I'm clearly in the minority here, and have been for the whole thread, but my opinion has changed very little.
- Richie Incognito is not racist. Did he use a racial slur? Sure. Do I think he fukked up by doing so? Absolutely. But I think it was his way of clownin and showing some tough love to Martin. You don't have to agree with that and you'll say "the fukk kinda tough love is that?!" and you're probably right, but in Richie's mind, if I had to guess, I think that's what he was doing. And I highly doubt this is the first time he's called Martin that, and I'd be willing to bet Martin was always cool with it, despite what the media-driven narrative is at this point. You don't hit someone up out of the blue and say those things jokingly on a voicemail if you're not cool with them to that level.
- Why don't I think Richie Incognito is a racist even though he used a racial slur? Because I'm choosing to look at the context in which it was used, and most of you aren't. Even if he used it in a demeaning way, I still don't think he's a racist in the sense that he thinks black people are inferior- considering Mike Pouncey is one of his best friends and he can be heard saying "You're gonna be the best man at my wedding" in that TMZ video.
A lot of y'all are of the opinion that if someone uses a racial slur, that automatically makes them a racist. I don't really subscribe to that belief. I'll fully admit I've said "fukk, stupid chink fukked up my order and forgot to give me my sweet and sour chicken". Does that mean I think Asians ain't shyt or feel like they're inferior? Does that make me a racist? I don't think so.
- I think this story is getting blown way out of proportion because most people, including a lot of you, haven't been in a football locker room. I have, and I know what goes on in there. You hear every fukkin racial slur/insult under the sun, but you're brothers, and you know there's no ill intent, so it's acceptable in that environment. Does that sound completely stupid and ludicrous to a lot of you? Probably, but the rules and customs within a locker room are so different from the rest of society that you have to understand that most of the shyt that's cool in there just isn't seen as normal by the rest of society. That's just how football players clown. It's not your common workplace.
- Now they're trying to focus on the coaches telling Incognito to toughen up Martin. So? That shyt happens everywhere.
- Still think this comes down to Jonathan Martin being a big p*ssy and not being able to handle the NFL, and he orchestrated this whole thing to preserve his financial situation. He sucks at football, is a headcase, and was probably going to be put on the "NFI" list as a result of his meltdown, meaning he wasn't going to get paid for the rest of the season. His parents, both attorneys, said fukk that, if he had a legit reason as to why he had a meltdown and we can put it on the team, they have to pay us not only for this season, but we can probably get crazy money from the NFL in a potential lawsuit. So he snitched on Incognito.
Again, the shyt that troubles me about this story and the reason it doesn't add up is the following:
- Martin was in on the same pranks when they were done to other players. So I have a hard time believing him when he says those pranks, when done to him, are what caused him to flip out.
- Why did Martin text Incognito back after Incognito hit him up to check to see how he was doing and say "it's not you guys bro, I don't blame you guys at all. It's just the culture of football"? Sounds like Martin is just a soft ass dude who wasn't built for the NFL. Again, there's nothing wrong with that, but as Ricky Williams said yesterday, if he came to that conclusion, him bringing down other people is some bytchmade shyt.
- If Incognito is a piece of shyt and racist like the media is saying he is, why are his teammates and former football players who don't even know him sticking up for him?
- Why did those same teammates of his vote him onto the team's Leadership Council?