Bullying In The NFL?

[Mike]

Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito is no stranger to controversy, so it doesn't come as all that big a surprise that he's at the center of the NFL's investigation into the bullying of teammate Jonathan Martin, who abruptly left the team last Monday. According to sources, Incognito sent Martin "text messages and voicemails that are both threatening and racially charged in nature." As a result, Incognito has been suspended indefinitely.

Should we be shocked by this, though? Throughout his career, Incognito has proven himself to be one of the biggest assholes in sports.

Let's look at the evidence:
- While he was a center at Nebraska in 2004, Incognito was suspended for "repeated violations of team rules." After a fight at a party earlier that year, he was found guilty on one count of misdemeanor assault. The previous year he was suspended from the team for "unspecified reasons." He was ejected from one game for fighting, he was busted for spitting on an opponent, and got into another fight at the Alamo Bowl.
- After leaving Nebraska, Incognito enrolled at Oregon, where he didn't even make it to the practice field before being released. According to Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti at the time, "There were conditions we had set down and set forth for him to be admitted to our program, and they were not met."
- Despite all this, Incognito was drafted in the third round of the 2005 NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams. By his second season he was a starter, but while rehabbing an ankle injury in 2007, he later admitted to partying every night: "Drinking. Doing drugs. I was doing everything a professional athlete should not be doing."
- In his four years with the Rams from 2006 through 2009, he led the league in flags for unnecessary roughness, and committed 38 penalties altogether.
- In a poll of NFL players by The Sporting News in 2009, Incognito was voted the dirtiest player in the league. That same year, the Rams cut him after he committed two personal fouls in one game.
- After being waived by the Buffalo Bills in 2010, Incognito signed with the Miami Dolphins, and had apparently cleaned up his act, swearing off drugs and beginning a regimen of meditation.
-In 2012, Incognito was named to his first Pro Bowl, but was voted the second dirtiest player in the league, trailing only the Detroit Lions' Ndamukung Suh. During a preseason game the following year, Texas Defensive End Antonio Smith was so incensed by Incognito's play that he ripped his helmet off and swung it at him.
- Just this past August, according to a police report, Incognito got into an altercation at a Miami nightclub. According to sources, he punched a security guard. "I'm not going to touch it," Incognito said about the incident. "We've addressed it as a team. We've addressed it with me, and we've moved on." Incognito later denied the story.

And now this situation with Martin. In addition to the harassing texts and voicemails, sources told ESPN that Incognito bullied Martin into paying $15,000 to help finance a players trip to Las Vegas. Martin didn't want to go, but handed over the money to avoid Incgonito's wrath. And apparently, Martin isn't the only member of the Dolphins who has suffered abuse from the Lineman.

According to ESPN's Adam Shefter, with whom Incognito has been feuding over Twitter, in April the lineman left the following voicemail with Martin: "Hey, wassup, you half n----- piece of (expletive).…..(I'm going to) slap your (expletive) mouth. (I'm going to) slap your real mother across the face (laughter)…(Expletive) you, you're still a rookie. I'll kill you."

So is he the biggest asshole in the NFL? We certainly hope so, because if there's a bigger one, there's something seriously wrong.

Troubled Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Richie Incognito will reportedly never play another game for the Miami Dolphins.

"He's done," a ranking club source told the Miami Herald on Monday. "There are procedures in place and everyone wants to be fair. The NFL is involved. But from a club perspective he'll never play another game here."

Incognito, who has a history of drug abuse, spitting on players, punching out a security guard, and altercations with fans and officials, was indefinitely suspended after voicemails came to light in which Incognito slurred and threatened to "kill" teammate Jonathan Martin, harm his family and defecate in his mouth.

Martin left the team last week because he felt he was in an unsafe workplace environment after repeated abuse and harassment. Incognito, who was also reportedly one of the team's leaders, was also reportedly the "ring leader" of a group of veterans that extorted money from younger Miami Dolphins players to subsidize their lavish lifestyles.

 

[loomixguy]

Wouldn't be surprised if Incognito was a closet homosexual.

 

[Mike]

Wouldn't be surprised if Incognito was a closet homosexual.

Don't you know? Wasn't he trained in thuggery at Husker U? :lol: :lol:

 

[loomixguy]

I think he had all the training he needed before he ever showed up on campus.
This is one incident that can't be placed at TO or Bo's feet.

 

[Mike]

I think he had all the training he needed before he ever showed up on campus.
This is one incident that can't be placed at TO or Bo's feet.

I think you're correct. I think Solich recruited him..........

http://sports.omaha.com/2013/11/04/incognito-encountered-problems-at-nebraska/#.UnkMsIznbIU

 

[jigs]

I think he had all the training he needed before he ever showed up on campus.
This is one incident that can't be placed at TO or Bo's feet.

the coaches knew he was an asshole, recruited the player, not the person...coaches take the praise for a kid turning out great, then they take the heat for a dick like Incognito

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

but was voted the second dirtiest player in the league, trailing only the Detroit Lions' Ndamukung Suh.


Is there a pattern here? :?

 

[Mike]

but was voted the second dirtiest player in the league, trailing only the Detroit Lions' Ndamukung Suh.


Is there a pattern here? :?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm :lol:

 

[loomixguy]

Everybody biatches about Suh being a dirty player, but if he suddenly became available, every NFL team would be after him like OT on a free bottle of whiskey.

Off the field, I have it on good authority that he is a gentle giant, and extremely charitable with his money. He has been extremely generous with the UNL athletic department.

There is no doubt that Incognito will play again, it just depends on how desperate some team is.

I still say he's a closet homosexual.

 

[Mike]

The curtains closed on the comedy of errors at Ford Field on Sunday with a 34-24 Detroit Lions victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

In a game highlighted by a combined six turnovers and 16 penalties for 140 yards, the two NFC North combatants traded turns making mental mistakes.

One of the most noteworthy mistakes by the Lions was Ndamukong Suh's personal-foul penalty for a low block that negated a would-be pick six in the second quarter.

Going for the knees is no sign of a gentle giant.

 

[loomixguy]

The curtains closed on the comedy of errors at Ford Field on Sunday with a 34-24 Detroit Lions victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

In a game highlighted by a combined six turnovers and 16 penalties for 140 yards, the two NFC North combatants traded turns making mental mistakes.

One of the most noteworthy mistakes by the Lions was Ndamukong Suh's personal-foul penalty for a low block that negated a would-be pick six in the second quarter.

Going for the knees is no sign of a gentle giant.

I said "off the field".

Most of the players today are nowhere near as tough as Walt Garrison or Walter Payton. Butkus and Deacon Jones make Suh look like a choir boy. IMHO.

 

[katrina]

NFL owners could vote in March whether to ban hits to knees of defenseless players
NFL
BY MARC WEINREICH
NFL owners could vote in March whether to ban hits to the knees of defenseless players, such as the one this preseason that ended Miami Dolphins tight end Dustin Keller's year. (Bob Levey/Getty Images)
NFL owners could vote in March whether to ban hits to the knees of defenseless players, such as the one this preseason that ended Miami Dolphins tight end Dustin Keller's year. (Bob Levey/Getty Images)
The NFL's competition committee will take a closer look at hits to the knees of defenseless players this season in an effort to decide whether to possibly ban such a move in the future, chief of football operations Ray Anderson told The Associated Press on Tuesday.


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According to the report, the committee will monitor plays throughout the season and study the data when the group meets after the season. Based on the findings, the committee will decide whether hits to the knees of defenseless players are an "aberration or becoming a problem." If it finds that these hits are an issue, the committee could possibly recommend to NFL owners that they vote in March on whether to prohibit direct hits to the knees of defenseless players, Anderson told the AP:

"We are always looking at plays that may elevate themselves and we do include in that category hits on defenseless players. And certainly the hits to knees to players who have not had the opportunity to protect themselves or are not looking in the direction of where the hit comes from – we have had a couple hits whereby a player was hit below (or at) the knees."
Currently, a hit to the head and neck of a defenseless player is not allowed. Anderson said that with the outlawing of hits to the head and neck, there has been some discussion as to whether players will lower themselves to areas including the knees and below:

"This issue has not directly come up. But when we have had discussions when making the head and neck area completely off-limits to players, there was some concern players might lower their targets and might include knees and below. We will look at that going forward."
This preseason, there have been a couple of games that involved direct hits to the knees of a defenseless player that have drawn criticism from players, including hits to Miami Dolphins tight end Dustin Keller, which ended his season after he tore several knee ligaments on the play, and Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams., who is currently rehabbing a hyperextended knee and has no timetable for a return.

 

[3 M L & C]

In my estemation suh has made two maybe three really bad decisions on the field. He now is targeted and gets fined almost weekly for playing the game hard. He got fined 30,000 or so this year for a hit on the qb that was totally legit and he even eased up on the guy I don't think he even got flagged on the play. Suh is so big fast and strong any collision he has with the qb is going to be very violent. He layed out jay cutler on national tv and everyone was calling for him to be suspended. Cutler himself said it wasn't a dirty play those things happen in football sometimes. Whenever this gets brought up my dad says suh is like an angel compaired to the steelers d back in the day. Also bringing suh up in this conversation about incognito is just plane silly. Ones issue is in between the lines ones is in life as a whole.

 

[Mike]

Ndamukong Suh "out of control," college teammate says

Posted by Michael David Smith on November 25, 2011, 3:43 PM EST

Detroit Lions v Miami DolphinsGetty Images
Criticism of Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is coming from all corners, including a college teammate of Suh's who says it's time for a suspension.

Jets guard Matt Slauson, who played with Suh at Nebraska, told Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post that the NFL should suspend Suh because fines haven't curtailed his on-field misbehavior and, Slauson says, "he's out of control."

"Somebody needs to get him under control, because he's trying to hurt people," Slauson said. "It's one thing to be an incredibly physical player and a tenacious player, but it's another thing to set out to end that guy's career."

Suh and Slauson lined up against each other in practice, and Nebraska practices frequently featured problems related to Suh's temper getting the best of him, Slauson told Hubbuch.

Although Suh was one of the best defensive tackles in college football history — being named Associated Press College Football Player of the Year and winning the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy in addition to being a finalist for the Heisman Trophy — Slauson says his teammates didn't like him. And he says people at Nebraska like Suh even less now that he's making the football program look bad with his tactics in the NFL, including stepping on an opponent on Thanksgiving, resulting in an ejection.

This isn't the first time Slauson has indicated he didn't particularly enjoy being Suh's teammate. Asked about the then-rookie for the Lions a year ago, Slauson said, "I wouldn't say me and Suh were best friends. There were times we got in fights during spring ball, during camp. Emotions go, you get tired and Suh just happened to be the guy I was going against."

It seems that pretty much everyone is fed up with Suh right now. The next question is whether Roger Goodell is so fed up that Suh is suspended.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/25/ndamukong-suh-out-of-control-college-teammate-says/

 

[Mike]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--ndamukong-suh-stuck-with--dirty-player--tag--but-he-still-has-power-to-change-lions--fortunes-020912939.html

He got fined $100,000.00 for one of his antics and laughed at a $20,000.00 fine. Yea, he's out of control. Even one of his old team mates said he should be suspended.

Calling someone a dirty player is usually met with shock. Calling Ndamukong Suh dirty isn't met with much of a reaction anymore.

Even a record $100,000 fine could be seen as light, because he didn't get a game docked. His latest wince-worthy move, kneecapping Minnesota Vikings center John Sullivan on Sunday, was heinous and sadly unsurprising. The "Suh stomp" of Green Bay Packers lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith two seasons ago on Thanksgiving was a shock, but every subsequent borderline cheap shot (remember the kick to the groin of Matt Schaub?) afterward has only added to an entrenched view of Suh.

What will Suh do to change that perception, and change the Lions' reality of being a losing franchise?

.
The NFL hit Ndamukong Suh hard for an illegal hit on a Vikings lineman. (AP)


A year after a suspect hit of quarterback Jake Delhomme in the preseason of his rookie year, Suh followed up with a near decapitation of Cincinnati Bengals QB Andy Dalton in a 2011 preseason contest. Suh was fined $20,000 (which is only a fifth of the penalty for Sunday's hit against the Vikings) and his reaction then was telling. Suh tweeted, "$20,000 REALLY???!!!" Then he compared himself to Shaquille O'Neal.

"Shaq had the same problem when he was in the NBA," Suh said. "He kept playing. NBA Hall of Famer soon to come, one of the greatest big men I've ever seen, so I hope to follow in his footsteps."

Perhaps Suh meant to compare himself to Bill Laimbeer.

Suh's reaction to the infamous stomp was worse.

"What I did was remove myself from the situation in the best way I felt, me being held down in the situation I was in," Suh told reporters. "And further, my intentions were not to kick anybody, as I did not, removing myself as you see, I'm walking away from the situation and with that I apologize to my teammates and my fans and my coaches for putting myself in the position to be misinterpreted and taken out of the game."

There was nothing at all misinterpreted. Suh stomped the man.

The Lions' 10-win season spiraled after that, devolving into a sideshow of wretched defense and undisciplined play. Last year was a 12-loss catastrophe, which itself followed an offseason of off-field issues.


Suh failed to take ownership of his behavior and failed to fully embody his place as the soul of the Lions. He is the perfect embodiment of head coach Jim Schwartz, who is known for physical, aggressive defenses and for boys-will-be-boys rationalizations that end up torpedoing his own team. When Suh is on the field and playing well, Schwartz looks like a genius and the Lions look fearsome. When Suh is acting up or being shut down, the Lions resemble a fraud and Schwartz a WWE manager.

No offense to Calvin Johnson, who is as classy as they come, or Matthew Stafford, who took it upon himself to help recruit Reggie Bush to Detroit, but Suh is the fulcrum of this team. The Lions can go either way, depending on which way Suh goes.

It is Suh who lifts up the entire defensive line: Nick Fairley, who has matured in his own right, is tougher to handle when Suh is disruptive. Ziggy Anseh, the first-round pick in the classic Schwartz mold, is liberated by Suh's play. So is Willie Young. And the lot of those Lions assist a secondary that hasn't been potent since the Ray Crockett days.

The good news is this: there are signs Suh gets it. He is a team captain now, for the first time. He called a players-only meeting recently to reiterate the importance of this season. And he has apologized to his teammates for Sunday's knucklehead move, as well as to Sullivan, the man he hit. Yes, he has apologized to teammates for past behavior, but it was shrouded in excuse-making and weak rationalizations. The trend here shows a player who is realizing his place in a franchise, not just his place in a parade of Subway pitchmen.


Detroit loves Suh. Fans see the power and potential he brings. Other Michigan teams have won with nastiness, most especially the Bad Boys Pistons but also the Red Wings with Bob Probert and Joe Kocur. (Jack Morris wasn't exactly on the board of the convention and visitors bureau, either.) Sure, some fans have had it with Suh's antics, but far more relish his mean streak and fear he's going to take the free-agent money and run. The Detroit Tigers are in contention for another pennant, but nothing would make Detroit happier than a Super Bowl run. Nothing.

The talent is there for the Lions to become a force in the NFL. But it's never been about talent in the Schwartz era. It's been about having the discipline to let the talent shine. Suh's latest offense was sadly vintage because it negated a pick-six by DeAndre Levy.

Suh may always be called dirty. But if he starts acting right, he's got a chance to be called the player who changed the Lions for the better.

 

[Mike]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/ndamukong-suh-hit-100-000-fine-low-block-192544525--nfl.html

Suh has a long and less-than-distinguished history of cheap play. He's been fined for Thanksgiving misconduct twice, once for stomping on Green Bay's Evan Dietrich-Smith, and another time for crotch-kicking Houston's Matt Schaub. At least he used his body this time around.

 

[jigs]

In my estemation suh has made two maybe three really bad decisions on the field. He now is targeted and gets fined almost weekly for playing the game hard. He got fined 30,000 or so this year for a hit on the qb that was totally legit and he even eased up on the guy I don't think he even got flagged on the play. Suh is so big fast and strong any collision he has with the qb is going to be very violent. He layed out jay cutler on national tv and everyone was calling for him to be suspended. Cutler himself said it wasn't a dirty play those things happen in football sometimes. Whenever this gets brought up my dad says suh is like an angel compaired to the steelers d back in the day. Also bringing suh up in this conversation about incognito is just plane silly. Ones issue is in between the lines ones is in life as a whole.

Palamalu is the D-back you are referring too, and YES, I agree...he is a dirt bag. while at USC, they played KSU twice ( KSU won both times) Aaron Lockett was back to return a kick, Palamalu flies up and hammers Lockett, who signaled for a fair catch.... Lockett laid on the field foe a few minutes, then got up, and eventually returned to the game..... as our guy laid on the field, Trojan players laughed and high fived the scumbag....Pete Carroll game him the "play of the game" sticker after the game...... coaches are totally responsible, in my opinion, for the assholes these players become

 

[3 M L & C]

How many times has suh been chop blocked mike? Those offensive lineman are trying to put him out of the game as well. Just because the game alows them to do it it's not dirty or dangerous? Did you see the so called kick to shaubs groin either? While he was trying to throw his leg out to distract or affect the throw. He's no ninja with eyes in the back of his head. Which is what he would have to had to been to kick him in the man zone on purpose. Him kicking the guy on thanksgiving was bad. A couple of those pre season hits were a little uncalled for. Like I said two or three. Do you know what he does do? He makes sure the other team dedicates two people to block him. Again trying to compair him to incognito and his sircumstance is two totally seperate issues.

 

[Mike]

May be that Incognito & Suh are just misunderstood. :wink: