Bad locker room in Miami?

[Guiness]

The more I think about it the more I agree with Hoosier. This young man might have been 'found out' that he is gay and I suspect athletic locker rooms are not too welcoming to people with that lifestyle. The only other plausible explanation is Martin has a mental disorder (bi-polar?) or anxiety issues and perceives playful antics as hostile.

Couple of really good guesses there.

I think you're all kinds of wrong in your view Oday. We don't know at all what was going on. Anyone can be broken, and we don't know how far this all went. This happened at a meal...did they mess with his food? There seems to be at least a few guys in on this, maybe they fucked with his sleeping too? Sleep deprivation is one of the quickest and easiest ways to mess someone up. If it is harassment (as opposed to thin skin) and there were enough of them doing it they could have made his life damn miserable.

[Guiness]

...

Cheesehead, that gif freaks me out. Thought it was funny at first, but watch the kids arms as he goes down, is that a fencing response???

[ThunderDan]

I completely disagree with Tony here.

This is a team. Teammates don't fuck with someone so bad that they walk off the team. That isn't hazing. I am OK with the rookies picking up the pads and getting tins of chew. Obviously the other players on the team were doing more than that.

This just makes me sick. You are supposed to work together. As a good friend of mine who was in the Marines and got a free trip to Iraq the first time around said, When you are in a firefight you need to know that everyone works as a team, one guy who isn't sharp can get us all killed. When those guys got together there was plenty of ribing and joking and fooling around, chasing skirts and drinking beers. But my buddy said they KNEW where the line was and would never cross it because if they had a dysfunctional team they could die.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Cheesehead, that gif freaks me out. Thought it was funny at first, but watch the kids arms as he goes down, is that a fencing response???

He starts a lunge but doesn't expect the balestra from the goat.

[Cheesehead Craig]

They should just cancel pro football in Florida. Miami, Tampa Bay, and Jacksonville are all just fucked up.

[KYPack]

Apparently this did show up a bit on Hard Knocks, he earned the nickname during that show.

More to this, it remains to be seen if we'll hear any of it. A couple of players have come out and said there was nothing going on
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...nathan-martin/
but there had to be something. Garner saying "it was just normal stuff" is a pretty stock statement that assholes in situations like this will say, "we were just fooling around". It also acknowledges that there was something going on.

What was the "something" though? Playing pro football has to be an insanely stressful way to live. I'm sure the players blow off some steam by fooling around and pulling pranks. Maybe he just couldn't handle the environment, or maybe he really was piled on.

A Stanford graduate with two Harvard educated parents certainly had to stand out in that environment. I found myself in a pretty bad situation a few years ago...making damn good money at a job I enjoyed. Problem was it was pretty isolated and I was the only Canadian in a crew of mostly Scotsman. They definitely ganged up on me, and there were some times I was close to walking away from it all and just taking my chances with what came up next.

Roger all that, espec the bit about the Scotties.

With his background, he probably wasn't used to the trash talking that goes on in the Midwest and the dirty South. Some of this all might be a culture shock thing.

About the Scotsman, we had two Scotties that joined my old rugby team. Those two pricks started bullying the other 30 guys! They were especially rascist and were brutal to our Black players. We soon had a bomb party at the next practice. We beat 'em bloody, but it didn't slow 'em down enuff. Them Highlanders ain't real brainy fellows. So we did another round at the next practice and they stopped.

To a Scot, bullying and rugby seem to be the same thing.

[pbmax]

Were you a 24 year old that was 6-2 310? sorry no.

The fact that you think size is a mitigating factor makes me think you don't quite grasp the full range of possible issues. Its a workplace and there are only certain responses that will be tolerated (even offsite). So even if he could physically intimidate the offenders at a time he was not outnumbered, he was going to find it hard to justify that response to his coaches and GM*.

I never had a problem with kids who were large because until the last couple of years of high school I was bigger than they were and it wasn't worth the trouble for them.

The little ones with a Napolean complex though, they were clever, sharp tongued little bastards. And the leverage of the situation worked against me there because physical intimidation would have brought sanction down on me ("look at the big, huge football player picking on the tiny little angel").

Size has nothing to do with it and can even work against you.


*None of this applies if you are Charles Haley.

[Guiness]

Roger all that, espec the bit about the Scotties.

With his background, he probably wasn't used to the trash talking that goes on in the Midwest and the dirty South. Some of this all might be a culture shock thing.

About the Scotsman, we had two Scotties that joined my old rugby team. Those two pricks started bullying the other 30 guys! They were especially rascist and were brutal to our Black players. We soon had a bomb party at the next practice. We beat 'em bloody, but it didn't slow 'em down enuff. Them Highlanders ain't real brainy fellows. So we did another round at the next practice and they stopped.

To a Scot, bullying and rugby seem to be the same thing.

Sounds about right re: the Scotties

Drill crew of about 20 guys, more than half Scotsmen. These guys were earning well over anything they could make elsewhere, and were generally fearful of losing their jobs which would probably have cut their earning potential by about 75%. A couple of guys were re-assigned for training and they were pretty much in tears. I was an outsider, probably slotted to eventually become their boss, didn't understand a lot of their slang and culture, so I became a target, there were physical threats and challenges. Luckily for me, I drank with the Russians and got on well with them.

[Guiness]

The fact that you think size is a mitigating factor makes me think you don't quite grasp the full range of possible issues. Its a workplace and there are only certain responses that will be tolerated (even offsite). So even if he could physically intimidate the offenders at a time he was not outnumbered, he was going to find it hard to justify that response to his coaches and GM*.

I never had a problem with kids who were large because until the last couple of years of high school I was bigger than they were and it wasn't worth the trouble for them.

The little ones with a Napolean complex though, they were clever, sharp tongued little bastards. And the leverage of the situation worked against me there because physical intimidation would have brought sanction down on me ("look at the big, huge football player picking on the tiny little angel").

Size has nothing to do with it and can even work against you.


*Non of this applies if you are Charles Haley.

Yup, and he it's not like he had physical superiority over them. They are all elite athletes.

Charles Haley and Martin both.

[falco]

Imagine everywhere you went at work, your coworkers were taunting you and your family....for 6 solid months.

+1

[falco]

This is the kind of adults we are raising...oh boo fucking hoo you got picked on for being different get the hell over it and make your millions and shut the hell up!

[Joemailman]

I watched it and I don't remember anything really.

Just glancing over their roster, trying to figure out who's been picking on Martin. My money is on Incognito and Pouncey.

Incognito is being investigated for his role in this. No surprise there. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/99...an-martin-case

[Guiness]

Incognito is being investigated for his role in this. No surprise there. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/99...an-martin-case

Incognito isn't, and I'm betting Pouncey's name is the next one mentioned.

[Infamous]

Is he gay? What else can grown men w Harvard pedigree get panties in bunch about via ribbing?

[Infamous]

ok I see I was late w my assumption....