By Sid Saraf, FOXSports.com As the football world continued to process the news that the Dolphins had suspended offensive lineman Richie Incognito after FOX NFL Insider Mike Garafolo reported Sunday that fellow lineman Jonathan Martin claimed Incognito had left him threatening and racist messages, Garafolo reported Monday that Martin remains away from the team, instead beginning therapy in California.
Later in the day, some of the alleged details of the messages Incognito sent Martin were reported. And those details rocked the NFL and sent shockwaves that spanned far beyond football and sports. Shortly thereafter, the Miami Herald reported that the team is "done" with Incognito and that he won't be play another down for the Dolphins again.
But how did we get here? In just the matter of a week, the Dolphins locker room has melted down. After Martin's claims of abuse, the Dolphins reached out to the NFL to ask for a thorough and objective investigation, as reported by FOX NFL Insider Mike Garafolo. Wow, what happened? Just a simple check of Incognito's and Martin's twitter feed doesn't make it appear that the two were mortal enemies. Check this photo that Martin posted just a little over a month ago:
@J_Martin71 Thanks for the pic last night!! #dolfan #phinsup #beatthesaints pic.twitter.com/oTcfOiVxGm — Kim Bresnahan (@koehlkim) September 30, 2013
The two of them are hanging out in New Orleans. I checked Richie's feed and saw several tweets regarding Martin.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the biggest weirdo of ALL TIME @J_Martin71 — Richie incognito (@68INCOGNITO) August 19, 2013
There's that nickname. Apparently, Martin was known as "The Big Weirdo" around the team facility. But still, there's a birthday wish.
Me and The Big Weirdo are strapped in and ready to take off for Houston @ Signature Flight Support FOB http://t.co/jVcLQqaMau — Richie incognito (@68INCOGNITO) August 16, 2013
If you click the Instagram link, you'll find a selfie of Incognito and Martin sitting together on a flight. Then, there's another photo of Martin that was at the tail end of a series of tweets. Check it out:
Please help Plantation police find @Josh_YM_Samuda car. Please be on the lookout for a ratchet white Impala on some weak 24" rims. THANK U — Richie incognito (@68INCOGNITO) July 24, 2013
We have a surveillance photo of a possible suspect. Kind of looks like @J_Martin71 pic.twitter.com/jsQVARHqND — Richie incognito (@68INCOGNITO) July 24, 2013
Then, there's this:
@J_Martin71 -- Big weirdo barely fits in the go kart pic.twitter.com/MmqG9H1O4m — Richie incognito (@68INCOGNITO) April 16, 2013
The nickname appears again. This is really strange. It appears that these two guys had, at least in Incognito's view, a relationship that was somewhat friendly at some point. However, things went horribly wrong and led to the situation we're currently facing now. Questions? Comments? Send them to lacesoutmail@gmail.com and we might respond in our weekly mailbag!
