Bills guard Richie Incognito has tried to turn the page on the bullying scandal that sent him out of Miami, writing a successful second chapter in Buffalo.
But asked this week about his role in the abuse of former teammate Jonathan Martin, Incognito said Martin has tried to initiate conversations, to no avail.
“Zero conversation with Jonathan Martin,” Incognito said, via the Miami Herald. “He’s reached out and tried to speak a few times, but I have nothing to say.”
Incognito was out of the league in 2014, saying he was “radioactive” to many teams after the Ted Wells investigation, which emerged from Martin’s claims that Incognito, Mike Pouncey and John Jerry subjected him to emotional abuse.
“If anybody was there for Jonathan, it was me,” Incognito said. “And Jonathan had his troubles. He had his demons, like we all do. He left for whatever reason and he handled it the way he did and then really the story kind of takes on a life of its own. And there’s the narrative that Jonathan Martin and his camp wants you to believe and then there’s, you know, what me, what Mike Pouncey, what John Jerry, what [offensive line coach] Jim Turner, what [then-Dolphins head coach] Joe Philbin — what we know what happened.
“I could sleep good at night knowing what happened and what my actions were. I’m not saying I was a saint but I sleep well at night knowing what I did.”
Incognito said he’s stayed in touch with a number of former Dolphins teammates, but he hasn’t heard anything from owner Stephen Ross since before his suspension. And while the idea that he and Martin were close friends and that he “cared about him,” doesn’t fit with the traditional telling of the story, Incognito has forged ahead.