So Wade Phillips will be the interim coach for Houston. Meanwhile, the Jonathan Martin incident keeps getting twisted. By the looks of it, the teammates are defending Incognito. Tannehill insisted Martin and Incognito were "friends" while Brian Hartline claimed Martin was laughing at one of Incognito's vicious voicemails. I personally was appalled by what Rolle said the other day. People need to realize that what works for some, may not work for all. For some people, simply being told to fight back in a physical form doesn't always work. It can easily be misinterpreted as the victim being the aggressor and vice versa so you could the brunt of a punishment even though you claim it was "self defense". I mean, don't they say actions speak louder words?
Reaction is very split everywhere I've read but here are some comments I read on ESPN that I thought resonated strongly:
"I'm getting sick of hearing anyone with this blame the victim mentality cloaked in the language of trying to define manhood as if we're still in the stone-age. Those that abuse and harass are guilty of their actions and NO ONE ELSE IS (Rolle: " I think the other guy is just as much to blame as Richie, because he allowed it to happen."). Why? Because he's a "man"? And real men should be able to impose their will on another? Like Incognito? Anyone who doesn't have the tools or doesn't believe they have the ability, help or outlet to prevent or stop the abuse is not therefore complicit in the abuse. Part of being an adult (man or woman) is taking full and absolute responsibility for your actions and not putting ANY blame, for any reason, on anyone else- especially not on the victim."
"Just because a guy is a 300 lb lineman in the NFL doesn't mean he has the heart to fight. Some guys regardless of size or athletic skill aren't built to be violent. Martin is not a violent guy. Incognito, like the school yard bully that he's always been sniffed that out JUST like school house bullies do. There's 140 lb "pit bulls" whom I would say "that guy is going to be tough to beat" simply because he has a scrapers mentality. Martin doesn't have that mentality. I don't blame him AT ALL considering Incognitos history AND the associations he has (Mike Pouncey, Aaron Hernandez). Hernandez is facing murder charges for something trivial. Incognito has serious mental issues. With his associations, Martin, being the shy, non violent person he is, probably thought his life could be in danger at some point. People have killed or greatly harmed others for much less. We tell our kids to take the non violent approach if possible. I'm sure this situation was killing Martin as well. Here's a teammate, a fellow lineman harassing him to this point and they are NFL PLAYERS!!!"
"Unless you are a mind-reader, or spent every living minute of Martin's life by his side, you have no idea what hand he was dealt, what goes through his mind, how his mind even WORKS."
"Some people, regardless of gender, age, size, or occupation, just do not have it in them to be confrontational, especially face to face. Some people will avoid confrontation at all cost. As for going to the coaches, it's very likely he believed if he went to the coaches, then he would also have been chastised for being a "tattle-tale."
"Funny how this 'be a man' thing seems to only apply to Martin in some people's minds. Grown men should not be picking on people like they are children."
will be the Packers’ starting quarterback on Sunday against the Eagles, unlessAaron Rodgers
