...

And yet in the face of all this, the accused, guard Richie Incognito, who reportedly sent racially charged messages to Martin, drew rave reviews from teammates on Monday, many of whom are African-American.

"Richie has been nothing but a fun-loving guy to me, and to the people that have been around me," defensive end Jared Odrick said.

In fact, Dolphins players were almost unanimous in their support of Incognito, who was suspended indefinitely by the Dolphins on Sunday for "conduct detrimental to the team." Not a single player, publicly or privately, had a bad thing to say about Incognito, who was voted to the team's six-member Leadership Council, the group entrusted to solve problems. ...

The unwavering support for Incognito comes despite an NFL source and published reports saying that Incognito, over the past year and a half, has made references to Martin's biracial background, threatened his safety, and extorted Martin out of at least $15,000. Players say that would be out of character for Incognito.

"I don't think what people are saying about him is true," defensive end Derrick Shelby said. ...

Dolphins players said they don't think there's a negative environment around the team. They said perhaps some of what Martin has gone through has been normal.

"To some degree I think I don't want to call it hazing, it's a rite of passage," defensive end Cam Wake said. "This league is a group of elite men, it's a fraternity, it's a brotherhood, it's a lot of things. And there is a membership."

Although players overwhelmingly support Incognito in this matter, they've voiced support for Martin, too.

"Anything that's going on with J-Mart right now, I hope gets sorted out and I hope he's OK," Odrick said. "I hope he continues his career and plays great and plays awesome. He's a great guy. "

Logically thinking...if Richie wasn't joking, why leave a message like that on his voicemail? Maybe Richie is that stupid?

@OmarKelly

Just heard former Dolphins LBer Channing Crowder say on his WQAM show he paid $17K for the linebacker dinner at Prime 112 his rookie year.

I thought Schefter just said that message was left after Martin was a no-show to practice for 2 days.

I'm sorry for not being sensitive in this way but that voicemail was pretty dang funny to me

Honestly I think Incognito was joking in the voicemail. I've worked with these type of guys where they act as if they hate you the way they talk, but really they are just busting your chops. I don't think Ritchie would have hung out with him if he didn't like him. That being said, its not an excuse anymore when the guy considers it to be harassing. You have to know where to draw the line. Looks like he took it too far.

...

Inside the locker room, meanwhile, Dolphins players publicly supported both Incognito and Martin. None of the team’s first-year players who spoke Monday said they had ever encountered instances of extreme hazing. Martin was not in his first year, but he was a young player.

Incognito defended

Many Dolphins players had only good things to say about Incognito.

...

A source within the extended Miami Dolphins family told the Miami Herald that, by and large, the team is more in Incognito’s corner than Martin’s.

Not long after Martin stormed out of the team’s training complex Oct. 28, the source continued, he reached out to all of the Dolphins’ linemen via text message. The gist of the message was that Martin would be away for a while, but would come back better.

When Martin formally took his concerns to team management, the players felt he broke an unwritten rule, the source said.

And players were far more understanding of Incognito’s vile string of messages than was the outside world, the source continued.

Many of the players don’t see it as a bullying issue, the source said.

...

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/11/05/3 ... rylink=cpy

Logically thinking...if Richie wasn't joking, why leave a message like that on his voicemail? Maybe Richie is that stupid?

Or he felt comfortable enough in his friendship with Jmart he was just being himself. There is still something just not right about this whole story. Incog is a high strung guy and when he drinks he becomes an idiot but without hearing the audio....for me....I can't distinguish between a good friend just being stupid on the phone or a guy trying to intimidate.

When Martin formally took his concerns to team management, the players felt he broke an unwritten rule, the source said.

And players were far more understanding of Incognito’s vile string of messages than was the outside world, the source continued.

Many of the players don’t see it as a bullying issue, the source said.

Either way, now it’s a matter for the NFL — one that could engulf the rest of the Dolphins’ season