In the wake of allegations that Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin was the target of an ugly bullying campaign by teammate Richie Incognito, the NFL and the Dolphins asked independent counsel Ted Wells to investigate the culture in the Dolphins locker room. Well, the report was released this morning--and it paints an ugly picture. Wells not only found that Martin was indeed harassed by Incognito, but that Incognito and two other Dolphins O-linemen, Mike Pouncey and John Jerry, were part of a bullying ring that targeted Martin, another lineman and a Dolphins assistant trainer.
Wells says his inquiry found Martin was taunted and ridiculed almost daily. After Martin left the team in October, Incognito boasted about "breaking Jmart" in a notebook the linemen used to tally fines and bonuses among themselves. When the investigation began, Incognito asked another player to destroy the book, but investigators obtained it.
The other harassed player was "subjected to homophobic name-calling and improper physical touching," while the assistant trainer, who was born in Japan, was subjected to racial slurs.
"It was not difficult to conclude that the assistant trainer and Player A were harassed, but the questions raised in Martin's case were more complex, nuanced and difficult," the report says.
In the case of Player A, the report said, Dolphins offensive line coach Jim Turner "was aware of the running 'joke' that Player A was gay, and on at least one occasion, he participated in the taunting."
"Around Christmas 2012, Coach Turner gave the offensive linemen gift bags that included a variety of stocking stuffers. The gifts included inflatable female dolls for all of the offensive linemen except Player A, who received a male 'blow-up' doll," the report said.
"According to Incognito, Player A was a 'good kid' who 'took it well' and never told his teammates to stop. In Incognito's eyes, jokes about Player A's sexuality were all harmless fun."
Read the full report
here. Wells found that even considering Martin's mental history, his increased sensitivity to insults and his attempt to be friends with Incognito, Martin was definitely harassed, and that Pouncey and Jerry joined in. He found that Incognito, who was the undisputed leader of the Dolphins offensive line before being suspended for the final eight games of the season, fostered a culture in which "extremely vulgar taunting was a typical form of communication." According to the report, the bullying brought back memories of how Martin had been harassed and bullied in middle school and high school. At one point in 2013, he was so deep into depression that he thought about committing suicide.
Looks like Jason Whitlock was being way too kind when he described the Dolphins locker room was more like a prison yard. It's one thing for players to engage in this type of bullying, but a coach? Beyond the pale. To my mind, Turner's involvement in this means that head coach Joe Philbin needs to go. Either Philbin knew about this and did nothing, or he failed to make it his business to know. The latter is just as serious, since the standard NFL head coach's contract explicitly requires the head coach to supervise his assistants. That's the main reason Sean Payton sat out the 2012 season in the wake of the Bountygate scandal.
There was already reason enough to fire Philbin when it emerged that he allowed Incognito to start every game of the 2012 season after Incognito harassed a volunteer at the team's celebrity golf tournament. But this should put it beyond all doubt--neither he nor Incognito have any business anywhere in an NFL locker room again.