Richard Dominick Incognito of the Miami Dolphins

Born in 1983, Richard Dominick Incognito of the Miami Dolphins has become one of the biggest headlines during the NFL 2013 season not because of his playing abilities but a recent scandal the football player is involved in. The football guard wore the No. 68 proudly for his team that started the season 3-0 before their first lost. His explosiveness on the field has helped protect quarterback Ryan Tannehill from Sacks allowing him ample time to make tough plays resulting in touchdowns against some of the toughest teams in the league. But with Richard’s sportsmanship on the field it’s hard to believe that he could be an ass to his teammates in the locker room.

Second year Offensive lineman Jonathan Martin abruptly left the Miami Dolphins weeks ago citing bullying. Martin has expressed his discomfort about re-entering the locker room again. It was unclear as to what actually caused his exit. He was placed on the reserve non-football injury list. It was also uncertain that the Miami Dolphins would continue to pay him the rest of his $600,000 salary. On November 4, 2013 more details were released on exactly what happened that caused Jonathan Martin to leave the team.

Richard Incognito is accused of threatening his teammate, Jonathan Martin through texts, voice mail and interaction in the locker room. Shockingly a taped voice mail that Richard left on Martin’s phone was released to the public. Incognito made racial slurs and death threats to Martin and his family. It was a rude and disturbing message.

Surprisingly before the tape was released, it seemed the public was not accepting the fact that an adult football player, Martin, could be intimidated by a teammate. So much so that he left the team in the middle of the season. The public’s first reaction was that the issue was over-hyped and Martin was just insensitive but after listening to the tape, it’s clear that Richard was a bully and took things too far. In 2013 Bullying has been brought to the spotlight and the adverse effects that has lead to suicide, depression, anxiety and a number of issues that have encouraged Americans to pay closer attention to the problem of bullying.

Richard Dominick Incognito Jr was born in Englewood New Jersey in 1983. His athletic career began at an early age. He developed his skill and love for football in high school while attending Mountain Ridge High School in Arizona. With his impressive record on offense and defense he became an All American offensive lineman and was finalist for the Arizona Player-of-the-Year Award, was named the Brian Murray Award winner, and earned the Frank Kush Award, given to the best offensive lineman in Arizona. His impressive stats and accolades helped him land scholarships to major colleges. He wrote his letter of intent to University of Nebraska.

He continued his football career at Nebraska bringing more national attention starting 13 games with an impressive record. But his troubles became clear. His anger issues caused him to be red shirted for reasons unknown during his freshman year and he was later suspended from the University of Nebraska in 2002. This might be the first recorded sign of his temper and indecent behavior to teammates. It was revealed in November 2013 that he had an altercation with a teammate named Limbaugh. Incognito plowed into Limbaugh’s back during practice, knocking him to the ground for no apparent reason. Limbaugh responded by getting up, grabbing his equipment and walking out, according to the diary of teammate David Kolowski.

Richard was suspended indefinitely so he then transferred to Oregon. where he was later charged with three counts of assault after a fight at a party. He was found guilty on one charge of misdemeanor assault and forced to pay a $500 fine. There were certain qualifications that were asked by the school before he could join any athletic programs. Unfortunately he did not meet requirements and was not allowed to play for Oregon either. His troubling history should bring closer attention to his later scandal with bullying Martin which is evidence that Richard might have serious issues when dealing with other people.

Fast forward to a year later he entered into the 2005 draft as a Junior. He got drafted to the St. Louis Rams in the 3rd round of the draft (81st overall). As a rookie in 2005, he was on the reserved/unsigned list until Week 3, and then he was placed on the non-football injury list for the remainder of the season.

There were reports of fights with teammates during training camp, but most of the controversy around Richard stemmed from his confrontations with opponents. His temperament and style of play earned him a reputation as one of the league’s dirtiest players, a title that became quasi-official after a 2009 Sporting News player poll declared him exactly that.                                               

                                                                                                                                                 He had a four plus season with the St. Louis Rams. He could barely control his temper and it was stated by teammates and coaches that off the field, he drank and partied excessively. Richard acted childish compared to his teammates and despite constant advising and warnings from coaches and managers he refused to change. His career with the St. Louis Rams ended after a game against the Tennessee Titans. Head coach Steve Spagnoulo benched him after he got two personal fouls in the first half of the game. The fouls were brought on after he head butted two opponents in 2009. Two days later he was cut from the team and shipped to the Buffalo Bills. During his short four year career with the team he had 38 penalties for unnecessary roughness which explains his temper. Could there be something deeper with Richard, such as a mental issue or could this behavior be brought on by drug and alcohol use?                                

                                                                                                                                                          Incognito played for the Buffalo Bills just three games before Miami Dolphins picked him up.

Richie Incognito’s Net Worth 2013

Richard Incognito entered the NFL in 2005 after being drafted to the St. Louis Rams. Signed a 4 year $1.844 million contract with the St. Louis Rams and in 2009 he extended his contract for one more year worth $1 million. Unfortunately due to his fouls, penalties and egregious behavior his contract was waived and he did not continue receiving the rest of his salary.

In 2010 he signed a contract with the Miami Dolphins for $1 million and in 2011, he got a big pay raise and a three year extension earning him $13 million. He got a $3.2 million sign-on bonus and in 2013, he was earning $4 million for the year but after being suspended indefinitely from the team, his salary was cut and he walked away with only $2 million that he earned thus far and he is not eligible to earn anything else from the Dolphins. His egregious behavior has cost him at least $2 million pay from the Dolphins.

Some people simply don’t learn from their mistakes and Richard Incognito is the living proof of this fact of life. I believe that there is truth in the statement that losers are bullies and bullies are losers. In my opinion, Richard Incognito is both a bully and a loser.