Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said he intends to meet with Jonathan Martin and discover what happened. Ross also vowed to change the locker room culture by appointing a special "task force" comprised of coaches and former players, including Tony Dungy and Dan Marino.
"I was appalled. I think anybody would be appalled," Ross said on Monday of Incognito's vulgar messages, via ESPN. "When you first read that text that was reported, to me I didn't realize people would talk, text or speak that way."
Incognito tried to contextualize the voice mail, in which he calls Martin a "half n-----," by explaining such crass language is how football players talk to each other off the field. He claimed Martin was also guilty of sending threatening messages, something reflective of the closeness and "culture" of the locker room.
Ross said he would meet with Martin on Wednesday to hear the second-year player's side of the story, according to ESPN.
"I'm going to meet with Jonathan Martin face to face and hear what he has to say," said Ross. "Then, I will deal with it from there. So much has been said about a lot of different things"
Ross also plans to create a task force to address and improve the culture of the Dolphins locker room. The owner said Dungy, Marino, Don Shula, Jason Taylor and Curtis Martin would be included.
"Steve called me and said he wasn't sure what happened," Dungy said. "He's in the process of finding that out. But he wants to look forward and see how he could ensure their locker room and whole organization was operating in the best way. He wanted to get some former players that he respects and former coaches and put together a recommendation of best practices. ...
"I think he wanted to get some ex-Dolphins. I think he wanted to get some guys that he respected that could say, 'This is how football is. This is normal. This is what we had in great locker rooms and this is how you get it.' I think he picked some great guys."
Incognito remains indefinitely suspended, and Martin hasn't yet returned to the team since leaving the facility last week.
