Life on the O-Line: Richie Incognito situation demands locker-room justice

This past week Miami Dolphins starting right guard Richie Incognito was suspended because of allegations of harassment, including but not limited to, racial slurs and death threats aimed at teammate Jonathan Martin. There is no question in light of the graphic voice mails and text messages attributed to Incognito, he crossed the line. There is no defence for an indefensible action. But then again, this is pro football.

The 'thinning of the herd' mentality has been tolerated in professional sports for decades. Offensive linemen are not immune to that primitive rite of passage. Quite the opposite. Where toughness, both mental and physical, are pre-requisites for success, lacking those qualities will always spell the end of a lineman's career.

Some have called Martin 'soft' and Incognito a 'bully'. But with its locker-room culture seemingly on trial, the revealing nature of pro football is that only one of those titles seems entirely insulting. Guess which one?

Incognito is a punk with a history of insensitive, hateful behavior. Martin conversely, seems kind hearted and soft spoken. Incognito insulted, threatened, harassed and called out his colleague. Martin chose the path of least resistance and filed a grievance with an independent, third-party pencil pusher. Incognito is a nine-year veteran who just made the Pro Bowl. Martin, feeling hurt and emotionally damaged, walked out on his team.

With over a decade of documented past transgressions, that pro football personnel would continue to covet the services of Incognito should come as no surprise. The violent, unapologetic nature of what line of scrimmage play is, after all, perfectly suited for players with seemingly disturbed demeanours. That isn't to say that all offensive linemen come with that built-in defect, but when taken in its totality and given the media attention surrounding this drama with their incessant refrain of BULLYING dominating sports page headlines, it is nonetheless a shocking indictment of pro football’s locker room culture.

The message seems clear:"disparage his mother, call him names and threaten harm all you want. But never call an O-lineman soft." The latter is a far greater insult because of its revealing nature and the threat it poses to one's livelihood.

There are certain issues that cannot be resolved by workplace harassment policies or third-party oversight. Some things just demand “locker-room justice.” The Incognito saga is, my opinion, one of those. Sometimes a guy just needs a punch in the mouth until he finally gets the message. Earning the respect of your teammates, not making locker room friends, should be the overriding priority.

The makeup of a football locker room is not unlike any other small community. A diverse cast of characters, positional neighbourhoods and a complicated pecking order create the foundation for success. "Defence over there, offence over here. Linebackers, you'll occupy this piece of locker room real-estate while the O-line, we'll put you in the high rent district next to the quarterbacks."

And just like every town or village, every locker room has a dynamic citizenry that completes the suburban landscape. There's the mayor, the minister, the barber and the banker. And inevitably there is always the Village Asshole. Depending who you ask in the Dolphins locker room, Richie Incognito embraced the latter.

If nothing else, a football locker room is a microcosm of society. A Lord of the Flies kind of thing with inherent challenges at every turn. Offensive linemen are a tightly-knit group by virtue of what they do. Battling in the trenches in what essentially is hand-to-hand combat, will always galvanize an O-line unit. Imposing your will on another player across from you, physically beating him into submission, taking your opponent to a place he doesn't want to go is the definition of effective line play.

There is no etiquette, civilities or courtesies. There is no remorse or empathy. The only requisite is an indomitable will to kill the 'head' across from you, both figuratively and literally, in the hope the body will soon follow. A high pain threshold and a nasty disposition, besides the hulking frame, create the template for a perfect offensive lineman. "Soft" players need not apply.

What goes on along the line of scrimmage is as natural and unnatural an act as there is. Encoded DNA from our primitive lineage makes our natural survival of the fittest instinct a valued asset. But from an outsider’s perspective, how others would interpret the civilized behaviour of men, the world of pro football and specifically what an O-lineman does for a living, must seem completely bizarre and unnatural.

Two responses on opposites sides of the behavioural spectrum separated only by off-days and game-days. And for some, like Incognito, the lines between natural and unnatural have obviously been blurred.

If nothing else, the Incognito saga should reveal a locker room culture ripe for reform. But be careful what you wish for. Thinning the herd and weeding out the weak are as old a practice in professional football as there is. Disagree, cringe or just turn away in disgust at the methods employed to accomplish that goal. But right or wrong, depending on which side of the line you straddle, it will always be an inherent part of the game. And when a player has the spotlight shone on him for what I can only describe as a breakdown in the built-in code between players trying their best to co-exist in a locker room, it hardly seems fair that one player should pay the ultimate price for the sins of an entire sport. Locker rooms from every decade have shown complicity in that tolerance and to me that seems the greater crime.

But in this case, I get it. Sometimes, you have to cut off a limb in order to save the body. And if Incognito has played his last game, it saddens me his entire career will be nothing more than a cautionary tale, held up by football reformists calling for changes to the game in order to appease the outspoken critics.

The built-in system of checks and balances used to weed out the weak and field the most competitive team will continue to serve its purpose. And why wouldn't it? With victories and championships as the only measuring stick, the invisible system will continue its role as a valued and necessary tool. It just seems wrong that in the end, those held to account, are not more easily identified as its victims or its heroes.

Sandy Annunziata is a two-time Grey Cup champion who battled in the trenches along CFL offensive-lines for 11 seasons. Hard hitting and thought provoking, he takes you beyond the field and inside the locker room as he delivers a candid view of the game, the health of the league, the business of sport and the sometimes fragile psyche of pro athletes.