bullying in miami?

[kidkvno1]

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id...nathan-martin-miami-dolphins-bullying-scandal

It was worth reading that.

To all of the ones who still think he is a pussy for walking out on the team, here is this part of that story for you!

Let's put some things in context, shall we? We're lucky in this regard, because it's actually fairly easy to put mental-health issues in context in a league whose retirees have a disproportionate tendency to shoot themselves to death. Former Chargers DB Paul Oliver is the most recent. He killed himself in late September at the ripe old age of 29. In 2012, four players or ex-players committed suicide in eight months, including 25-year-old Titans receiver O.J. Murdock, beloved Chargers icon Junior Seau, and Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, who — maybe you vaguely remember this — shot himself in the parking lot of the Chiefs' practice facility after murdering his girlfriend in front of his 3-month-old daughter.

The plague of NFL suicides might by itself hint at the severity of the desperation many players seem to find below the surface of America's favorite TV show. And that might, in turn, argue in favor of extending some basic benefit-of-the-doubt compassion toward a young player who says he's struggling. But let's say you don't see it that way. You need more convincing, maybe because you're a man and you know that compassion is a lie invented to keep you from owning a Hummer. Fine. Let's squeeze into our thinking caps and keep going.

The Marines have a strict anti-hazing policy, but we need our fantasy warrior-avatars to be unrestrained and indestructible. We demand that they comply with an increasingly shrill and dehumanizing value set that we communicate by yelling PLAY THROUGH PAIN and THAT GUY IS A SOLDIER and THE TRENCHES and GO TO WAR WITH THESE GUYS and NEVER BACK DOWN.

 

[kidkvno1]

Don’t Blame the Culture for Being an A-hole!

So by now you may have heard the news regarding Miami Dolphins offensive guard (ironic position to play for a guy who is so – offensive) Richie Incognito, suspended for his racist slurs toward fellow teammate Jonathan Martin.
In addition to the racist slurs allegations emerged that Incognito had been bullying Martin and threatening him with him not just racist voicemails but homophobic texts – way to be a role model buddy! One of his messages to Martin – contains such insults and language that I’ll refrain from quoting…suffice to say it includes a few mentions of the “N” word and a few mentions of the”F” word…and I’m not talking about “nice and fluffy!”
In a recent interview Incognito deflected his actions and accountability by blaming the culture – the culture of the NFL is to blame for his stupidity and poor judgment– lame excuse! Now, as an avid football fan, I understand the NFL has a culture all to its own – however “the culture” itself is no excuse for an individual, and public figure, to act like such a – well A-hole! Many media outlets are even reporting that Martin is a wimp, a coward, and not a tough guy for not sticking up for himself and challenging Incognito’s behavior. Perhaps he should’ve spoke up, told Incognito where to shove it, and handled the situation directly – though that doesn’t change the fact this type of behavior – which even requires retaliation of any kind – is deemed “ok” within NFL culture.
That being said, this is a great example of how the culture of an organization can perpetuate certain poor and negative behaviors. It’s also a great refresher of what makes for a high performing culture:

 

[OzExorcist]

For an outsider's perspective:

If this had happened in Australian Rules football (or any other sport in this country for that matter) this would be a massive national story, and I don't think there'd be much of a "two sides" angle to the story - the player doing the hazing/bullying and the club that allowed it would probably be fined by the league for bringing the game into disrepute, there's a chance the police would end up getting involved, heads would roll at the club and there'd be a massive national outcry that something like that could happen in the first place.

Something else to consider too: the NFL has recently (I gather) introduced rules against excessive celebration, and against taunting opponents on the field... but it's not coming down strongly on this issue? Whatever way you choose to look at it, I'd say they've got their priorities a bit out of whack.