Icognito: A Christmas Story Part II
I hate bullies. I hate bullying. Richie Ingognito deserves all the NFL can hand down as a punishment and then some. But under the surface lies a more wretched and horrible truth. Behavior in NFL locker rooms and in locker rooms as a whole is so off the charts of normal morally acceptable practices ii defies explanation. I recently listened to the Audible book “Boys Will Be Boys” by Jeff Pearlman, an insiders look into the Dallas cowboys of the early 1990’s. I could barely listen to it. Details of hazing, violence, drug use and sexual exploits which included one player who openly masturbated in team meetings turned my stomach. It’s a culture few of us are privy to and few of us really want to be. We watch on Saturdays and Sundays cheering on our favorite college and NFL teams with little knowledge of the ugliness that resides in and out of locker rooms. Perhaps the Richie Incognito story has given us a brief glimpse into the real NFL. But much like Toto in the Wizard of Oz many of us will come to wish we had never discovered the truth of what lies behind the curtain.
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Excellent commentary, Drew.
I lived on campus at UTEP in the ’70s and saw athletes up close.
Not a pretty picture.
They stole our dorm’s lounge furniture for their rooms. They acted like pigs in the cafeteria. One star player drove his sports car onto the intramural softball field, spinning cookies until what little grass was there was ruined. And don’t get me started on their treatment of women.
All of this with impunity.
(Yes, many of these were the same guys who were losing miserably every Saturday at the Sun Bowl during what was loosely called football season.)
Good Morning from Omaha,
Ritchie Incognito played football at nebraska and was dismissed from the team after two or three years. He went to Oregon but never suited up for the ducks and ended up in the NFL playing for the lions, who also brought us Suh, another product of Nebraska.
If Nebraska, who went through the Johnnie Rogers robberies in the ’70’s and the Lawrence Phillips mess of the ’90’s can’t handle him, why did anyone attempt to bring him into the NFL.
I saw one NFL scout who said that when he was investigating Icognito his final summary came down to this- he advised whatever team he was working for to not draft Ritchie because of “character issues”. That covers a lot of ground in a hurry. Sadly, the NFL will try to deal with these guys until they get too out of control to handle. Jerry Jones is famous for trying to save the troubled player. How is that working out for him now?
As Incognito reportedly said via twitter ” there are 3 things that can not be hidden for long- the sun, the moon and the truth”. Hopefully the truth will set Icognito loose, and his ruinous ways will be dealt with in society where the legal system is waiting to deal with him.
Strive for excellence, nothing but your best.
Gene
Hazing?? I thought that was for frat rats.
Signed,
Animal House