Former Miami Dolphin Jonathan Martin to retire

The end is almost near for former 2nd round pick Jonathan Martin. According to published reports, the former Miami Dolphins and the central figure in the “bully-gate” scandal will submit his paperwork and call it a career.

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Martin claims that he is retiring due to a back injury that would have forced him to miss this season. This according to Profootballtalk.com.

Drafted in the 2nd round by then general manager Jeff Ireland, Martin was supposed to be the answer to the Dolphins right tackle position. Things didn’t work out so well at right tackle and rumors had surfaced that the Dolphins were looking at moving him to guard. At the time it was reported that Martin was unhappy about the switch. Days after the rumor first surfaced, Martin left the team. Shortly thereafter it was revealed that Martin was being “bullied” by Richie Incognito and others.

Martin’s leaving made national headlines as teams and the NFL began to change practices within their organizations to quell any other scandals of the same type. The ramifications of Martin’s situation spread to other professional and non-professional sports.

The handling of the situation ended with the suspension and eventual release of Incognito, the firing of offensive line coach Jim Turner, and the teams longtime trainer. Martin was traded at the end of the season to San Francisco for a conditional 7th round pick.

In San Francisco Martin contributed under his college head coach Jim Harbaugh but never cemented himself as a starter. He started one game. In March of 2015 Martin was released by the 49’ers. The news of his retirement is neither shocking nor unexpected. Martin’s case brought to reality an inability to fit in with other members of the team often sticking to himself. This despite the fact that Martin appeared to be close friends with the accused Incognito.

In a matter of irony, Incognito sat out the entire 2015 season but is now a member of the Buffalo Bills. It’s safe to say that Martin will not be signing a one day contract to retire a Dolphins. In fact if camps had started it’s likely this piece of no-big-deal news would simply have been pushed away as an afterthought. Instead, even news like this is something to fill time until camp starts on Wednesday.