Text messages purportedly exchanged between Miami Dolphins teammates Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin shed light on the relationship between the two NFL players. The messages, obtained by USA Today Sports, seemingly depict two close friends who spent their off time hanging out and chasing women.
While most media outlets spun a narrative of bullying between Incognito and Martin, the purported text messages paint another picture. Based on the messages, Incognito and Martin come across as close friends who would frequently contact each other to hang out.
Over 1,000 messages, found in full HERE, add context to some of the quotations reported in the media. Martin and Incognito appear to be two buddies preoccupied with chasing women and partying at night.
Page 46 of the PDF shows the exchange between Martin and Incognito when the bullying allegations first emerged in November.
Incognito's attorney, Mark Schamel, claimed on Thursday that Martin was just as guilty of sending inappropriate and even threatening messages to Incognito. Schamel also alleged Martin only went public with the bullying allegations because he was afraid the Dolphins would cut him because of his poor play on the field.
"(Martin told Incognito) that he was not playing well, about how upset he was at being ranked by Pro Football Focus as among the worst linemen in the NFL, about his poor performance on the field, his demotion to right tackle and how he was concerned about what the outcome might be for his missing team meetings and, about how he felt his job was at risk," Schamel said, via ESPN.
The NFL is expected to conclude their investigation of the incident by the end of the week.
