days after Martin left Miami and headed back to California.

You don’t ask about the puppy of someone you hate.

Honestly, I could go on about my wrongness for quite awhile because of how poorly I evaluated and judged this situation, but I think I’ve accomplished what I set out do. Though I’m hardly a major sports media figure, I think it’s important that people be held accountable for what they write—no matter the size of their audience.

There’s nothing more frustrating than when someone insists on doubling down on a mistake, mostly because admitting the mistake and moving on is so much easier on everyone. Which is why I’m not going to continue on lambasting Incognito just because I already pushed some chips in on this hand.

Anyone who plays poker knows that there’s no shame in folding occasionally.