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.
