8 Things We Learned From The Fox Sports Richie Incognito Interview
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Just when you thought the NFL hazing scandal couldn’t get more bizarre, it just did. Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Richie Incognito broke his silence in a revealing interview with Fox Sports.
In the 10 minute video clip, senior sports writer Jay Glazer pressed Incognito with the questions everyone has been thinking. Interestingly enough Richie was very straight forward with his answers, only avoiding incriminating the Dolphins organization.
“You can ask anybody in the Miami Dolphins locker room who had Jon Martin’s back the absolute most. And they will undoubtedly tell you, me,” said Incognito. While the jury is still out on the nature of his intentions, this Q&A sit-down points to a bigger problem within NFL locker room.
From his reasoning behind the now infamous racist voicemail to his last communication with Jonathan Martin, we present the 8 things we learned from the Fox Sports Richie Incognito interview.
Drop a comment below and let us know if your view of Incognito changed after seeing this.
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Photos: Youtube, Twitter, Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports
Richie Incognito isn’t racist, allegedly:
“I’m not a racist. And to judge me by that one word is wrong. In no way, shape or form is it ever acceptable for me to use that word, even if it’s friend to friend on a voicemail. I regret that.”
His response to the voicemail:
“When I see that voicemail, when I see those words come up across the screen, I’m embarrassed by it. I’m embarrassed by my actions. But what I want people to know is, the way Jonathan and the rest of the offensive line and how our teammates, how we communicate, it’s vulgar. It’s, it’s not right. When the words are put in the context, I understand why a lot of eyebrows get raised, but people don’t know how Jon and I communicate to one another.”
On the use of the N-word in the Miami Dolphins locker room:
“It’s thrown around a lot. It’s a word that I’ve heard Jon use a lot. Not saying it’s right for when I did it in the voicemail, but there’s a lot of colorful words thrown around the locker room that we don’t use in everyday life. The fact of the matter remains, though, that that voicemail was left on a private voicemail for my friend, and it was a joke.”
Jonathan Martin texted Richie Incognito after leaving the team:
“I texted with him, I text messaged, I spoke with him through text message. And he texted me and said, ‘I don’t blame you guys. I blame some stuff in the locker room. I blame the culture. I blame what was going on around me.’ And when all this stuff got going and swirling, bullying got attached to it and my name got attached to it. I just texted him as a friend and was like, ‘What’s up with this, man?’ He said, ‘It’s not coming from me. I haven’t said anything to anybody.’ And I’m like, ‘OK.'”
Jonathan Martin talked reckless too:
According to Incognito, Jonathan Martin would also text death threats to his teammates.
On his checkered past:
If you go by just all the knucklehead stuff I’ve pulled in the past, done in my past, you’re sitting in your home and you’re thinking, ‘This guy is a loose cannon, this guy is a terrible person, this guy is a racist.’ When that couldn’t be farther from the truth. If I was a racist and I was bullying Jon Martin, when the press went in there and asked them questions, that locker room would have said, ‘Listen, we saw this, we saw that.’ I’m proud of my guys for having my back and telling the truth.”
On the root of the hazing problem:
“I blame the culture [of the NFL].”
If he were around Jonathan Martin now:
“I think, honestly, I think I’d give him a big hug right now because we’ve been through so much and I’d just be like, ‘Dude, what’s going on? Why didn’t you come to me?’ If he were to say, ‘Listen, you took it way too far. You hurt me.’ … You know, I would just apologize and explain to him exactly what I explained to you, and I’d apologize to his family. They took it as malicious. I never meant it that way.”
