Hazing has been going on in sports since the beginning of time (a little hyperbole) and harmless initiation to sports team can be seen at various tiers of athletics, particularly at the professional level. Over the years, veteran players
have had some very absurd, yet playful and kindhearted demands for the rookies on their team.
While the players on the Baltimore Orioles made their rookies wear tutus and dresses, the New York Knicks had their first year players wear pink pajamaswith hearts and teddy bears. Meanwhile, the coaches of the Cleveland Cavaliers made their rookies walk around with strollers and baby dolls for an entire day.
The
common thread between all of these amusing gestures was that they were very
innocent attempts to have some fun with the new guys on the team. However, the
recent bullying incident between fellow Miami Dolphin offensive linemen Richie
Incognito and teammate Jonathan Martin has added some real questions to the
nature of the hazing that goes on in sports, along with the locker room
environment that fosters this type of behavior. While hazing in sports is typically good-natured, the line between a harmless prank and bullying has been
blurred following this prominent professional football episode. The appalling harassment
that transpired between Incognito and Martin not only demonstrates the extent
to which hazing is taken, but it is also elucidates the fact that sports’
locker rooms are much different than a normal working or school environment.
It is a sad reality that the vicious
and merciless aggravation of Jonathan Martin by Richie Incognito could actually
occur in a sports setting, where everybody is on one team fighting for the same
goal: to win games. The details of the harassment are not an exaggeration or an
overreaction by those in the media, or by Martin himself. Among other things, Incognito
reportedly extorted at least 15,000 dollars from Martin, left some vulgar and racially charged voice mails and
texts on his phone, told Martin he would sexually abuse his sister, and threatened
to kill Martin and find the other members of his family and harm them. The
locker room culture of professional football, and sports in general, is now
under a microscope as a result of the outlandish hazing in the Dolphins locker
room.
The majority of the Miami players noted very conspicuous differences
between themselves and Martin. The offensive lineman had come from a very
educated family – both of his parents went to Harvard – and he likewise
attended a very prestigious academic university, Stanford, after turning down a
chance to play at Harvard. A multitude of players on the Dolphins associated
Martin’s intelligence, his love of poetry, and his quiet demeanor as a lack of
toughness. In fact, there are reports circulating that the Dolphin coaches told
Incognito to toughen Martin up because of this perceived weakness. In a locker
room atmosphere, Martin’s intelligence ostracized him from the rest of his team
in that his play on the field was viewed as “soft.” Richie Incognito, on the
other hand, was seen as a tough and vicious player, a guy who had been
suspended in college at Nebraska, been arrested for assault, later reinstated
to the team, and then suspended again after a fight in a bar. Nonetheless, in
the Dolphins locker room, Incognito was seen as the guy everybody wanted to
play with, as he was the fierce and vicious competitor, the player who would run through a
wall for his teammates.
This explains why in the aftermath of the allegations
of bullying in Miami’s locker room, the players on the Dolphins supported
Incognito rather than Martin, despite the verbal epitaphs that were thrown
Martin’s way. Offensive tackle Tyson Clabo said, "What's perceived is that Richie is this psychopath racist, and the reality is Richie as a pretty good teammate. I don't know why [Martin is] doing this. And the only person who knows why is Jonathan Martin." Defesnive tackle Randy Starks added, "We're trying to clear Richie's name. He's getting a bad rap." In fact, Martin waited a long time to file a grievance against Incognito
because he feared severe repercussions from the other players on the Dolphins.
Many players also supported Incognito because they thought Martin broke an
unwritten sports code that “what happens in the locker room, stays in the locker
room.” Although Incognito bullied Martin, the fact Martin “squealed” on a
teammate was seen as worse than the hazing. Antrel Rolle of the New York Giants
said about Martin, “At this level, you’re a man… And take awareness of that, man,
you’re a grown-a.. man. You need to stand up for yourself.” Rolle’s comments
prove that a professional sport locker room is often defined by toughness and
aggressiveness, and despite Martin’s emotional distress, the fact that he
needed help to deal with Incognito’s bullying was viewed as a man being
vulnerable and weak.
The really intriguing part about the
Incognito and Martin bullying incident is that this is not an isolated
situation that escalated out of hand, rather, hazing has been happening in college
and high school sports for decades. This past fall, the entire Cornell lacrosse team was
suspended for hazing as the freshmen on the roster were forced to participate
in an alcohol-chugging competition.
Good-natured fun will likely not escalate into the type of abuse that
occurred between Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin. Many pro athletes share the sentiment that hazing can unite a
team if it includes humor without malicious intent. However, the locker room
culture of sports is not an inviting atmosphere to those who appear vulnerable,
and it just takes one joke that goes too far to create a situation that can get
ugly. Sports’ locker rooms can certainly be a place for bullying, which is why coaches and executives in the front office need to be sensitive and aware of even seemingly
innocent hazing.
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