Throughout last week the Miami Dolphins’ Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin flooded headlines in the sports world. Reporters flocked to Miami to report on this story. ESPN covered it seemingly nonstop on all its shows, and all of the sports radio shows, both nationally and locally, seemed to have something to say about this incident. This story started back when the Dolphins announced on Nov. 3 Incognito was being suspended for conduct detrimental to the team. It was later discovered the cause of this suspension was due to Incognito allegedly bullying and threatening second-year tackle, Martin. 
Over the week many different storylines and twists have come out involving this story. Every Dolphins’ player who has come out has basically taken Incognito’s side and said Martin was in the wrong. The Dolphins’ general manager essentially told Martin’s agent he should have responded by “punching Incognito in the face.” Head coach Joe Philbin said he knew nothing about the situation. There have even been reports the black players in the locker room consider Incognito, a Caucasian, an honorary black person and they don’t consider Martin, an African-American, to be “black enough.” 
As a former football player and offensive lineman myself, albeit only at the high school level, I find Incognito’s behavior and the behavior of the other Dolphins’ players repugnant. Could Martin have done more to stand up for himself and defend himself or handle the situation differently? Maybe so, but that does not vindicate Incognito in all of this, nor does it justify Martin’s teammates all blaming him essentially because he inconvenienced their football season. 
A survey was recently done by ESPN in light of this situation  where 72 players representing all NFL teams were asked, “Which player would you rather have as a teammate, Martin or Incognito?” 34 players voted for Martin, only 15 voted for Incognito and 23 said neither. To me, the survey suggests the Dolphins players simply resent Martin for snitching and getting Incognito suspended. It should be pointed out Incognito is a veteran player and a very good player at his position. He is a significantly better player than Martin, and I believe that is the main reason why the Dolphins’ players seem to defend Incognito and blame Martin. No other players on any other team seem to take their position, and no other analysts take their position. 
The Dolphins’ players seem to be the only people who do not get it. They seem to be the only ones who cannot comprehend that a man was verbally abused, racially slurred and threatened with physical violence up to the point where he no longer felt comfortable or safe in his work environment. 
Yet some of the Dolphins’ players and front office personnel’s attitudes seem to be, “How dare Martin end his frustration and personal suffering at the expense of our season. How dare he stand up for himself and get one of our best players suspended.”
I also take major offense as a black man that certain players on the Dolphins team basically have tried to condone or excuse Incognito’s racial remarks toward Martin because essential they feel like he “acts more black” than Martin does. That type of mindset is one derived from ignorance, yet it is a mindset that very much exists in the black community. That type of thinking places a negative stigma on blacks because some of the black players in the Dolphins locker room believe because Martin went to Stanford, grew up in a two-parent home where both of his parents went to Harvard and because he is educated and talks properly that he is not really “one of us,” and that type of thinking could not be more egregious. 
I might not go to an Ivy League school, but as a black man in college trying to better myself, I take major offense to the notion that by doing so I might be somehow seen as “less black” than any other black person by some. This entire story and all of its subplots have left a terrible stench on the sports world and on how outsiders view athletes. I would just like it to be known that such behavior and thinking is not that of every athlete. I understand that hazing can be a part of the game and maybe even help a team bond, but Incognito clearly took it too far and for nobody in the Dolphins organization to condemn Incognito or come to the defense of Martin is despicable to me.