Jonathan Martin likely done with Miami Dolphins, report says
(Michael Dwyer / AP)
Jonathan Martin most likely will not play football again this season and is finished with the Miami Dolphins but hopes to resume his NFL career, ESPN’s Lisa Salters reports.
Martin is expected to explain soon, perhaps this week, what prompted him to leave the Miami Dolphins two weeks ago, Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo reports. The offensive lineman is likely to release a video statement but is not expected to try to rebut Richie Incognito, the Dolphins teammate who has been suspended for conduct detrimental to the team because of alleged harassment of Martin, point for point. Incognito told his side of the story in an interview with Fox’s Jay Glazeron Sunday.
Last week, one of Martin’s former teammates at Stanford confirmed that Martin had told him he isn’t done with football. “For anybody to think that he’s walking away from the game that he loves is inaccurate,” Indianapolis Colts tight end Coby Fleener said (via Phillip B. Wilson).
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross texted Martin, who is expected to speak with NFL investigator Ted Wells this week, a message of support last week, ESPN reported.
On Sunday, Incognito told Glazer that he and Martin were close and produced 1,141 text messages that purport to back up his statement that they were friends. At issue are profanity-laced texts and voice mails that contain threats and racial slurs. Incognito contends that that was the nature of their friendship and the culture of the locker room.
“I’m not a racist, and to judge me by that one word is wrong,” Incognito told Glazer. “In no way, shape or form is it ever acceptable for me to use that word, even if it’s friend-to-friend on a voice mail. … [The N-word is] thrown around a lot. It’s a word that I’ve heard Jon use a lot. It’s not saying it’s right that I did it and used it in a voice mail. But it’s a lot of colorful words that are being thrown around in a locker room that we don’t use in everyday life.”