Attempting to provide context for his treatment of teammate Jonathan Martin, Richie Incognito claimed he also received a threatening text message. The suspended Miami Dolphins guard made this revelation when he sat down with Jay Glazer of FOX Sports to discuss the Dolphins' bullying scandal involving him and Martin. A second-year offensive tackle, Martin abruptly left the Dolphins on Oct. 28 to receive treatment for emotional distress. Incognito, once named the NFL's dirtiest player in a poll of his peers, was subsequently suspended by the Dolphins on Nov. 2 for unspecified misconduct related to alleged mistreatment of Martin.
"People don't know how John and I communicate to one another," Incognito explained to Glazer. "For instance, a week before this went down, Jonathan Martin texts me on my phone: 'I will murder your whole effing family.' Now, did I think Jonathan Martin was going to murder my family? Not one bit. I knew it was coming from a brother. I knew it was coming from a friend. I knew it was coming from a teammate."
Hours after the interview aired on FOX on Sunday afternoon, David Cornwell, an attorney for Martin, shared a profane Internet meme featuring a smiling woman and a dog on Twitter and indicated this was the message that Incognito mentioned to Glazer.
WARNING: Image Below Contains Strong Language
JMart's text 2 Richie Incognito. U decide..... pic.twitter.com/IrgdNnhGe2
— David Cornwell (@wmdavidcornwell) November 10, 2013
Is that what viewers had in mind as Incognito recalled the text message?
Incognito referenced the text from Martin when asked about the threatening voice and text messages he had reportedly sent that included racial slurs. Speaking with Glazer, Incognito confirmed leaving the following voicemail for Martin, who is bi-racial.
“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.”
Although he did expressed embarrassment over the voicemail, Incognito cited the text from Martin as evidence that both players traded similar threats in jest. He portrayed a locker room culture where such language was acceptable.
"When I see that voicemail, when I see those words come across the screen, I'm embarrassed by it," Incognito said after he was presented with a transcript of the offensive voicemail he left for Martin. "I'm embarrassed by my actions. But what I want people to know is, the way Jonathan and the rest of the offensive line and how our teammates, how we communicate it's vulgar. It's not right."
[H/T Deadspin]