RICHIE SHOULD HAVE STAYED INCOGNITO!

RICHIE SHOULD HAVE STAYED INCOGNITO!

(USA TODAY, Brent Schrotenboer, Mike Vandermause)

(Green Bay Press Gazette, Tyler Brooke, Jeff Darlington, Steve Korte)

(Gary Myers, New York Daily News, Jason LaCanfora, Omar Kelly, Frazer Chronicle)

Nobody is really named incognito, do you know what the word implies, well luckily I do, I didn’t even have to look it up, it’s in disguise, a noun, somebody in disguise, or a name assumed by somebody who is attempting to be unrecognizable. Apparently this football player, Richie Incognito has little or no understanding of what the word is supposed to mean…..and further, what nationality is Incognito…..exactly?

One thing you can’t deny is that this Cognito wants to stay anonymous, no-sir-e, the Richie Incognito that’s been plastered all over the sports pages now couldn’t hide in hay stack if he was a shock of the cow food, he’d stick out like a sore bandaged thumb.

Seems as if the Incognito who is the football player in the National Football League has a history of fights, shoving matches, acts of intimidation and harassing teammates as well as opponents. There are incidents all the way back to his days as a Nebraska Corn-Husker.

Now I understand that everybody and his brother are writing about this bozo who can lift his fingers and tap out an opinion, story, or blog on his trusty word processer….but I hopefully have a different view and opinion about the antics of a 6’-3” 319 pound man-child, cause that’s really what we’re talking about here, the behavior of an adolescent, and entire organizations actually embracing these actions.

Now I don’t profess to have first hand information regarding the activities of these hulking multi-millionaires, nor do I understand their way of life, or the bond that they seem to carry for their teammates, but I do understand right from wrong, I understand what is acceptable in 21^st century society, I also know what is considered as taboo in today’s world…..and I know firsthand the damage that can be caused by a behemoth human being the size of Richie Incognito.

Richie Incognito seems to have had a kind of bizarre journey with his college teams as well as his professional teams, in each case; they’ve suspended him, cut ties with him, or both. At Nebraska he was ejected from a game for fighting, and was forced to sit the 1^st half of the next week’s game against Iowa State.

In the spring of 2003, Incognito was suspended for unspecified reasons by head coach Frank Solich, was however reinstated by the start of the season and started 13 games at left tackle, for which he was awarded with first-team All-Big 12 selection by the Associated Press.

In 2004, Incognito was involved in a fight at a party and was changed with three counts of assault, and in June was found guilty on one count of the misdemeanor assault charges and paid a $500 fine (where does a college kid get $500?) It was at this time that Incognito was shifted to center from left tackle, and he entered the 2004 season with high expectations.

However on September 1, Incognito was suspended from the football team for repeated violations of team rules, and within a week he had withdrawn for classes and transferred to the University of Oregon, only to be dismissed during his first week at the school.

INCOGNITO SAYS HELLO, WHAM TO THE N.F.L.

Drafted in the 3^rd round by the St. Louis Rams, (81^st. overall pick), Incognito became a holdout and was put on the reserved/unsigned list until week 3 of the regular season, and then placed on the non-football injury list for the remainder of his rookie season.

Incognito started all 16 games during the 2006 season, however in 2007 he ran into the injury bug and played and started on 4 games. During his rehabilitation it was revealed that he was partying nightly, which went over like a lead balloon with the coaching staff.

In 2008 Incognito started 15 games at right guard for the Rams, and also saw some time at center. He was part of an offensive line that allowed a league low 45 sacks, and blocked for running back Steven Jackson during his 160 rushing yards and three touchdown game against the Dallas Cowboys which earned the running back NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

In 2009 Incognito signed a one year $1.1 million contract, and celebrated his good fortune by being benched during a December 13 game against the Tennessee Titans after drawing two 15 yard penalties for head butting Titan players. It marked the 2^nd time that he’d been pulled from a game for losing his composure; he’d been pulled from the season opener against Seattle for two personal fouls. However the Tennessee incident was the preverbal last straw and the Rams waived the troubled, but talented offensive linemen.

Incognito finished the 2009 season with the Buffalo Bills, but they decided not to re-sign the restricted free again. The Miami Dolphins, on March 17, 2010, signed Incognito to a one year contract, started all 16 regular season games, and according to Pro Football Focus he was ranked in the Top 20 for Pass Blocking Efficiency.

Richie Incognito signed a 3 year deal with the Dolphins in 2011, started 15 games and allowed just 1.5 sacks. During an annual celebrity golf tournament in 2012, a drunken Incognito harassed a female volunteer at the golf club, rubbing his private parts with a golf club, pressing his private parts against the women’s buttocks and dumped water in her face. When Incognito wouldn’t apologize to her, she filed a police report, and the case was later settled after she signed a confidentiality agreement.

The above incident wasn’t didn’t come to public light until the November 2013 issue that caused Incognito’s current suspension. Incognito started all 16 2012 games and in fact made his first Pro Bowl appearance after the 2012 season.

THE NEANDERTHAL ATTITUDE COMES OUT

Everybody knows what a Neanderthal is, an extinct species of the genus homo, possibly a subspecies of Homo sapiens. For any stand-up human being to act in the perceived fashion as these long ago people is not only disgusting, it’s unacceptable in today’s society.

The incident involving Richie Incognito’s teammate, Jonathan Martin is on the surface disgusting, and in its substance completely unacceptable…..after Martin expressed that the treatment that he was receiving was over the line for Martin.

Coaches love a combative attitude, a smash mouth, in your face kind of player, I never really have understood this attitude, but like I said, I never played professional football. It would seem to me that when one player sends a teammate threatening, racially-charged texts and voicemails, two things are going on, one incredible stupidity, and two, an attitude that one could say borders on a real mental nut case.

I’ve read the texts, and listened to the voicemail and…..well Incognito is a 6’-3” 319 pound nut job that has thus far been under controlled burns because of where he was at in his life. School coaches, professional coaches and their staffs have undoubtedly shielded and protected this troubled young man.

I read with interest this morning about the comments of one of the Packers players who talked about football being “a man’s game”, and “if you can’t accept that fact, you don’t belong in the game.” Funny, my old man never played a down of football, but I always thought of him as a man’s man, he went to work every day, and provided for his family.

If you need to punish, or harass an opponent that is one thing, and I accept that mentality, however when you need to do some of the same things to your teammate…..I personally don’t want any part of that…..and I never liked the Blitz, but understood the mentality and anyways, it was just titty-twisters.

HAVE A NICE DAY!