Shortly after the Dolphins made tackle Ja’Wuan James the 19th overall pick of the draft, center Mike Pouncey took to Twitter to welcome his new teammate with a reference to last year’s harassment of former Dolphins tackle Jonathan Martin.
“Great pick! Can’t wait for our gifts he’s getting us lol,” Pouncey wrote.
Attempt at humor or not, it’s a bad look for a player who was implicated alongside former Dolphins Richie Incognito and John Jerry in Ted Wells’ investigation into Martin’s harassment. That was the message that Dolphins General Manager Dennis Hickey delivered to Pouncey when he addressed the tweet with the center.
“We talked with Mike and Mike understands that sometimes things can be taken out of context,” Hickey said, via ESPN.com. “What’s meant as a light-hearted comment can be taken out of context. We talked with Mike and he was good with that and understands social media is a great tool to reach our fans for the positive. But you have to make good choices with that.”
One can quibble with the idea that anything was taken out of context given the context of what happened last season, but not with the idea that players need to make good choices when social media. Or with the idea that Pouncey, who still may be disciplined by the league as a result of the investigation, should probably steer clear of jokes on the topic.