Texts Between Dolphins Lineman Released

It doesn’t paint a pretty picture but it does it does paint one of friendship.  The 1,000 plus text messages that were exchanged between Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito have become public.  All 48 pages of them.  The first eleven pages outline a life of partying with strippers and high end call girls before giving way to a short talk about the Las Vegas trip.

Incognito is far from a choir boy but it’s very clear that Martin is nothing short of a piece of work himself.  Clearly their relationship was one of friendship and if lines had been crossed they were accepted long before Martin left the team in anger and anguish.  It wasn’t however just a relationship between Martin and Incognito as the texts show Mike Pouncey was also their friend as well.

What happened to Martin and what made him leave the team is as much a mystery as anything and maybe the Ted Wells report will shed some light on the subject because frankly the texts do not.

By the end of the 48th page it’s easy to feel sorry for Incognito.  The two literally went from planning to party to Incognito’s concern about Martin who had left the team.  The sudden end and finality of it all comes with Richie asking Martin for help as his name is being slandered in the media and he expresses his concern to Martin in his final text asking Martin to help him as he heard the Dolphins were preparing to release him.

While some of the texts are quite uneasy to read and the vulgarity goes a long way, there is little to no question that Martin not only fit in but did so quite well.  It makes for a compelling argument that somewhere along the line Martin may have been cohered into leaving the team by someone not on the team.  Possibly his parents.  Through texts from Martin on October 20th, Martin was with his parents in Miami and was texting Incognito that he was going to get away and meet at “Roccos”.  On the 23rd Martin got in a taxi to meet Incognito.  It would be the last text to Incognito while Martin was on the team.  Five days later in the texts Incognito is asking if Martin is o.k.

One thing the texts do not show is what happened in the locker room or while the two were together but since a good portion of the Martin issue has revolved around those text messages it’s going to be very difficult to conjure sentiment towards Martin.

You can read the entire 48 pages of texts by going here.