More than 1,000 text messages between Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito in connection to the bullying scandal that rocked the Miami Dolphins last November were released this week.
The texts were obtained by TheBigLead.com from a National Football League source.
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Beginning on Oct. 20, 2012, and ending on Nov. 3, 2013, the texts reveal what appears to be a friendship between the two players, who in the 1,000-plus texts primarily discussed drinking, eating, and partying with women as though they were frat boys living in a never-ending party.
Though insults are exchanged, they are overwhelmingly done so in a playful, yet vulgar manner.
Overall it appears that the 30-year-old Incognito generally is the more proactive of the two, frequently encouraging the 24-year-old Martin to join him and others out on the town for drinks, but it does not appear bullying took place in the the published messages.
The mood between the two players changes abruptly on Nov. 1 when Incognito texts Martin an article in which the player is accused of bullying his younger teammate, asking him, "What's up with this?"
Martin responds, "I got nothing to do with it man I haven't said anything to anyone."
"I heard it's all coming from Ur agent?" Incognito responds in a text.
A day later Incognito writes, "I need you buddy I'm getting killed in the media," followed one day later by the last text in the exchange, "Bro can we talk? The dolphins are talking about releasing me."
There is no response from Martin.
In November, the
Dolphins suspended Incognito for a voicemail he left on Martin's phone that according to an NFL source contained vulgar, racist language.
Martin had also accused Incognito of hazing rookies on the team by bullying them to pay thousands of dollars for veteran players' expensive dinners and social outings.
At the time,
Incognito said the allegations of intimidations were not bullying, but rather a product of a culture of "brotherhood" in the locker room.
Several players said
Martin and Incognito were close after the scandal broke.
"If you had asked Jon Martin a week before who his best friend on the team was, he would have said Richie Incognito," Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill told The Associated Press. "The first guy to stand up for Jonathan when anything went down on the field, any kind of tussle, Richie was the first guy there. When they wanted to hang out outside of football, who was together? Richie and Jonathan."
Dolphins' Guard John Jerry said he never heard Incognito use the racist term included in one voicemail and wouldn't have objected anyway.
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"I would have just laughed it off," Jerry said. "I know the type of person he is, and I know he doesn't mean it that way. Everybody's got friends that when you're out, they say those type of things. It's never made a big deal."
Martin, who reportedly sought counseling for emotional issues, left the team Oct. 28.
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