Excellent Brian Philips article on the Martin fiasco

Because this — this idea that Jonathan Martin is a weakling for seeking emotional help — this is some room-temperature faux-macho alpha-pansy nonsense, and I am here to beat it bloody and leave it on the ground. Every writer who's spreading this around, directly or by implication; every player who's reaction-bragging about his own phenomenal hardness; every pundit in a square suit who's braying about the unwritten code of the locker room — every one of these guys should be ashamed of himself, and that's it, and it's not a complicated story.

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http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/993 ... ng-scandal

Glad someone is telling it like it is.

Yes,,,telling it like it really is.

I think in the coming weeks the talking heads will back off rapidly. Throwing in the suicide thing really makes you think.

This plan of operation is as stupid as the coaches not allowing players to drink water during training camp workouts and needs to be changed. Perhaps the team bully needs to be bullied himself for a while and see how he likes it.

And again the bully was so stupid as to use media stuff that is public domain so he can't even deny it.

:141847_bnono:

This was a great article. There's another great article linked in it (SB Nation) and another one on ESPN by Jason Whitlock. They all really challenge the historical ideas around the concept of "manning up" as inherently flawed. One underlying theme in the media's telling of this story is the false dichotomy that one can either have Richie Incognito or Jonathan Martin, as if those are the only two options in the NFL.

There is nothing wrong with saying that a certain level of leadership, toughness, and "alpha male" qualities are needed to play at the NFL level. The problem is equating those qualities with brutality, sadism, cruelty, and heavy handedness. When I think of those positive alpha male qualities as it relates to the Seahawks, the obvious player that comes to mind is Russell Wilson. He tilts the room through is confidence in leadership, not through oppression. There's a difference.

Best article I've read on the subject yet. Thanks for the link.

I put a lot of this on Philbin, if he didn't know there was a problem with Martin, he's an idiot. If he didn't know that Incognito was a dick, he's an idiot.

Because of Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson, i don't ever see this kind of thing happening in Seattle.

I wonder about Martin's parents, didn't they know something was up, or did their son say "I'll handle it?"

Either way, the dolphins should have known about this and done something to help Jonathan. This isn't the 19th century.

Edit: I wonder if he had struggles at Stanford?

ivotuk":56mgg7x5 said:

Edit: I wonder if he had struggles at Stanford?

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An interesting side-note, is that Martin went to a nice upscale private high school (Harvard-Westlake). I heard from someone who used to coach at the high school that they had strict rules about not yelling at the players too much, and they were instructed to keep things civil between the players. This coach described the situation as "babying the players."

Whether or not this plays in or not, I don't know. It certainly didn't help thicken his skin any.

Bottom line as I see it:
Over-the-top douchey meathead (probably would be in jail if not for football) + extra-sensitive guy (probably not cut out for NFL locker rooms) = Problem waiting to happen