As more details emerge of the situation in Miami that caused Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin to leave the team and caused the Dolphins to suspend Richie Incognito, it’s sounding more and more like Incognito’s mistreatment of Martin went far beyond normal locker room hazing.
According to two reports, officials with both the Dolphins and the NFL have seen and heard communications that Incognito sent to Martin’s phone, on which Incognito calls Martin a racial slur and threatens to kill him.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that in April of 2013, Incognito left a voicemail for Martin saying, “Hey, wassup, you half n----- piece of [expletive] . . . I saw you on Twitter, you been training ten weeks. [I want to] [expletive] in your [expletive] mouth. [I’m going to] slap your [expletive] mouth. [I’m going to] slap your real mother across the face (laughter). [Expletive] you, you’re still a rookie. I’ll kill you.”
Jason La Canfora of CBS reports that Incognito also used the “half-n-----" epithet in a text message to Martin, and that Incognito sent Martin texts in which he made reference to tracking down members of Martin’s family and harming them. La Canfora reports that Martin was worried that Incognito wasn’t just talking trash and might actually be planning to harm Martin or his family.
Although Incognito wrote on Twitter on Sunday morning that he wanted his name cleared, he has not publicly explained his communications with Martin. Both the NFL and the Dolphins are investigating the matter, and the Associated Press reported that the NFL Players Association plans to look into the matter this week.