Bullying Scandal Commanding Full Attention

SC Centerpiece: Bill Polian, Eric Allen and Herm Edwards discuss the culture of an NFL locker room and the failure of leadership among the players in Miami.

For whatever their involvement in the Jonathan Martin-Richie Incognito bullying, players must be held accountable.  But of course there is no skirting the responsibility of the formal leaders in the team, from the coaching staff, to the front office.  

The "NFL Countdown" crew reacts to the situation in Miami regarding Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin.

Tom Jackson doesn't mince words in the least:  Incognito is a racist, bigotted, and a bully.  He challenges the notion that the locker room is a haven of sorts for players.  No, it's the same as society at large.  You must stand up to a bully, Mike Ditka exhorts any player on a team.  Keyshawn Johnson reiterates that there is no place for bullying anywhere.  Cris Carter wonders how someone like Incognito could even be on a team without players seemingly not knowing what was going on.  It's a shame no one stood up for Martin.

Ed Werder discusses how the Richie Incognito controversy has affected the Miami Dolphins and jeopardized the season.

We on the outside can only imagine what is actually going on within the team, but to be sure there is an impact reverberates through the team.

Herm Edwards, Antonio Pierce and Trevor Matich discuss the idea of mental and physical toughness and pushing players to the limit in the NFL.

Cultivating toughness and pushing players are part of a sports mandate on professional athletes.  But so are a sense of safety, as Edwards emphasizes, and an unstated line that must not be crossed.  Still the thing is, football is just an aggressive, even predatory sport, its rules and policies and ethics notwithstanding.  That line must be dangerously thin at times for players or in situations that pulse with that aggression.

Chris Mortensen discusses the news that Dolphins OT Jonathan Martin recently checked himself into a South Florida hospital to be treated for emotional distress.

Coach Joe Philbin visited Martin in the hospital, and the team arranged for his family to come in from California.  It was a short visit, and apparently Philbin had no notion at the time that it had to do with bullying.  Or maybe he did.  Sage Steele points out that it must've been so distressing to Martin as to require hospitalization.  

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD