Richie Incognito reportedly threw dumbbell at gym patron, held for mental eval

Two days after Richie Incognito was released by the Buffalo Bills so he could come out of a month-long retirement and play again, he was involved in a troubling incident at a gym.

According to TMZ, and confirmed by WKBW, four-time Pro Bowl guard Incognito is being held for an involuntary mental evaluation after he was accused of throwing a dumbbell at another person working out at the gym Wednesday morning. The incident happened in Boca Raton, Fla.

Police were called and WKBW said Incognito was put under the provisions of the Baker Act, which means he had to undergo a mental evaluation. He was not arrested.

Victim says no reason for outburst

According to TMZ, Incognito threw a tennis ball at the other man, then threw a dumbbell at him. The victim said there was no reason for Incognito to begin throwing things at him.

TMZ said Incognito was “rambling about the government and screaming at the man to ‘get off my (expletive) playground.'” That’s when the police were called.

The latest incident for Incognito

NFL fans know Incognito well by now, and probably not because he made the Pro Bowl each of the past three seasons with the Bills.

Incognito, whose patterns of odd behavior go back to his days at University of Nebraska, was the central figure in the 2013 bullying scandal involving then-Miami Dolphins teammate Jonathan Martin. That’s why Incognito was out of football in 2014. The Bills gave him another chance and he had three good seasons for them, but then he had a truly bizarre offseason.

Incognito in trouble right as he hit free agency

The latest incident with Incognito comes right as teams could start looking into him as a free agent.

Incognito was already displaying strange behavior this offseason. He said in April he was retiring and told a reporter his kidneys and liver were failing. Then a couple days later he tweeted at the Bills that he would see them at the start of the offseason program. The Bills put him on the reserve/retired list, and this week they cut him when Incognito said he wanted to play again. That meant Incognito could become a free agent. The Bills cut him despite having him under contract and with a significant need on the offensive line.

While all the facts about the gym incident are not known yet, Incognito seems to have bigger issues at the moment than if he plays football in 2018.

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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