The Incognito Incident: A Character Lesson for Coaches

This past month we’ve been swamped by the media storm surrounding the behavior of Miami Dolphin football player Richie Incognito. In short, Jonathan Martin an NFL football player for the Miami Dolphins left the team and checked into a hospital for emotional distress, claiming harassment from teammate Richie Incognito. Martin felt threatened by Incognito’s approach to “toughening him up” (Schefter, 2013). If true, the incident illustrates harassment in the workplace and a lack of leadership by the Miami Dolphin organization. In addition, it speaks to the important responsibility of coaches in creating a positive environment (i.e. team culture) in which athletes can grow and develop while striving for success (Brown, 2003).

Obviously, the main purpose of sport at the professional level is to win and make money. However, winning and profit-seeking does not eliminate the ethical responsibility of the organization and coach to provide a safe environment, where players and coaches treat each other with respect (Simon, 2013). When someone inflicts physical or psychological harm on another person they are demonstrating a lack of respect for the individual (Lumpkin, Stoll, & Beller, 2011). Intimidating someone or bullying them is a form of emotional and psychological coercion or hazing (Tilindiene & Gailiuniene, 2013). Regardless of your view on the severity of Richie Incognito’s actions towards Jonathan Martin, it’s tough to argue the behavior of Incognito was anything less than hazing.

Hazing in sports is defined as, “…any potentially humiliating, degrading, abusive, or dangerous activity which does not contribute to the positive development of the athlete…” (Crow & MacIntosh, 2009, p. 449). The Incognito incident demonstrated all the common signs of hazing in sports. Incognito held seniority status over Martin, Martin exhibited signs of emotional distress, and the language (i.e. racial slurs) Incognito verbalized via voicemail to Martin demonstrated a lack of respect.

Richie Incognito’s actions towards Jonathan Martin may be the norm rather than a singular occurrence in NFL locker rooms (Starr, 2013). Arguably, bullying is wrapped in the team culture, a conscious and deliberate act in which the instigator(s) often believe their actions are for the victim’s benefit and needed to develop toughness (Hamilton, 2013).

For a coach, having this type of culture in your locker room should be troubling. It also reveals the importance of selecting players that demonstrate strong character values, because the environment created by the coach begins with the people on the team. Legendary basketball coach John Wooden said, “I want to run the race with those with whom I shared a code of conduct, those who subscribed to the same set of values that mattered to me” (Wooden & Jamison, 2005, p. 70).
In coaching, the environment you create for your team may be the most significant task you accomplish. The culture established within a team becomes the influential factor in motivating, instructing, guiding, and leading athletes to achieve success (Ronglan, 2011). For coaches, the Richie Incognito incident reinforces the importance of evaluating personal character when selecting a squad.

According to Super Bowl winning coach, Tony Dungy, “How you accomplish your goals is more important in the long run than merely getting to the top by any means possible…people are coming to the conclusion that character has to be part of our evaluation of performance” (Dungy & Whitaker, 2010, p. 215). Coach Dungy lived his philosophy. When Richie Incognito was available in the 2005 NFL Draft, Tony Dungy, then the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts had him placed on the “DNDC” list, which means “do not draft because of character” (Florio, 2013).

Passing on a skilled or gifted athlete based on character, places many coaches in a conundrum. Coupled with the pressure to win, coaching is also a helping profession and many coaches strive to help others to make positive change in their lives. If coaches embrace their role in influencing and impacting the lives of their athletes (Boxill, 2013), they will likely demonstrate empathy and compassion (Wooden & Jamison, 2005). Therefore, when faced with a “troubled” athlete, a coach may view his or her role as someone who can help the athlete get back on track. Instead of viewing an athlete’s character flaws as detrimental to the team, coaches may believe it is their role and the responsibility of the team to help the athlete make positive change.

This willingness to assist athletes with personal or behavioral problems is heightened when the talents and abilities of an athlete can have significant impact on the team’s success. Established programs with a successful coach, often take risks on “character flawed” athletes, justifying the decisions on the ability of the team to keep the individual “in check” (Myers, 2007). Choosing to eliminate a talented player based on character can be a daunting task for a coach seeking to establish a successful career or build a program. For coaches at the interscholastic level with limited resources and potentially low participation numbers, squad selection can be challenging.

Irrespective of the level of sport, taking on the philosophy of helping troubled athletes can be tough balancing act. The effort and vision required to build and develop an environment for success can easily be compromised. Even a coach skilled in molding character may not be immune from the potentially negative impact on the culture of the team from one athlete of questionable character. Is it worth the risk? Richie Incognito has a history of incidents that may call to question his character (Merrill, 2013). The Dolphins could have passed on Incognito just as Tony Dungy had done. They chose not to and eventually found themselves in a mess. The Incognito story may only be one incident, but the lesson is clear: Choose carefully if you want to create a positive environment for your players to grow and develop as a team.