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On Sunday, Jonathan Martin admitted after 11-plus years that his story about being bullied by fellow lineman Richie Incognito while they were members of the Miami Dolphins was a lie. Two other Dolphins offensive linemen, Mike Pouncey and John Jerry, were also caught up in the scandal.
The situation, which came to be referred to as “Bullygate,” led to Richie Incognito being suspended for half of a season in 2013 and not playing at all in 2014 because no team wanted to touch him. As for Jonathan Martin, he never played for the Dolphins again and was traded to the 49ers for the 2014 season. He ended up being completely out of football in 2015.
Now, in a new story published by ESPN, Martin claims, “I never believed for a second I was being bullied. He also said, “It’s a story that I’ve been trying to fix for 10 years.”
One of the people who naturally did a lot of reporting on “Bullygate” when it occurred was Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk. With Jonathan Martin now coming clean, one might expect Florio to issue a mea culpa, expressing his regret for reporting false information. One would be wrong.
Great question! Care to comment Mike Florio? @ProFootballTalk https://t.co/BjU3oLIjFu
— Richie Incognito (@68INCOGNITO) February 16, 2025
Sunday night, Mike Florio wrote a story sharing his take on the hoax. It did not go over well with the man who was falsely accused, Richie Incognito.
You tried to ruin my career over a lie! A decade later Jonathan Martin admits he was never bullied. His mother pushed the narrative of bullying to the media. Jonathan Martin never believed in the stance his camp was taking during the Ted Wells investigation. The NFL and the media… https://t.co/DxHrLOEWsk
— Richie Incognito (@68INCOGNITO) February 17, 2025
Florio, in his story, claims that Martin’s revelations contain “a nuance to this that seems to be lost on many.”
“It’s one thing for Jonathan Martin to say he never believed he was being bullied,” he wrote. “It’s another thing to ignore the various findings from the extensive investigation that occurred at the time.”
Florio adds that the 144-page report filed by investigator Ted Wells about the alleged bullying “found that Incognito and others repeatedly harassed Martin. That the harassment contributed to Jonathan Martin’s pre-existing mental-health issues. That the harassment was consistent with workplace bullying.”
Florio also wrote that Richie Incognito is “now taking a victory lap,” but also reminded his readers to “remember that it’s not the only time his behavior got him in trouble.” Which is certainly true, but is it relevant to Jonathan Martin making things up about him, costing him over a year in the NFL? Incognito doesn’t think so.
“Ultimately, Incognito and others who were publicly chastised by the Wells report fell victim to the same mindset that fueled the punishments meted out a year earlier, in the Saints bullying scandal,” Florio wrote. “Rather than admit that a significant cultural problem within the locker room at large needs to be addressed, the NFL grabbed a piece of low-hanging fruit, squished it, and hoped that the outcome would scare everyone else straight.
“And let’s not forget the very real possibility that the Wells report on the bullying scandal had a preordained conclusion. The Wells’s report on the #Deflategate scandal little more than a year later supports a reasonable conclusion that the investigation started with the league’s preferred outcome and worked backward.”
Basically what Florio appears to be saying is that even if Jonathan Martin was lying about being bullied, the NFL used his fake story to crack down on all of the other “real” bullying that was taking place around the league by making Richie Incognito, who as Florio mentioned already had a track record of misbehavior, the fall guy.