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By Larry
Elder
Richie
Incognito, an NFL Miami Dolphin, is a clubhouse bully who was suspended for
traumatizing teammate Jonathan Martin. A new NFL investigative report found
that Richie, a white, soon-to-be free agent veteran, abused Martin, a black
player then in his rookie season.
The
report accuses Incognito and two other players of using racially charged
abusive language and engaging in abusive conduct directed toward the black
rookie. Incognito, according the to investigation, was the ringleader.
Richie
Incognito, meet former Los Angeles City firefighter Tennie Pierce. Or more
precisely, meet Pierce's firefighter "friends" — who stand accused of
bullying the black LAFD veteran. Incognito can relate to this story of what happened
to Pierce's friends and co-workers.
During a
firehouse volleyball game, Pierce, a then 19-year veteran firefighter who
called himself "the Big Dog," repeatedly urged his teammates to
"feed the Big Dog" — meaning throw the ball to him. After the game, Pierce — a known prankster — ate a few
bites of spaghetti. Then he noticed his buddies laughing. Turns out his
co-workers laced the spaghetti with dog food. Funny. Right? After all, didn't
Pierce once give a shave in a sensitive area to a fellow firefighter as the
hapless guy sat tied up in a chair? Isn't that sort of how they roll in the ol'
firehouse?
You know,
frat-house environment, kind of like the NFL.
But the
suddenly offended Pierce sued for racial discrimination! He alleged three
firefighters — two whites, one Hispanic — subjected him to racial
discrimination and abuse by serving up the dog food. A black man unknowingly
eating dog food, said an "expert" witness, harkens back to "300
years" of discrimination against blacks. The Los Angeles City Council
settled with him for him $2.7 million, later reduced to $1.5 mil.
It gets
worse.
The two
whites — both fire captains — received one-month suspensions, fines, and were
prohibited from future promotions. So the captains also sued, calling their,
punishment racially biased. They won. The Los Angeles City Council agreed
to pay $2.5 million to the captains — $900,000 more than their jury award and
$1 million more than Tennie Pierce was paid.
What does
this have to do with Incognito? As with Pierce's non-black co-workers,
Incognito, in a league that is 66 percent black, thought he had been given a
"license" to cut loose with his mostly black teammates.
Days
after Incognito's suspension, the Miami Herald reported that Incognito was
considered "an honorary black man" by his black teammates. "I
don't have a problem with Richie," said Mike Wallace, a black player,
"I love Richie." Another black player, tight end Michael Egnew, said,
"Richie Incognito isn't a racist." A former teammate said:
"Richie is honorary. I don't expect you to understand because you're not
black. But being a black guy, being a brother is more than just about skin
color. It's about how you carry yourself. How you play. Where you come from. What
you've experienced. A lot of things."
But now
"the honorary black man" stands accused of bullying the black then
rookie player — even as the NFL-commissioned independent report admits it's an
inherent part of the culture.
The NFL
report said: "We find that (offensive line) Coaches (Jim) Turner and
(Chris) Mosley were certainly aware of some of the insulting comments directed
to Martin by Incognito (and others), although we cannot determine the full
extent of that awareness and whether they had any appreciation of how hurtful
this language was to Martin. It is undisputed that these coaches never sought
to stop the behavior." Indeed, the report found these two coaches may have
laughed along while some of the derogatory abuse was hurled at Martin and
others.
NFL
report concedes: "For better or worse, profanity is an accepted fact of
life in competitive sports, and professional athletes commonly indulge in
conduct inappropriate in other social settings. We also recognize that good-spirited
goading often contributes to team bonding." But, said the report,
"Martin was taunted on a persistent basis with sexually explicit remarks
about his sister and his mother and at times ridiculed with racial insults and
other offensive comments."
Vulgar,
yes. But Incognito, said the report, was an "equal opportunity
harasser." One white player arguably received more abuse than did
Martin. "The issue of whether Incognito's ultimate motivation for his
persistent harassment of Martin," said the report, "was in part
racial animus is complicated by the fact that John Jerry (who is black) and
Mike Pouncey (who is bi-racial) often joined Incognito in the abusive behavior.
Presumably, they would not have followed Incognito's lead if they thought he had
selected Martin for abuse out of racial animus."
So ...
it's ... complicated
Incognito
denies nothing. His team, the league, fellow black players seemed OK with or
were conveniently oblivious to the vicious bullying — until they weren't. This
type of abusive behavior, former players say, has long been
tolerated/encouraged/ignored by the league. But the winds changed.
