National Football League

Jonathan Martin to reunite with Dolphins at joint practice

Published Jun. 25, 2015 1:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

By Katelyn Buck

For the first time in 11 years the Miami Dolphins will hold joint practices with another NFL team. The Miami Dolphins and the Carolina Panthers announced last week that they plan on holding joint training camp practices this summer on August 19th and 20th before playing a preseason game on August 22nd in Charlotte, South Carolina. The practices will take place at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina and will be open to the public.

The practices will mark a reunion for estranged Miami Dolphin Jonathan Martin and his former team. Jonathan Martin, the one-time second-round pick for the Fins, left Miami in 2014 after accusing his teammates Richie Incognito, John Jerry and Mike Pouncey of subjecting him to mental and verbal abuse. Jonathan Martin was signed to the Panthers this past March and is fighting for a starting spot on the roster after a brief and mediocre stint with the San Francisco 49ers.

Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin were considered “friends” by fellow teammates before Martin’s accusations of Incognito

Richie Incognito, who was allegedly the ringleader of the “Bullygate” scandal, was suspended by Miami in November 2013. Though the suspension was later lifted, he did not rejoin the Fins and was practically banned from the NFL throughout all of 2014. In February 2015, Miami’s AFC East rival, the Buffalo Bills under newly minted head coach Rex Ryan, signed the guard. Guard John Jerry, whose reputation was also defamed in the “Bullygate” scandal, started fresh with the New York Giants last season and will continue to play for them as he was just re-signed by New York earlier this year. Finally that leaves Mike Pouncey, who is the one remaining player currently on the Dolphins that allegedly had a big part in the bullying scandal that targeted Jonathan Martin. Pouncey, a talented center that also plays guard, was recently made one of the highest-paid centers in the NFL in his contract extension with the Dolphins.

The “Bullygate” locker room scandal in Miami came to light in great detail and received national attention and scrutiny over a year ago due to a Ted Wells report. Ted Wells may ring a bell for many people as his name has been all over the news lately. Why? Well, the attorney has come out with another report recently, focusing on another AFC East team and the reigning Super Bowl Champions– the New England Patriots. In the lengthy Ted Wells report totaling 243 pages, Tom Brady and the Patriots are accused of intentionally using underinflated footballs in the AFC championship game versus the Indianapolis Colts. The game was a blowout with the Patriots coming up victorious, dominating the Colts 45-7. There was no rock-solid evidence that the Patriots and primarily Tom Brady committed any wrongdoing rather it was found that it was “more probable than not” that Brady and the Pats deliberately used underinflated footballs in the AFC championship game that paved the way for the Patriots to go to the Super Bowl.

Tom Brady haters across the nation rejoiced when, as a result of the Ted Wells report, Brady was suspended by the NFL for four games for his role in the “Deflategate” Scandal. Brady appealed the decision and after a 10-hour hearing, he must now wait to find out whether or not his appeal swayed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Rumor has it that Brady was genuine, persuasive and believable in his appeal.

Ted Wells is probably a feared man across the NFL as the attorney is on the prowl making investigative reports on the behind-the-scenes happenings of NFL teams. His findings, which lack a lot of solid proof and contains disputing stories from different parties, have defamed the reputations of many people who served as the accused that are or were involved in the NFL, including players and coaches.

While Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey have all finally been able to move forward from the scandal in Miami, others caught up in the “Bullygate” drama have not been so fortunate. This includes former Miami Dolphins offensive line coach Jim Turner and head athletics trainer Kevin O’Neill. Both were fired by the Dolphins due to the findings in the Wells report. Turner recently fired back at Wells on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio saying that Wells is “not a good human being” and that he takes things out of context to make others look bad. O’Neill, who was with Miami for nearly two decades before the Wells findings, claimed he was unfairly caught up in the ordeal because he failed to go against patient confidentiality laws. Both men, who have been celebrated for their work in the past, have still not been able to find jobs in large part because of the Wells report that ruined their reputations, fair or not.

The Miami Dolphins recently signed center Mike Pouncey to 5-year contract extension worth close to $50 million

As far as Jonathan Martin is concerned, the alleged victim in the Wells report on the Miami Dolphins, he will face his number one foe Richie Incognito and the Bills in a preseason game before sharing the practice field with his former team the Miami Dolphins leading up to a preseason game where the Carolina Panthers will face the Dolphins. The joint practices for the Fins and the Panthers should be interesting as it will reunite the accuser with the accused in Jonathan Martin and Mike Pouncey, who for the record was cleared for his part or lack thereof in the bullying scandal. In fact, most if not all of the people accused of wrongdoing in the two Wells reports surrounding the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots, vehemently deny any wrongdoing and still profess their innocence. A common phrase used by those accused of wrongdoing in the Wells reports is “blown out of proportion” and probably fittingly so as it seems scandals like “Deflategate” have caused a media frenzy and uproar receiving as much if not more attention than situations like the domestic abuse case involving Ray Rice.

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