Once again, Ted Wells is proved to be a lying shill for the NFL...

[FreeTedWilliams]

Wells issued a report that definitely concluded that Jonathan Martin has bullied by Richie Igonito and others.....

Ted Wells report: Jonathan Martin faced pattern of harassment from Dolphins teammates

Offensive tackle Jonathan Martin said he had enough of his teammates' bullying and teasing. (AP) In an NFL-sanctioned report released Friday, investigator Ted

www.si.com

“The Report concludes that three starters on the Dolphins offensive line, Richie Incognito, John Jerry and Mike Pouncey, engaged in a pattern of harassment directed at not only Jonathan Martin, but also another young Dolphins offensive lineman and an assistant trainer. The Report finds that the assistant trainer repeatedly was the object of racial slurs and other racially derogatory language; that the other offensive lineman was subjected to homophobic name-calling and improper physical touching; and that Martin was taunted on a persistent basis with sexually explicit remarks about his sister and his mother and at times ridiculed with racial insults and other offensive comments.”

Now, ten years later, Martin admits he made it all up, it was a lie because he quit on the team and did not want them to try and recoup his signing bonus.

Former Dolphins lineman Jonathan Martin says he 'never believed' he was bullied in NFL scandal

Martin's teammates were accused of harassment

www.cbssports.com

"I hadn't even told my coaches, hadn't told anyone," Martin explained. "And suddenly it's on ESPN, right? ... I never believed for a second I was being bullied. ... It's a story that I've been trying to fix for 10 years."
How Kraft has let the Wells Report on Brady stand for this long is beyond belief. I truly believe it was the catalyst for Brady's leaving.

So in the end, Richie Cognito was 100 right when he said...

"He couldn't cut it in the NFL, so he quit and his mom blamed me," Incognito wrote on X this week. "Legacy media pushed this narrative long and far. Too bad it was all a lie! They lied to protect his money. He quit [and] the team had every right to claw back that money. His mom started the bullying narrative with ESPN ... so that the Miami Dolphins wouldn't go after his signing bonus!


"It was wild to read the Ted Wells report," Incognito added. "A bunch of lawyers came in and tried to understand the culture of an NFL locker room. They made a mountain out of a mole hill while being directed by Martin's parents. The report crushed us both! The lawyers wanted to protect the NFL and the Dolphins. They didn't give two ****s to fact check any of the wild claims made by Martin and his camp."

And who did the NFL go to start the media BS? Adam Schefter!

 

[RobertWeathers]

Incognito, Bountygate, Spygate, Deflategate....

Goodell's legacy.

 

[mike_usagisan]

Incognito, Bountygate, Spygate, Deflategate....

Goodell's legacy.

Add in his wildly inconsistent punishments for crimes, sexual harassment, drugs, etc., too.

The only one who believed his "protect the shield" nonsense was him.

 

[lancerman]

Probably going to be controversial here, but this reads more like Martin upset that he comes off like a massive ****y and wants to change that and say "no really wasn't a wimpy little bully victim because I didn't feel that way".

We still have all the texts about what Incongnito said to him. Incognito still has teammates that all said he was a total bully and headcase that scared the **** out of everyone. And the dude had to be taken away by cops from trying to cut his own father's head off at a funeral. He's not a good dude.

I always said Martin's biggest problem was that he came off like a ***** who cried to his mom and wasn't man enough to not have mommy step in and control the narrative. Even at the time there was always the narrative that Incognito was a ****head, but you can put up with those guys if they produce and Martin was way too soft for the league. I always found Martin to be a guy who was coddled and couldn't handle being in a lockerroom and taking care of his own business.

Also the NFL and Ted Wells never should have gotten involved in two players having a bullying issue. That's an in house thing for the clubs to deal with. Story got big and NFL wanted to come in and swing their **** to be topical.

Just straight up ****ty people all around.

 

[ErniesPinkStripes]

Probably going to be controversial here, but this reads more like Martin upset that he comes off like a massive ****y and wants to change that and say "no really wasn't a wimpy little bully victim because I didn't feel that way".

We still have all the texts about what Incongnito said to him. Incognito still has teammates that all said he was a total bully and headcase that scared the **** out of everyone. And the dude had to be taken away by cops from trying to cut his own father's head off at a funeral.

I always said Martin's biggest problem was that he came off like a ***** who cried to his mom and wasn't man enough to not have mommy step in and control the narrative. Even at the time there was always the narrative that Incognito was a ****head, but you can put up with those guys if they produce and Martin was way too soft for the league.

 

[lancerman]

Look it up. This is why I'm not dying on the hill of Richie even if I feel like he got a bad shake in an overblown incident. His teammates for the most part pre the Martin story all agree that everyone thought he had screws loose and were terrified of him going off at any time.

Tbf he seemed to cool it later in his career. But dude is just nuts.

 

[Kdo5]

Incognito, Bountygate, Spygate, Deflategate....

Goodell's legacy.

His legacy is helping increase the league’s revenue. Other than the Pats and Saints no one else really cares as much about Goodell at this point.

 

[Joey007]

Ted was so damn corrupt, man. That early to mid 2010's era was so crooked by the NFL.

 

[Spiral]

As a Holy Cross alum, I cringe every time I see his name in print. We're better than this.

 

[lancerman]

His legacy is helping increase the league’s revenue. Other than the Pats and Saints no one else really cares as much about Goodell at this point.

Also let's be real. All that **** was owner driven. The league went after us because the owners wanted their pound of flesh. The league went after the Saints because the owners wanted to send a message in an ear where they were trying to figure out the best ways to protect a QB and just had an all time great QB who was sort of the elder statesman of QB's in the league getting murdered in a high profile game and then limping through the next season.

If the owners don't want it, Goodell ain't doing it. He's the CEO, they are the board who has to make happy.

This is why I never get wound up about Goodell. He's there to do their bidding and take the bullets when things go wrong. When an owner is taking fire, it's because the other owners all want them to.

I can guarantee you Deflategate never happens if Mara/Rooney/Jones say "hey this dragged on enough and people think this is a big joke and it's embarrassing us". But they wanted the legal precedent for punishing players too much at that point to not go all the way.

 

[lancerman]

Ted was so damn corrupt, man. That early to mid 2010's era was so crooked by the NFL.

This is basically Ted Wells job....

NFL: Hey Ted we have this controversy can you investigate?

Ted: Sure what do you want me find?

NFL: Exactly

 

[RobertWeathers]

His legacy is helping increase the league’s revenue. Other than the Pats and Saints no one else really cares as much about Goodell at this point.

The general public does not care about that (nor do I think he has had a direct impact on growing revenues)

What they care about is the quality of the game and it's overall appeal.

For that, Goodell has made the game worse.

 

[lancerman]

The general public does not care about that (nor do I think he has had a direct impact on growing revenues)

What they care about is the quality of the game and it's overall appeal.

For that, Goodell has made the game worse.

While this is true imo, there's also the fact that in a climate where almost every network has been seeing decreased viewership year after year, the NFL is like the only longterm product that consistently is breaking it's own viewership records every season.

More of us older guys that have a few decades under our belt yearn for the good old days, but the flipside is, more people are attracted to the product now. Which I don't get tbh. When I was a kid the whole appeal was that football was the sport where you could lay guys out and hit each other. Now all the star players have a magic bubble around them in the form of refs and rules to save them and people seem to prefer that

 

[mike_usagisan]

While this is true imo, there's also the fact that in a climate where almost every network has been seeing decreased viewership year after year, the NFL is like the only longterm product that consistently is breaking it's own viewership records every season.

More of us older guys that have a few decades under our belt yearn for the good old days, but the flipside is, more people are attracted to the product now. Which I don't get tbh. When I was a kid the whole appeal was that football was the sport where you could lay guys out and hit each other. Now all the star players have a magic bubble around them in the form of refs and rules to save them and people seem to prefer that

The real legacy will be people pissed that they have to get 7 streaming services to watch any given game.

 

[RobertWeathers]

While this is true imo, there's also the fact that in a climate where almost every network has been seeing decreased viewership year after year, the NFL is like the only longterm product that consistently is breaking it's own viewership records every season.

More of us older guys that have a few decades under our belt yearn for the good old days, but the flipside is, more people are attracted to the product now. Which I don't get tbh. When I was a kid the whole appeal was that football was the sport where you could lay guys out and hit each other. Now all the star players have a magic bubble around them in the form of refs and rules to save them and people seem to prefer that

Great post. Lots to unpack there.

I think the primary reason why network TV ratings are down because the viewer has more choice than ever before. Plus they are bound by FCC constraints.

Not sure about NFL viewership. See below. It has been fairly flat over the last ~18 years

NFL Ratings Dip 2% as TV’s Biggest Draw Fends Off Political Raid

With an average production of 33.2 points per game, the Detroit Lions have emerged as one of the NFL's biggest ratings drivers.

www.sportico.com

The other 3 sports have also seen revenue increases over the last 20 years.

Since 2005
NHL revenue has almost tripled
MLB has doubled in rev
NBA revenue is almost 4x ($3.5b to $11.47b)
NFL was $6.5b in 05...now is ~$13b.

The main thing the game of football has going for it is the culture (tailgating, violence), gambling and it is perfect for TV viewing.

IMO Goodell hasn't gotten in the way per se of growth but I don't consider him in the same caliber of Pete Rozelle- who was an innovator.

 

[lancerman]

Great post. Lots to unpack there.

I think the primary reason why network TV ratings are down because the viewer has more choice than ever before. Plus they are bound by FCC constraints.

Not sure about NFL viewership. See below. It has been fairly flat over the last ~18 years

NFL Ratings Dip 2% as TV’s Biggest Draw Fends Off Political Raid

With an average production of 33.2 points per game, the Detroit Lions have emerged as one of the NFL's biggest ratings drivers.

www.sportico.com

The other 3 sports have also seen revenue increases over the last 20 years.

Since 2005
NHL revenue has almost tripled
MLB has doubled in rev
NBA revenue is almost 4x ($3.5b to $11.47b)
NFL was $6.5b in 05...now is ~$13b.

The main thing the game of football has going for it is the culture (tailgating, violence), gambling and it is perfect for TV viewing.

IMO Goodell hasn't gotten in the way per se of growth but I don't consider him in the same caliber of Pete Rozelle- who was an innovator.

Agreed, in many ways I think the NFL was just inevitable because the product just works so well for sports. It's modern day gladiatorial combat where regions put their guys in a stadium fighting a mini land war to win ground and take over the other teams territory. It's so primal that it works.

Goodell and whoever was in that seat just had to not screw it up.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Probably going to be controversial here, but this reads more like Martin upset that he comes off like a massive ****y and wants to change that and say "no really wasn't a wimpy little bully victim because I didn't feel that way".

We still have all the texts about what Incongnito said to him. Incognito still has teammates that all said he was a total bully and headcase that scared the **** out of everyone. And the dude had to be taken away by cops from trying to cut his own father's head off at a funeral. He's not a good dude.

I always said Martin's biggest problem was that he came off like a ***** who cried to his mom and wasn't man enough to not have mommy step in and control the narrative. Even at the time there was always the narrative that Incognito was a ****head, but you can put up with those guys if they produce and Martin was way too soft for the league. I always found Martin to be a guy who was coddled and couldn't handle being in a lockerroom and taking care of his own business.

Also the NFL and Ted Wells never should have gotten involved in two players having a bullying issue. That's an in house thing for the clubs to deal with. Story got big and NFL wanted to come in and swing their **** to be topical.

Just straight up ****ty people all around.

I agree with you.

Stuff like bullying and harassment is rarely black and white. A lot of it boils down to perception. Also, one’s perception of a situation tends to change depending on how one chooses to frame in it in a given context. This is why a lot of sexual harassment claims seem less credible because of the tendency for the aggrieved to swing from downplaying it to magnifying it.

Typically, the situation seems kind of normal and like aggressive banter or “busting your balls” stuff in the moment. The recipient often doesn’t want to seem weak and goes along with it or even contributes to it. But then some people, typically those with deeper sensitivity or past traumas, become more upset at it while thinking about it later, but again, may change their view on it depending on how they reframe it all.

So I wouldn’t say Martin is “crazy” or “lying” though clearly he’s more emotionally vulnerable than most men. We know the facts about what was done / said. The only variable is about how much off of it affected him, and the degree to which those affects continue to linger or not.

 

[TheRainMaker]

His legacy is helping increase the league’s revenue. Other than the Pats and Saints no one else really cares as much about Goodell at this point.

It’s been a pre draft tradition to boo him which has gone on for many years. The general public doesn’t like him.

In terms of revenue, Roger didn’t do anything other than watch the popularity of fantasy football take the NFL to another level which was happening right before he took over.

 

[PancakeBlockPaul]

It’s more “probable than not” that Herr Goodell is a pos, liar, hack, hypocrite, scumbag, and CLOWN! I cannot take anything from Wells as serious since he’s the same class of pos.

 

[JayNM]

Not even lying that the Deflategate was a landmark in my life. Then I had the very obvious epiphany that, truly, the one with the bigger gun makes the rules