Im not saying this is the only reason, but I believe it has significance.
The NFL has been marketing directly to younger women. And there is a significant reason as to why they are doing this. These are the younger women who will most likely be having babies within the next 5-10 years. As the kids grow, with all of the PR hit the league has taken regarding safety in football, if a mother feels the game is unsafe, she will be less likely to allow her son to play the game. This was discussed in pretty long length at the beginning of the week on the Colin Cowherd show.
‘Softer’ NFL Turns To Merchandising, Women To Expand Fan Base
“It’s a population that has a great deal of influence in determining what activities their kids will be engaged in … and we want to be sure parents have a better sense of what kids are involved in,” explained Jeff Miller, the NFL’s senior vice president of health and safety.
He added that education events like this one are “a responsibility that comes with our popularity.”
And the sport is certainly gaining popularity with women. According to Ad Age, 50.4 million women tuned into the latest Super Bowl, compared to the 24.5 million who watched the Oscars, and the 23.8 million who watched the Emmys.
“The Super Bowl’s female audience has more than doubled from only five years ago, and the last three Super Bowl broadcasts have set records for being the most-watched shows by female viewers. The previous record was held by the 1994 Winter Olympics figure-skating showdown between Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding,” Ad Age’s Michael McCarthy wrote, adding:
“The game has become as much entertainment and soap opera as sport.”
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/10/31/softer-nfl-turns-to-merchandising-women-to-expand-fan-base/
In my opinion, the NFL believes it has been handed a golden opportunity to further demonstrate to future parents, that bullying of any kind will not be tolerated. The NFL needs a constant infusion of youth to participate in youth football, high school, college, and so on.
We have all seen the news lately about bullying online, young adults ending their lives because of horrendous bullying by classmates, etc. Mothers wont see the difference between that kind of bullying, or the kind of normal hazing type found in football locker rooms. They will see the locker room as a threat to their child, and keep them from playing.
Unfortunately, what I think has happened in Richie's case, is nothing different then what happens and what has happened in NFL Locker Rooms all along. The difference is, Jonathan Martin has basically single handily opened up the doors to locker room life for all to see, and people who aren't used to that, are now shocked.
Now hopefully, the team can get through this without it consuming the season. I believe at this point, however, its not in the teams hands....the agenda train has left the station, and is gaining steam.
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vt_dolfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member
MikeHoncho likes this. -
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Which is commonly said in a locker room.. I'm pretty sure other offensive linemen called Incognito a big cracker and the banter included racial jokes..
Taken out of context of course it can sound bad. Too bad Cogs didn't save every communication between him and Martin. If was Incognito I would request all text messages and VM's from my cellphone company if the picture that has been painted was skewed to make him look worse that he actually was.DOLPHAN1 and MikeHoncho like this. -
I don't think it's an important part of the equation. The NFL is moving towards a safer, more political correct environment, which is why Cogs' voicemails can't be tolerated whatsoever. This has more to do with be a billion-plus dollar corporation and behaving like one.
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I don't see how that's related. What Incognito did was basically unacceptable to a huge portion of the portion, with the only significant exception really being a person having an affiliation of the Dolphins.
Pretty much the only people who don't think this is ****ty are a portion of Dolphins fans and Dolphins players.SAVES likes this. -
I think the majority of people acknowledge that this is a ****ty thing and Cogs should be punished. To me, the question is whether it should be a clear overreaction to this with a zero tolerance policy - enough to cut Incognito and what some are suggesting - cleaning house with GM and coach. The latter is a clear overreaction that happens in many companies these days. The more reasonable reaction is to punish Cogs with a suspension for 4 games while you evaluate whether you want him on your team or not. Same with GM and coach, if they overlooked it, then hold them accountable, but fire them only if they are incompetent on their main responsibilities (see 100 other threads).
DeDolfan likes this. -
"This" has really yet to be established. The entire narrative that there was some type of endured bullying is not necessarily true.
IMO what caused this ****storm was the team deciding not to pay Martin, and Joe Philbin giving the media a hard time last week. The rest is really just sensationalizing and exploiting whatever Martin's mental health issues are.DOLPHAN1 likes this. -
I don't even understand this. Incognito said what he said in the voicemail. Whatever other texts and everything else there is must be equally serious to have led the team to suspend Incognito.
When people do stupid racist stuff, it sometimes ruins their careers. Perhaps you've heard of this old time actor, Mel Gibson. He was really big in the 90's. -
Other texts? I haven't seen other things.
Incognito saying the N-word was wrong. I don't even disagree that he shouldn't be suspended for it. Only the context will tell us if it was "dumbass-beligerent-******* wrong" or "hateful-racist wrong". There is a difference.
Right, and Mel Gibson's rant was clearly hateful and racist. What Riley Cooper said was clearly hateful and racist - did he even miss any games? Tony Scheffler has been open about using the word, in jest, and it doesnt seem to be an issue:
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130808/SPORTS0101/308080035
Certainly if you want to form the opinion that Richie Incognito is a racist and should be cut, thats fine. I don't agree, but at the least it falls in line with the facts we have. But the theory that Incognito bullied Martin into a mental breakdown - at this point -is just an unsubstantiated theory. -
I still can't get over the fact that some are actually defending Incognito by using "it's the culture of the locker room, you are allowed to be racists there, it makes you tough" nonsense. You don't need to act like an imbecile to be tough. As if that's some sort of "manhood" test. Small talk, being racists and talking **** like "i'm going to **** in your mouth and slap your mother", that makes you a man, right.
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I don't think anyone is denying the fact that Incognito is a jackass and said some pretty awful things. Or that anyone believes doing these things makes Incognito tough.
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That's it in a nutshell. This should never have gone public. J Martin is not a Team player. Coaches would have dealt with it . I hope J Martin never sees the inside of a Team locker room again. He will sue because that's what people like him do. They blame everyone else for their lack of any man code. Ritchie has been in the league 9 yrs and has some money. Hopefully he saved it.
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Over the years .......I bet some of the things said in the huddle and on the line would make sailors blush. This is a Mans game. There is a code. How does a 340 pound man get bullied? Really? J martin is a Kook. Ritchie is an *******. BUT Ritchie was a team player. J Martin is not. He's a mamas boy. Ireland brought him into the fold and deserves most of the blame.
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This isn't okay. But clearing house is ridiculous. Cooper didn't get a suspension.... he took some time off to fix his ****.
Now that there are reports that Martin didn't tell Philbin... cut martin. Suspend Cogs for a couple games. Address the situation and play football. -
Cooper didn't call one of his teammates the N-Word and has a history of being a trouble maker.
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Locker room was divided on that situation though. Doesn't seem to be the case here.
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vt_dolfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member
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A racist is a racist.. neither of them are in the right. Cogs bullied.. that's obvious now. Punish him with suspension and mandated classes. Just my opinion.
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I didn't read everything above but I believe us having a monday night game against (low viewer interest) Tampa Bay on ESPN plays a big part.
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Honestly I think that word probably gets used more on the football field and in the locker room than most would be comfortable with. We have to hear the voicemail, all of it. Not just the part they are giving us. If Richie called and is giving him a hard time and drops the N-Word, regardless if you or I think that is right, we don't know how they communicate. This could be regular talk between the Oline. Nobody but them know this. Seeing 9 or 10 players defend Richie I think there might be more to this story than meets the eye. If you look at what each player said, not one said anything bad about Richie. They all said they'd like to see Martin back but no one sided with him. Guys like Wake and Grimes have come out and said Martin didn't come to them. He didn't go to his union rep. Sorry this doesn't add up. If he was embarassed why all the sudden does he have the ability to say something. We still haven't heard from Martin. Where is he?