Everyone has an opinion on Richie Cognito and Jonathan Martin. That’s where we’re at right now America. Richie Incognito is what we’re talking about. Richie Incognito this and Richie Incognito that. Some people are saying intelligent things about the situation. And then some people are Mike Ditka. But someone who sits next to Mike Ditka on ESPN, tom Jackson probably had to the most articulate thoughts of all on the topic.
TJ on Richie Incognito and the Dolphins mess:
Let’s talk about what we know. Last year, May 18, about 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon, at a Dolphins’ sponsored golf outing, a female volunteer – and we’ve all been to these kinds of events – was approached by Richie Incognito with a gold club. He molested this young female volunteer inappropriately, as you can, with a golf club. I want our viewers to imagine that – your sister, your daughter. I have.
“He then knocked her glasses off her head and poured water over as a parting shot. She wanted an apology. He would not give her one. Nat Moore, former receiver now with the Dolphins organization, apologized for the organization and promised that something would be done. She didn’t think it would. She filed a police report, which is why we know about it.
“He later was then put on the leadership council after she signed a non-disclosure agreement which indicates or suggests that she got paid to stay quiet about what he did. So let’s fast-forward to this week, we have abuse, we have the cover in the locker room, and in this last instance, he was rewarded.
“I would put to you, as we fast-forward one more week, what is causing the panic in that locker room is that they realize that Jonathan Martin is documenting everything that they did for a year and half to him and they are already in a mode of trying to protect, not only Richie Incognito, but themselves as well.”
Jackson on the Dolphins locker room:
“The locker room went to great lengths in Miami to shift this conversation from a guy being bullied to a guy being a coward. As I watched it, it was so upsetting because they are trying to hold Jonathan Martin equally culpable to what was done to him. ‘It was done to him because we had to do it – we needed to toughen this guy up.’ As opposed to the fact that this intelligent young man whose parents are third generation Harvard graduates, ‘he is not quite as ‘Black’ as is Richie Incognito.’ This is insane. And it is going to get more insane by next week when this man tells what was done to him for a year and half.”
More from Jackson:
“This is atypical. This situation exists here with the Miami Dolphins. I don’t believe for a second that other locker rooms are allowing players to show the kind of disrespect that was shown here for Jonathan Martin. But to a certain extent, it is going to become a moot point. What the Dolphins have kind of inadvertently done here is drawing so much focus on the locker room that there are going to be rules in place now. There’s going to be rules of how much you can demand of a rookie. You can’t have a guy give you $30,000 to go take a trip that he’s not on. Go spend $15,000 on a meal. It is ridiculous, you get paid. Richie Incognito makes millions of dollars. Why would he make Ryan Tannehill go and get him a Jet Ski? … Like most circumstances, something good is going to come from this eventually.”
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Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the world; with regular weekly segments on NBC and Fox Sports Radio. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and RSS