Dolphins players accused of bullying teammates

[MWM]

There is a profound lack of understanding of bullying on this thread.

[Dom Heffner]

There is a profound lack of understanding of bullying on this thread.

Oh you mean you couldn't go into your place of employment and legally have one of your newer employees pay for your Vegas trip?

You couldn't call up some female employee and call her a half breed on her personal phone? Punch her?

Christ- the lunacy of people....

"This is the way it is..."

Well the way it is is illegal- sorry you can't bully people for their paychecks because they are new.

I don't care if Allen Page did it. Or Ahmad Rashad. or Terry Bradshaw.

All this talk about a "fraternity that you earn membership into..."

Baloney and you all know it.

If Richie Incognito wants to go to Vegas Richie Incognito can pay for it himself.

Just because you play in a violent sport doesn't mean you get to be violent off the field.

Anyone who defends this crap needs their head examined....

[Boston Red]

Truth is rather elusive in this story, but the current version is that Martin agreed to go on the trip, and each guy was putting in 15 large. Martin backed out at the last minute but paid his portion (as he should have IF THIS VERSION OF THE STORY TURNS OUT TO BE TRUE).

[Dom Heffner]

Truth is rather elusive in this story, but the current version is that Martin agreed to go on the trip, and each guy was putting in 15 large. Martin backed out at the last minute but paid his portion (as he should have IF THIS VERSION OF THE STORY TURNS OUT TO BE TRUE).

It could be, BR.

But there are folks defending the version as leaked out.

Time will tell- you are correct in that there is more to any story....

But even if what Martin is saying isn't true, there are people still defending the fraternity nonsense....

[redhawkfish]

It could be, BR.

But there are folks defending the version as leaked out.

Time will tell- you are correct in that there is more to any story....

But even if what Martin is saying isn't true, there are people still defending the fraternity nonsense....

I have never understood the mentality of treating another human being like garbage to build them up or to let them in your cutesy little boy's club!

[Chip R]

I have never understood the mentality of treating another human being like garbage to build them up or to let them in your cutesy little boy's club!

Is that something that was learned from the military? No offense to anyone who has served but I believe that is exactly what the military does to recruits. They verbally abuse recruits - cadets and midshipmen in the service academies - and then they build them up into a finished product. I'm sure when team sports started, coaches drew to their military service to figure out how to build a team. The hazing of first year players was also probably drawn from players who were in fraternities.

[Rojo]

There's a difference between a war and football game. But watch an NFL Film and you wouldn't know that. "The frozen tundrea of Lambeau Field" might as well be the outskirts of Stalingrad if you went by atmospherics.

The NFL and its players need to ease up. It's a game. You want something meaningful go fight Assad or something.

[paintmered]

Is that something that was learned from the military? No offense to anyone who has served but I believe that is exactly what the military does to recruits. They verbally abuse recruits - cadets and midshipmen in the service academies - and then they build them up into a finished product. I'm sure when team sports started, coaches drew to their military service to figure out how to build a team. The hazing of first year players was also probably drawn from players who were in fraternities.

And when these sorts of allegations arise in the military, 4-star generals often have their careers abruptly ended.

I'm waiting for the first comparison of locker room behavior to Tailhook. It took an event such as that to institute cultural change in the military, but it did. The supportive outcry from inside the fraternity is eerily similar.

Regardless of whose story is right or wrong, this is an opportunity to examine the culture and if necessary, change it.

[dubc47834]

It could be, BR.

But there are folks defending the version as leaked out.

Time will tell- you are correct in that there is more to any story....

But even if what Martin is saying isn't true, there are people still defending the fraternity nonsense....

Yes...I am defending the fraternity nonsense. If it comes out that what Martin is saying is BS then I see very little wrong with most of this. If Martin was treated the exact same as every other rookie last year, what is the problem...nothing to me. It's a right of passage, there are many things in this world that have similar things that go on for younger/newer guys to the team. These guys go thru hell and back. What does it really accomplish, not much probably, but if it makes those members of that team feel like more of a team, so be it. I'm in the military and there are all kinds of hazing/rights of passage. It's a team building experience.

Also, if Martin had a problem, he should have stood up and said something. If no one knows there is a problem, how can it be fixed. If he couldn't stand up for himself and say something, or stand up and confront Incognito, the how could he honestly expect to rectify this issue. I'm not saying that either Martin or Incognito is right/wrong, both have things they could have done better. There is still way too much of the story that is untold for me to say who is right or wrong in my opinion. I know I will get blasted for this opinion, but I got thick skin!!!

[dubc47834]

Is that something that was learned from the military? No offense to anyone who has served but I believe that is exactly what the military does to recruits. They verbally abuse recruits - cadets and midshipmen in the service academies - and then they build them up into a finished product. I'm sure when team sports started, coaches drew to their military service to figure out how to build a team. The hazing of first year players was also probably drawn from players who were in fraternities.

Have you ever been to a boot camp? Its not as bad as people make it out to be. If you can stand someone in your face screaming and yelling, what are you going to do when bullets and bombs start flying around you. Has a drill sgt taken things too far, sure, but it is a rarity. They aren't allowed to get in your face and get personal or call you a piece of crap, its not verbal abuse like you state. The military has actually gotten pretty soft over the last few decades.

[Rojo]

I'm in the military and there are all kinds of hazing/rights of passage. It's a team building experience.

If by "team" you mean a group of people who are exactly alike, then yes, it is teambuilding.

[JaxRed]

Obviously Rojo has never been in the miltary

[dubc47834]

If by "team" you mean a group of people who are exactly alike, then yes, it is teambuilding.

The military is not a group of people who are exactly alike. It is one of the most culturally diverse teams in the world.

[dubc47834]

Obviously Rojo has never been in the miltary

Exactly, we have our problems, but generally race is not one of them!

[Rojo]

Exactly, we have our problems, but generally race is not one of them!

I didn't mention race.

Despite Ingonito's slurs, I think a lot of this might be about class and personality. A whole bunch of Martin's kin are Harvard Alum. Is Martin too soft on the playing field? I don't follow football closely enough to know. But the "softness" might be because he was seen reading a book or something. If he can't do his job, cut him. But I don't blame him one bit for not wanting to hang in Vegas with a bunch of meatheads.

I understand the military's a different animal, maybe firefighting and cops too. But have you ever been in a work environment where doing your job well wasn't enough, where you had to become part of a team and were expected to mesh into a social Borg? Where everyone has to be "on the same page"? It's a recipe for mediocrity.