Former Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin is walking back his bullying accusations against his former teammate, Richie Incognito, which caused quite the scandal in 2013.
“I never believed for a second I was being bullied,” Martin told ESPN. “It’s a story that I’ve been trying to fix for 10 years.”
Incognito was suspended by the Dolphins in 2013 after reports that he bullied Martin to the point where the latter stormed out of the team’s cafeteria as a result of what was said.
Martin, a second-round pick by the Dolphins in 2012, was in his second NFL season when the bullying controversy surrounded him and Incognito.
The Dolphins later announced that Incognito was suspended for “conduct detrimental to the team.”
The league eventually got involved, retaining lawyer Ted Wells to investigate the incident, which found that Incognito, Mike Pouncey and John Jerry had all been engaging in bullying toward Martin.
RICHIE INCOGNITO DENIES ROLE IN BULLYING SCANDAL, BLAMES ‘DEMONS’ FOR EX-TEAMMATE BEING OUT OF NFL
The NFL’s report on the matter also said that Martin checked himself into a hospital and his mother needed to be flown across the country to be with him during that time.
But now, Martin is blaming his parents for the situation becoming as widely known as it is today.
“I had a situation with my teammates that I wasn’t super happy about,” Martin told ESPN. “But my mother had her own read on the situation.
“I hadn’t even told my coaches, hadn’t told anyone. And suddenly it’s on ESPN, right?” he continued. “I didn’t believe any of the stances I was taking, right, where I’m this victim. I wasn’t a victim, right? And again, it’s been a point of consternation.
“My mother maybe in her mind – I can’t read her mind – she thought she was doing the right thing.”
Incognito, who missed the second half of the 2013 season and the entire 2014 campaign due to the scandal, responded after seeing Martin’s new words on the matter.
“He couldn’t cut it in the NFL so he quit and his mom blamed me,” he said, bluntly on X. “Legacy media pushed this narrative long and far. Too bad it was all a lie! They lied to protect his money. He quit…the team had every right to claw back that money. His mom started the bullying narrative with @espn @AdamSchefter so that @MiamiDolphins wouldn’t go after his signing bonus!”
While Martin’s mother, Jane, did not speak with ESPN for the interview, his father, Gus, did say his piece.
“His mom and I did strongly intervene,” he said. “To make sure he was protected.”
Gus Martin also played an alleged voice from Incognito, which was left for his son at the time. The man on the phone who is allegedly Incognito threatens Jonathan Martin, using graphic language including racial slurs.
“Hey, what’s up, you half-n—– piece of s—,” Incognito allegedly says. “I saw you on Twitter, you been training 10 weeks. I’ll s— in your f—ing mouth. I’m going to slap your f—ing mouth, I’m going to slap your real mother across the face. F— you, you’re still a rookie. I’ll kill you.”
Martin would eventually get traded to the San Francisco 49ers during the offseason after the bullying allegations were brought to light. However, he only played 15 games there before retiring after going to Carolina Panthers training camp the year after.
Meanwhile, Incognito signed with the Buffalo Bills after his suspension was lifted by the league. He spent three seasons in upstate New York before joining the then-Oakland Raiders.
During an appearance on “HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” in 2019, Incognito denied ever bullying his former teammate, blaming Martin’s “mental health issues and his demons” for being out of the league.
Incognito added, “I fit the bill. Hey, racist, homophobic, whatnot. What I’m saying was, we were close, personal friends. It wasn’t factored into, ‘Hey, this is guy talk, these are two alpha males talking to each other.’ Was some bad s–t said? Absolutely. But was this a case of bullying? Absolutely not.”
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