RICHIE INCOGNITO NOW PLAYS ‘INCOGNITO’ — WHAT HAPPENED?
What happened to Richie Incognito?
And what a peculiar coincidence that his surname and his blatant over-the-top behavior could be at such diametric odds with one another.
The definition of a ‘proper name’ oxymoron. Bestowed upon an improper moron.
Problem is, he’s really not a moron in spite of his inane, puerile and highly questionable conduct.
“In-cog-ni-to — -adjective & adverb: (of a person) having one’s true identity concealed.
Synonyms: under an assumed name, under a false name, in disguise…undercover…unidentified, secretly, anonymously.”
“You’ll be traveling incognito…”
Richie Incognito Jr., born in Bogota, New Jersey (not Colombia — identical spelling minus the accent; different pronunciation) could never be effectively disguised at 6’3” and 319 lbs.
Seems to me he’d be pretty easily spotted regardless of how he was bedecked. And on top of that gargantuan body and 20-odd-inch neck sits the cherubic face of a baby.
A baby-faced assassin would be to more aptly put it. A killer.
A bit easier to disguise the visage I suppose — beard, mustache, wrap-around shades — but still an exercise in futility.
And to travel inconspicuously has hardly seemed a part of this behemoth’s DNA profile.
The Frank Kush Award recipient as the best high school offensive lineman in the state of Arizona (2000), Incognito got into it pretty early which is good in a lot of cases.
Not his.
Nebraska grabbed him and after redshirting in 2001 he became the first Husker freshman OL to start in the season opener. He was also just the third freshman lineman in program history to earn any start. He started 13 of the team’s 14 games at left tackle and recorded the second highest season pancake total in Husker history with 171.
(A “pancake” is when a blocker completely flattens the opposing player in front of him; conjure an image of a steamroller).
He was named a First-Team Freshman All-American by FWAA, The Sporting News, and Rivals.com as well as First-Team Freshman All-Big 12, again by The Sporting News.
And despite all the accolades — or perhaps because of them — behaviorally it was already over.
Maybe his deportment had nothing whatever to do with the acclaim. The dye had already been cast.
Richie was Richie.
An unabashed bully.
Richie was being Richie when he purposely hit walk-on lineman Jack Limbaugh from behind during a practice early in the 2002 season; when he was accused of spitting on a Troy State player during his second game; when he was ejected two weeks later for picking a fight in a blowout loss to Penn State; when he was flagged for a 15-yard personal foul late in the season’s penultimate game against Colorado, contributing mightily to another Nebraska loss.
The 2002 season became spring of 2003 and after fighting in practice Head Coach Frank Solich indefinitely suspended Incognito and sent him to the Menninger Clinic in Topeka for anger management treatment.
Conveniently he returned and was reinstated in time to begin the ’03 season.
Starting 13 games at left tackle, he was named a First-Team All-Big 12 selection by the Associated Press but reverted to his troubling behavior during the 2003 Alamo Bowl when he demonstrated the recurring inability to keep his saliva in his own mouth or very close-by. He was accused of spitting on not one, but two Michigan State players.
More fighting, assault charges, a conviction on one misdemeanor assault charge and repeated violations of team rules resulted in another indefinite suspension and ultimately the end of his Husker football career prior to the 2004 season.
Withdrawing from all classes and leaving Lincoln, Richie transferred to the University of Oregon in late September lasting all of one week before being dismissed from the team.
He had been unable — or unwilling — to meet pre-arranged conditions established and agreed-upon before his arrival in Eugene and adherence to a strict code of conduct proved impossible for him.
That wrapped up college football for Richie Incognito.
But, not to worry. The NFL awaited frothing at the mouth, its own salivary function in place and working nicely, droplets of anticipation falling everywhere.
Richie would be rewarded for being 6’3” and 319 lbs with quick feet and inhuman explosiveness. Aah, the world of meat on the hoof. He was drafted in the third round with the 81st. selection by the St. Louis Rams in 2005.
In a nutshell Richie Incognito went from being a bully to league ostracization to the Pro Bowl.
Working from back to front, he agreed to terms with the Buffalo Bills on March 8, 2016; the deal: three years worth a reported $15,750,000.
After not playing for the entire 2014 NFL season in the wake of the much-publicized Jonathan Martin bullying scandal in Miami which he spearheaded and which made him “radioactive,” he signed as a free agent with Buffalo on February 7, 2015 and had a banner season.
Incognito started all 16 games and participated in 100% of the team’s offensive snaps. He was ranked the second overall guard and the number one left guard in the NFL by the metrics website Pro Football Focus. He made his second Pro Bowl (he was a first-time Pro Bowler with the Dolphins in 2012) and cracked the Top 100 Players of 2016 in a vote of his peers. He was 97th.
Reconcile that with another vote of NFL players in 2009, naming Richie the league’s dirtiest player according to a Sporting News poll.
He certainly recognizes what the top and bottom each look like.
And he now knows where he’d rather be.
I began this undertaking resolute in my belief that Richie Incognito was a ne’er-do-well with little redeeming value as a human, a cartoonish and obstinate oaf with absolutely no regard for others or for himself. A nasty, thoughtless bovine man-child.
I still don’t care for him or his politics — literally and figuratively.
But he may be smarter and even with more character than I thought, which would be some.
Let us not confuse this sentiment with even a veiled defense of his abhorrent behavior as there is no such thing. One with a good heart and a deep soul would never condone his actions. And I do not, nor would I ever.
Somehow, inexplicable as it may be, he was afforded a second chance. He knows that he cannot undo what has been done — and he is learning from the many errors of his ways, according to Don Banks, formerly of si.com.
“He actually wants to be seen and heard from these days, if only to show, at least to those willing to give him a fresh look, that he’s not the twisted, misguided monster his texts to second-year offensive tackle Jonathan Martin made him look like…he knows that going from being painted a total pariah in Miami to a respected pillar in the Bills locker room remains an impossibly tough sell for some.”
Observes the new Richie, “I’m very cognizant of the fact this is a second chance, an opportunity to rewrite the narrative, even understanding that some people won’t get past 2013 when it comes to me…That’ll be in their head forever and there’s nothing I can do to change that. I can only control what I do from here on out, and that is show up each day, work hard, and be a good person and a good teammate…”
To get to this point mentally Incognito concedes, “took months…and hours and hours of [therapy] sessions.”
Learning and growing, with a healthy dollop of humility mixed in can facilitate new beginnings.
Richie Incognito was forced to resurrect his career in St. Louis where he was labeled a dirty player who was out of control, more intently focused on drawing personal fouls and inflicting punishment than playing winning football.
His reputation improved in Miami — after a brief three-week stay in Buffalo in late-season 2009 — until the disaster of 2013 sadly hit.
He had to rebuild his career all over again.
Twice.
Not easy for anyone to endure, least of all the “lightning rod of a figure nationally owing to the bullying saga,” as described by Banks.
But Incognito seems to get it.
“Going through all that and coming out on the other end, after learning a lot about myself and owning up to my actions, it made me a better person and a better teammate. I know this, this is the most solid, most stable ground I’ve been on in my entire life. That’s in life. It’s been a long process of just being comfortable in my own skin again.”
Good for Richie.
Richie the ringleader (Mike Pouncey and John Jerry were right there with him, all over Jonathan Martin relentlessly) is getting better and he deserves some credit for trying to do so.
But what about Martin?
Citing a back injury which would require surgery and sideline him for a full season thereafter, the then-25-year-old Martin retired from professional football in 2015, his brief and tortured career tattered and his life torn beyond recognition.
But he too, picked himself up after being knocked down and has moved forward. The taunting and bullying drove him into a quicksand-like “cycle of depression” causing “a mental breakdown of sorts.” He attempted suicide on multiple occasions; he abused alcohol and pot to cope. He became nihilistic.
And then it clicked. Like a combination lock. Or turning on a light switch.
After some deliberation — and apprehension to be sure — Martin agreed to volunteer his time and speak publicly on behalf of Beyond Differences, an organization focused on eliminating social isolation.
Talking about his past has given him solace, a measure of peace. And he is helping others, particularly young teens. He references his major depressive disorder and sometimes crippling anxiety in his presentations.
“Even if it’s just one kid in here that has some of the same feelings I had at 14, 13 and they’re like, ‘Oh wait, this guy had these feelings but then he was still able to go to Stanford, still able to be an All-American, still able to graduate, still able to play in the NFL, maybe it’s OK to feel the way I feel.’ That’s cool that I’m potentially getting through to someone,” Martin sagely stated.
“You let your demons go, knowing that, perhaps, sharing your story can help some other chubby, goofy, socially-isolated kid getting bullied in America who feels like no one in the world cares about them. And let them know that they are not alone,” he continued.
Weaving a positive from a negative has certainly helped Martin too, acting as a cathartic release for him.
So from the ashes rise not one phoenix but two, both of whom are learning and growing as human beings.
A sad and circuitous route bordering on the tragic perhaps, but in the process of becoming a win-win.
“Suffering and joy teach us, if we allow them, how to make the leap of empathy, which transports us into the soul and heart of another person. In those transparent moments we know other people’s joys and sorrows, and we care about their concerns as if they were our own.”
-Fritz Williams
[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in February 2017.]
ADDENDA: After completing his second stint with the Bills by pressuring the club to release him from his contract in May 2018, Incognito sat out the 2018 season. In May 2019 he signed with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders and in December 2019 he was rewarded with a two-year $14 million contract extension.
On February 23, 2018 Jonathan Martin was taken into police custody following a post to his Instagram account with an image of a shotgun and a caption reading: “When you’re a bully victim & a coward, your options are suicide, or revenge.” The post mentioned his former high school, Harvard-Westlake School, which shut down for the day. It also tagged four accounts including those belonging to former Dolphins teammates Incognito and Pouncey. A plea deal was reached in which three felony charges against Martin were dropped (in two years) if he attended scheduled psychotherapy sessions, alcohol counseling and psychiatric appointments. He avoided jail time.
