A major new issue has been brewing over the past couple of
days, receiving a wide array of news coverage.
It has spanned channels as specialized as the NFL Network, all the way
to your local news station and favorite internet blog. The issue that has arisen is the recent
retirement of former Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Jonathan Martin. The controversy stems from his teammate,
Richie Incognito, reportedly bullying him into submission over the past few
seasons; even going as far as saying he will kill his mother and throwing
racial slurs around in the process (words many say should not even be in his
vocabulary).
As many Americans already may know, CNN used a polarizing tactic during the Zimmerman v.
Trayvon Martin case to position their audience to see the issue racially. Zimmerman was viewed as a biracial racist who
performed an unnecessary action against an innocent young African American
man. ESPN is putting on a very similar
performance. In the morning, they air radio
broadcasts from white male talk show hosts (many of them former players, but we’ll
get to this later). Then, if you turn
into afternoon programming, you will begin to see African American
correspondents and former players who are now analysts for the Emmy Award
winning sports news network.
I want
to focus the attention towards the league for a moment. At the break of the news 3 days ago, many
players erupted and took the side of the victim, many of them directing blame
to the leaders and veterans of the team for not regulating the situation
properly. The league is now against the
Miami Dolphins and they find themselves with their backs against the wall. In response, the head coach held a press
conference in which he claimed he will take full responsibility once the
results come in from the investigation set forth by the commissioner, Roger
Goodell. Roger Goodell taking action
immediately is vital from a business because parents won’t be encouraging their
children to play football any longer is this begins to be perceived as a normal
occurrence. Of course, coincidentally or
not, this comes in the wake of news that former running back Tony Dorsett has
confirmed he has CTE, a serious brain disease many former NFL players
experience later in life. This is
another problem the NFL is currently facing, ensuring player safety to future
athletes. As of now 4500 fomer players
are seeking $765 million in retributions in federal court for the NFL
improperly monitoring and releasing proper protocols about the danger they are
in (but this is for another time as I think this is racial battle is a cover up
for the lawsuit).
An interesting
observation I had was how former NFL lineman and current analysts Mike Golic
and Mark Schlereth (both white males who played similar offensive line
positions) have taken the side of Incognito stating things along the lines of, “he
should stand up and fight for himself”, and “this type of behavior occurs often
in NFL locker rooms.” However, as ESPN
opposes them against future hall of famers Chris Carter, Keyshawn Johnson,
Brian Dawkins, and Jerome Bettis, the viewer begins to hear a different
story. The tone now shifts to such
responses as, “he should not be saying these racial slurs”, “it’s sad that he
had no one he trusted enough to talk to”, and many other aversions directed at the
people around him to show him as a victim.
As the
story begins to build day by day, we are fed new information and the stories
begin to stretch and evolve as time goes on.
Dolphins players, in order to limit the amount of damage in the locker
room, have been quoted as calling Incognito (a white male) their “honorary
black man” and saying they knew nothing of the situation. Since the story has leaked, we have learned
Incognito has had past behavioral problems and has been indefinitely suspended
from the team. More importantly, we
learned that Jonathan Martin has been planning to quit playing for quite some
time. Could this be a business move on
his part? I can’t credibly answer
that. News like this will allow him to
walk away from football and receive a nice check as he does, as well as open up
opportunities to write a book covered his experiences since he is the victim in
this instance. And let us not forget
that he comes from a wealthy household with two well-educated parents, both of
whom hold prestigious jobs and can be assumed to have helped him attend the
University of Stanford. The result of
this news? Him being labeled “soft”
because he doesn’t have the typical upbringing that America associates with
African American men. Ridiculous. As you can see, race has played a key issue
in this story, which has been covered around the clock. I hope many issues being quoted as facts now
are revealed later as untrue and both parties can shake hands and move on as
time passes. For now, the most we can
hope to do is race toward the finish, and put an end to racism.
Additional Links:
http://nfl.si.com/2013/11/06/richie-incognito-honorary-black-man-miami-dolphins-jonathan-martin/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2013/11/05/incognito-bully-accusations-nebraska-freshman/3439819/
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