Richie Incognito Is Back, and He’s Among the NFL’s Best

[LesBaker]

Gotta love "redemption" stories. Players like Incognito and Vick aren't redemption stories. They're scumbags that happen to be good at football.

Two responses to two of your posts.

First the above.....

I loathed Vick for what he did, and I'm a cat guy not a dog guy, but it was SO heinous that I was hoping he got booted out of the NFL for good. About a year after he was reinstated I saw an interview with him and you could tell he was a changed man. He was remorseful and had come to the realization that what he did was stupid and disgusting and he regretted what he did but not because of the outrage and the fact he went to jail and lost millions. I'm not a fan of his as a QB, or as a person but he may actually be a "reclamation".

I guess time will tell.

As far as Incognito goes I simply cannot trust him, he's a sociopath and generally they are skilled liars and I doubt his veracity. So I take his answers to those questions with an entire salt shaker and frankly I don't even care if he plays another down or another 10 years.

OK next..........

The Rams need to show something this week to convince me we are in that position. Green Bay is a brutal game. Rodgers looks unstoppable. We need to stick it to Arizona.

Oh boy is Rodgers having a season for the ages, right now he looks like the best ever, which I think is true and was even before this year. Right now he is just otherworldly. When you look at the Packers schedule you can only see two possible losses........on the road in Denver and on the road in AZ.

The Packers look unstoppable and I think the only team that is a threat to them getting out of the NFC to the SB is AZ.

 

[HometownBoy]

Luckily our own Jamon Brown is up there as one of the better guards too. So, no reason for lusting after Cogs anymore.

Hope they enjoy getting the most out of him before he punches or spits on somebody and kills all their drives. That was always fun.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Actually? I don't. Gregg Williams never tried to drive someone to suicide. Gregg Williams never made comments about raping a player's sister. Gregg Williams never threatened assistants because of their ethnicity.

Apples to oranges. What Williams did was wrong, but Incognito's actions were the actions of a psychopath. Williams isn't even at Cog's level.

Drive someone to suicide? You really think that is what he was trying to do? Joking about raping someones sister? Guys talk like that sometimes. Maybe Martin just wasn't raised that way but I have been on construction crews where that stuff is commonplace. Guys can be brutal.

So Williams paying players to potentially end a players career with injury? That is not bad?

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Oh boy is Rodgers having a season for the ages, right now he looks like the best ever, which I think is true and was even before this year. Right now he is just otherworldly. When you look at the Packers schedule you can only see two possible losses........on the road in Denver and on the road in AZ.

Being good can breed stability.....those two things together are a wonderful combination.

 

[Ballhawk]

One of the happiest days of my life was when the Rams cut that idiot! One of the stupidest players in NFL history.

 

[ramsince62]

Actually? I don't. Gregg Williams never tried to drive someone to suicide. Gregg Williams never made comments about raping a player's sister. Gregg Williams never threatened assistants because of their ethnicity.

Apples to oranges. What Williams did was wrong, but Incognito's actions were the actions of a psychopath. Williams isn't even at Cog's level.

Sociopath perhaps, but psychopath? That's a little harsh.

 

[Memento]

Drive someone to suicide? You really think that is what he was trying to do? Joking about raping someones sister? Guys talk like that sometimes. Maybe Martin just wasn't raised that way but I have been on construction crews where that stuff is commonplace. Guys can be brutal.

So Williams paying players to potentially end a players career with injury? That is not bad?

The guy formed a pack with Jerry and Pouncey to try to break Martin. Their intention may not have been to try to drive him to attempt suicide, but they - and the offensive line coach - fostered a hateful clique where people like Martin could be broken. And maybe it's because I'm a girl and have met and befriended people who have been raped, but that sort of thing crosses lines. Especially when it comes to family. But then again, I'm not a guy, and I've never been on a construction crew like you have, so I'll defer to you.

I'm not saying that what Williams did wasn't bad. It was completely in the wrong, and I didn't want to hire him. But Williams has been a genuinely good person aside from that. The guy did great things for Joplin. I've never seen Incognito try to be anything other than a piece of shit.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

The guy formed a pack with Jerry and Pouncey to try to break Martin. Their intention may not have been to try to drive him to attempt suicide, but they - and the offensive line coach - fostered a hateful clique where people like Martin could be broken. And maybe it's because I'm a girl and have met and befriended people who have been raped, but that sort of thing crosses lines. Especially when it comes to family. But then again, I'm not a guy, and I've never been on a construction crew like you have, so I'll defer to you.

I'm not saying that what Williams did wasn't bad. It was completely in the wrong, and I didn't want to hire him. But Williams has been a genuinely good person aside from that. The guy did great things for Joplin. I've never seen Incognito try to be anything other than a piece of crap.

I think you misunderstand what the Dolphins coach told Incognito to do. He wanted him to toughen him up not break him down. Its akin to what a drill sargent does to his soldiers at boot camp. Thing is Incognito probably wasn't a great choice to be chosen to do it. And in the army the idea is not only to toughen you up but to weed you out too. The Dolphins didn't want to weed Martin out. The whole thing was stupid but its hard to change someones mentality when it is part of how they were raised.

I just think that people are accountable for what they do but that does not mean they don't deserve a second chance. They deserve a chance to show that they learned from their errors. We all make mistakes to varying degrees. Now if we are talking about a sex offender and putting him in a job where he is surrounded by young women or children? No. Most NFL football players will be able to handle a tuned down version of Incognito. And I think he should realize that if he wants to stay in the league there are lines he cannot cross.

 

[iced]

People change and from what I remember Martin was the bigger piece of crap, turning on a guy he used to work and party with. Cogs was always a far better talent than Martin and I'm happy for him .

he "turned on a guy" that made remarks about his sister and family?? sorry but every guy knows family shit is a no fly zone

i've said it before and i'll say it again - i hope he treats IK Enemkpali the same way he treated Martin, but he's probably afraid of getting his jaw broken too

 

[iced]

Drive someone to suicide? You really think that is what he was trying to do? Joking about raping someones sister? Guys talk like that sometimes. Maybe Martin just wasn't raised that way but I have been on construction crews where that stuff is commonplace. Guys can be brutal.

So Williams paying players to potentially end a players career with injury? That is not bad?

I understand what you are saying here - however, as a Seabee in the navy (or a military construction crew), we picked on each for a lot of things, but never in the context that Incognito has.. Family has always been a touchy subject, but joking about raping/gang raping one's sister I don't think would be condoned in any work place, particularly a construction site. We're not talking about commenting about how a girl looks, or maybe even teasing by like saying you might hope to score on a date - no, we're talking flat out rape/gang rape..

Guys joke about friend's sisters at times - but they never joke about raping one's sisters

 

[blue4]

I've been around construction sites, loading docks, and the military all my working career. Joking about raping someone's sister in every one of those places would result in at best a total beat down, and at worse a total beat down, loss of your job, and prosecution for threatening to murder or rape another. I don't know where some people work but God damn.

Saying that, I have no idea if Cogs actually said that or not. I don't really know what went on. I treated his time here like a bad nightmare and promptly forget he ever existed. All I remember is thinking. "I'm so not surprised."

 

[blue4]

I read this and just think about the decision to get Tre Mason over Gabe Jackson or Trai Turner in the 3rd round back in 2014. Tho honestly, I was still thinking QB at the time more so than RB or OG (since we just took Robinson in the 1st). Mason was a luxury pick at the time, considering we had Zac Stacey coming off a solid rookie year. Just there was nothing really left on the board at the time. Only the QBs before Mason are really having an impact. Mettenberger did solid work his rookie year but behind Mariotta this year. Mo Alexander in the 4th was also a head scratcher, but I guess we didn't have Barron yet at the time, so there is some sense there.

You know what really made me upset in this thread? Not Cogs new job or bullying or social justice, but I just found out that Gabe Jackson was available when we took a RB redundant Tre Mason. I could have been happier not realizing that.

 

[Rmfnlt]

So Williams paying players to potentially end a players career with injury? That is not bad?

Just for the record, I don't like either of them.

Thanks, Spags! We could still have Richie on our team!

 

[LACHAMP46]

I kinda knew Richie could still play, was fairly intelligent, and would be no longer a problem....great post @Prime Time
Like another poster said, not sure if the PFF stats are end all, be all, plus Tyrod is a scrambler and he'll make any line look good...Still, happy for Richie, couple of bad acts SHOULD be forgiven...He didn't kill anybody...He's not the ONLY verbally abusive guy in the world...

 

[fearsomefour]

All of this talk about intention ect is nonsense. The coach had a roll. Incognito and Martin both said it was joking and they considered each other friends. One thing that comes out of this is it is pretty clear looking at the behavior of both guys is they both had/have emotional problems.
Incognitos date back to his time with the Rams. That is why he was let go, not ability. Martin has not been "black balled" from the NFL. He worked up to last year I believe with SF, then retired. He could certainly still be on a team....as we Ram fans know it is tough to find enough solid O line depth.
Painting Incognito as some sort of horrific monster who should be banned from the league is absurd. This talk of "pushing" someone else to suicide is just pathetic. No one can be pushed to that, even considering that, by a work relationship/situation, unless they have pretty serious mental health issues themselves. Which Martin does/did. That part is pretty well documented. He (Incognito) was a guy with emotional problems that got help and has come back, more power to him. Martin is a guy with emotional problems who decided he did not want to play anymore. That is his choice and again, more power to him. He is a smart, educated guy who will do very well for himself.
Martin averaged $1.1M a year for his three years. Would a whole lot of people take working conditions like that for that pay, hell yes. The pay does not excuse having an abusive or bad work environment. It also does not make Martin some sort of hero for walking away.
Stop trying to paint Martin as some sort of hero for culture of victimhood we have created in America. Martin and Incognito were two guys with emotional problems on a bit of a collision course in Miami.
Incognito has learned, moved on and is doing well, or so it seems. I hope the same for Martin.

 

[fearsomefour]

I kinda knew Richie could still play, was fairly intelligent, and would be no longer a problem....great post @Prime Time
Like another poster said, not sure if the PFF stats are end all, be all, plus Tyrod is a scrambler and he'll make any line look good...Still, happy for Richie, couple of bad acts SHOULD be forgiven...He didn't kill anybody...He's not the ONLY verbally abusive guy in the world...

I would have resigned Incognito on the cheap before last year, with conditions of course.

 

[blackbart]

he "turned on a guy" that made remarks about his sister and family?? sorry but every guy knows family crap is a no fly zone

i've said it before and i'll say it again - i hope he treats IK Enemkpali the same way he treated Martin, but he's probably afraid of getting his jaw broken too

Maybe every guy in your circle but a blanket statement is never all encompassing

 

[iced]

Maybe every guy in your circle but a blanket statement is never all encompassing

just thinkin of many people i have met and worked with throughout my life - and not one of them has ever joked about raping or gang raping someone's sister..

ask if they're single, hot, cute,etc? Sure. But ever joke about raping them? nope

 

[Ozoneranger]

Winning is the only thing that matters.

 

[Rmfnlt]

All of this talk about intention ect is nonsense.

Painting Incognito as some sort of horrific monster who should be banned from the league is absurd.

This talk of "pushing" someone else to suicide is just pathetic.