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The Miami Dolphins and the situation surrounding offensive tackle Jonathan Martin is national news, with it taking a spot on every highlight show and sports talk show around the country. During NBC's Football Night in America Sunday Night Football pregame show, former Kansas City Chiefs General Manager and former New England Patriots Vice President of Player Personnel Scott Pioli was asked about his thoughts of the two main characters in this strange drama.
We saw a guy who was a great athlete," Pioli said of Martin, who he scouted with the Chiefs. "A really smart football player, but he wasn't our type of player, offensive lineman. We generally liked guys who were a little bit tougher, a little bit more physical. He just wasn't our type of guy."
But, it was when the conversation turned to guard Richie Incognito, that Pioli became more direct. "If he is a leader in your locker room, that is a problem," Pioli explained. "What this shows me is that there is some void of leadership somewhere within the Miami Dolphins locker room, because if there are issues like this, generally the head coach or the general manager is going to know something about this. They're going to be able to fix the problem before it manifests itself into this disaster they have right now."
Pioli, who was with the Patriots when Incognito was drafted in the third round of the 2005 draft by the St. Louis Rams, then added, "I didn't want him coming out, and I don't want him now."
The Dolphins suspended Incognito last night, after Pioli's comments on NBC. Earlier in the day, Martin had officially reported allegations of player misconduct to the team, including text and voicemail messages that he feels supports his claim. The Dolphins and the NFL are conducting investigations into the situation.
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