While there’s plenty of chapter-and-verse to quote regarding the background of Dolphins guard and alleged bully Richie Incognito, less has been discussed about the qualities of Jonathan Martin, the bullied.
But Martin’s high school coach said that based on the player he coached, he’s not surprised another player zeroed in on Martin.
“Bullies usually go after people like him,” Harvard-Westlake School coach Vic Eumont told Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post. “With his background, he’s a perfect target.”
After attending an upscale private high school, and then attending Stanford, there was a certain element Martin wasn’t exposed to along the way, and Eumont said that was going to be an adjustment.
“Before he wasn’t around Nebraska, LSU kind of guys,”Eumont said. “He’s always been around Stanford, Duke, Rice kind of players. . . .
“In locker rooms full of Nebraska, LSU, Southern Cal players, Miami players, they’ll look at this as a weakness. If he makes it through all this, and if he was encouraged to come back, he’d come back with a vengeance.”
Eumont described Martin as polite and popular among teammates and teachers, and that rather than lashing out at Incognito, he walked away.
“I can see where somebody that’s a bully will take advantage of him, and rather than him say anything would just hold it inside,” Eumont said of Martin. “I can see where if somebody was bullying him he would take that to heart, and be concerned and think it was his fault. . . .
“I think he’s a guy the Dolphins should work to get back in the fold. I think he can be an excellent player. He’s a great kid. He’s worth saving. If ever there’s a kid worth saving, he’s one of them.”
Eumont’s remarks point directly to the perception in some circles that Martin will be labeled as soft. But while Stanford is insulated academically, Martin was coached there by Jim Harbaugh, who isn’t exactly running a daisy farm.