Beau Santero
Senior, Offensive and Defensive Tackle
In a touchy subject of bullying, hazing, and racism, the Miami Dolphins have been under a lot of scrutiny for the way their locker room has been perceived since Jonathan Martin, their starting offensive tackle, left the team for personal reasons. Martin, a rookie, claimed he was mistreated by teammates and the emotional toll was too much to bear. The main instigator, Richie Incognito, left voicemails on Martin’s phone that included racial slurs and death threats. Since the incident, many have sided with Martin and believe bullying is a huge issue, but many also see Martin in a negative light, some calling him soft, or that he picked the wrong profession.
To athletes, the locker room is so much more than a sweaty changing room. It’s the nucleus of a team, where every member interacts in some way or another. To an outsider, it’s difficult to understand the mentality that coincides with a locker room, and the culture that the locker room brings. As cliché as it may sound, if the team is a family, the locker room is the dinner table.
Jonathan Martin had been around the game for his whole life. You don’t end up in the NFL without being in a few locker rooms from time to time. He knew how dirty some peoples’ mouths are, and how slurs are tossed around without a flinch between teammates. But when someone’s mental health is in question from a barrage of insults and mistreatment, how can you question their decision to walk away?
In a league that brain-trauma is constantly linked with, is it right to ignore a case of mental health right in front of our eyes? Jonathan Martin wasn’t looking for publicity, he was looking for safety. He didn’t step away to have every NFL player call him a pansy, he stepped away so he could treat whatever he had that was wrong with him. In the NFL, where there is an irregular tendency for retirees to end their own lives (Junior Seau, Paul Oliver, Jovan Belcher), someone’s manhood is questioned when he steps away from the game because of psychological abuse. Is it manly for someone to ignore depression? Is it tough to pretend like there isn’t a mental health issue going on in the NFL? Are the same tough guys the ones calling Martin a pussy and mistreating the players around them?
Mental health is taken too lightly in the NFL, and the old “play through the pain” mentality is leaving players with debilitating brain injuries later on in their lives. The emotional part of your brain is your brain none the less, and when injured, it’s completely reasonable to step away from the game. Jonathan Martin’s absence is looked at as cowardly, but why isn’t an ACL tear, or a concussion looked at the same way? The brain is just as much a body part as the knee is, and when something is hurt, rehabilitation is necessary. So for all the tough guys in the locker room who decided to look past the actions of Incognito and question the manliness of Martin, were you too tough to step in and have Martin’s back, or not tough enough?
