I think the biggest issue is that at the point where Incognito started calling him and texting Martin and threatening him outside of the locker room, it became harassment. The Dolphins should have monitored that situation. Richie Incognito has never been known to be a model citizen, etc. so they really should have gone back and checked to see how Martin was faring and been open to the fact that he might not have been able to deal with what was happening. I guarantee SOMEONE in that locker room told Martin to defend himself and when he decided not to, the rest of the team was like, why should I defend him if he doesn't want to defend himself? And as far as the N word goes - notice that not one black player on the Dolphins roster has come out and said what a great guy or teammate Incognito is. I don't think they thought the behavior was acceptable, I think they just decided not to say anything because that is just how Incognito was and they WISHED he would pull that crap on them (which he would never do ) - the story would be different. Some people can deal with it and some people can't. I really don't know of an instance where it is meant to be anything other than derogatory, i.e. there is no official definition that has been updated or changed to make it different than its original meaning, so for me - its offensive, period. Could have been the same for Martin. The Dolphins should be embarrassed that they let this go on and the coach needs to be held accountable too. As a supervisor, would you turn a new hire loose with a known psychopath (which Incognito clearly was because he has NO BOUNDARIES) and then not check on his progress? Naw, not really. Unless you are coaching the Dolphins...
I think the biggest issue is that at the point where Incognito started calling him and texting Martin and threatening him outside of the locker room, it became harassment. The Dolphins should have monitored that situation. Richie Incognito has never been known to be a model citizen, etc. so they really should have gone back and checked to see how Martin was faring and been open to the fact that he might not have been able to deal with what was happening. I guarantee SOMEONE in that locker room told Martin to defend himself and when he decided not to, the rest of the team was like, why should I defend him if he doesn't want to defend himself? And as far as the N word goes - notice that not one black player on the Dolphins roster has come out and said what a great guy or teammate Incognito is. I don't think they thought the behavior was acceptable, I think they just decided not to say anything because that is just how Incognito was and they WISHED he would pull that crap on them (which he would never do ) - the story would be different. Some people can deal with it and some people can't. I really don't know of an instance where it is meant to be anything other than derogatory, i.e. there is no official definition that has been updated or changed to make it different than its original meaning, so for me - its offensive, period. Could have been the same for Martin. The Dolphins should be embarrassed that they let this go on and the coach needs to be held accountable too. As a supervisor, would you turn a new hire loose with a known psychopath (which Incognito clearly was because he has NO BOUNDARIES) and then not check on his progress? Naw, not really. Unless you are coaching the Dolphins...