righterwriter wrote:I'd love to hear some Incognito stories that Risdon has heard. He must have some doozies.
Unfortunately (?) I've never met Incognito. I have met Martin, interviewed him predraft.
I know when Richie was with the Rams his teammates HATED him. His fellow OL in particular because nothing was ever his fault and he's just a nonstop tirade of profanity and negativity. I wish I had some good stories but I don't.
My quick take on this thing:
I wonder why the Dolphins drafted Martin in the first place. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, knew he was "soft" coming out of Stanford. He's not at all like a football player. He's pensive, worldly, quiet, and hyper-intelligent. He's not an aggressive person at all, and it shows on the field.
I know teams heard about how opponents got at him by hitting him hard and they knew he would back down. They had to have because I heard it from various places and I was in Texas at the time. Why take draft a guy knowing you want to change him into something he's obviously not going to ever embrace? That's just stupid IMO. You don't draft Dez Bryant to be a subservient second banana, you don't draft Reggie Bush to be a power runner, why draft a passive tackle if you want a guy like, well, Richie Incognito?
And that leads to some blame on Martin himself. He's a very bright guy. He's got to know that the NFL is different from Stanford, where being smart and non-aggressive is held to the highest standard. If he's not fully committed to embracing the physical and mental demands of the NFL, why keep playing? Look at John Moffitt, who is a similar kind of person. He up and quit this week because he just didn't love football. Martin should have spared himself all this and been honest with both himself and with NFL teams heading into the draft.