So first off, any occupation or condition that forces you into the trenches where your physical well-being depends on whether another individual has your back be it the Military, Football or jail for that matter commands a certain level of respect and comradery but also an understanding that the environment is harsh. At the same time, just like the Military is an institution so are jail and football and institutional racism is the worst because it impacts your ceiling which impacts your money which impacts your family and your mental well being. This is the first conflict.
With that said, I don't believe Incognito to be a racist, just a buffoon with poor judgement. The thing about ignorance is that Incognito's intentions seem to have been good-natured he just wasn't the right guy for the "job" of toughening up this cat because he seems to have no boundaries which is dangerous. This creates the second conflict.
Finally without knowing much about Martin other than what's been reported about his background and level of education in conjunction with the hazing/bullying that he was a "victim" of lead me to believe that he's a punk. There's no room for punks in the trenches. Sure there may be some mental health aspect to this that makes is passiveness understandable but I doubt it because he's smart enough to know what he can and cannot handle and whether this was the right career path for him to take. This seems to be the conflict Martin struggled with the most.
There's two ends to the spectrum here both of which Martin was completely in control of no matter how emasculated he may have felt, he either whoops Incognito's ass and becomes the angry black guy or he goes MIA from the team like he did and bytches up. I don't think Martin too much struggled with this conflict, it's pretty clear that 10 times out of 10 he bytches up. Both are the wrong move, because the response to both of those moves causes the situation to go public (though the ass whooping could have been kept private! hehe) which is why I say Martin is a punk. This should have never gone public. Football players say and do some pretty crude things and no matter which side of the argument you favor, punking out is never the response, you have to make your stance clear. Forking over 15k for a trip or a dinner does not clearly state your position of non-compliance to your aggressor. I ain't even have to go to Stanford or Harvard to know that.
tough luck nikka.
I only played high school football, but there were fights damn near daily; either in the locker room or on the practice field. It was a routine occurrence. You think if Martin and Incognito threw hands, one of them would get cut? I guarantee there's been a fight between teammates either on the field or in the locker room on every single NFL team this season. That shyt is commonplace and is typically how most disputes are handled in that realm.
I just wish they understood how their actions can distract people from what the real issues are when they do appear. In this case....martin was viewed universally as soft, from his head coach on down.
+rep points