Suspended Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito on Sunday defended himself against accusations that he bullied teammate Jonathan Martin. Incognito also claimed Martin used equally as vulgar language in their correspondences and that it spoke "to the culture of our closeness."
Incognito came under fire last week for leaving at least one threatening, racially-charged voice mail and text message with Martin. Incognito finally broke his silence on Sunday in an interview with Fox Sports, where Incognito defended himself against allegations of harassment and racism.
"You can ask anybody in the Miami Dolphins' locker room who had Jon Martin's back the absolute most, and they will undoubtedly tell you [it was me]," Incognito said, via ESPN. "Jon never showed signs that football was getting to him [or] the locker room was getting to him. ...
"I'm not a racist, and to judge me by that one word is wrong. In no way, shape or form is it ever acceptable for me to use that word, even if it's friend-to-friend on a voicemail."
He referred to Martin in the voicemail as a "half n------ piece of s---," something Incognito acknowledged he was wrong to say but was common to hear in the locker room.
"It's thrown around a lot," said Incognito. "It's a word that I've heard Jon use a lot. It's not saying it's right that I did it and used it in a voice mail. But it's a lot of colorful words that are being thrown around in a locker room that we don't use in everyday life."
Incognito also claimed Martin used vulgar language, calling it the nature of their friendship and just the way they communicated.
"When words are put in context, I understand why a lot of eyebrows get raised," Incognito said. "But people don't know how Jon and I communicate to one another. For instance, a week before this went down, Jonathan Martin texted me on my phone, 'I will murder your whole f------ family.'
"Now, do I think Jonathan Martin was going to murder my family? Not one bit. He texted me that. I didn't think he was going to kill my family. I knew that was coming from a brother. I knew it was coming from a friend. I knew it was coming from a teammate. ...
"All this stuff coming out, it speaks to the culture of our locker room, it speaks to (the) culture of our closeness, it speaks to the culture of our brotherhood. And the racism, the bad words, that's what I regret most. But that is a product of the environment."
