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Vulgar comments, some laced with racial epithets. A physical attack. Threats to him and his family.
All of this and more -- stretched out over a season and a half -- proved too much for Jonathan Martin, 24, to bear, which is why he left the Miami Dolphins last week, his lawyer said.
"Jonathan endured harassment that went far beyond the traditional locker room hazing," the attorney, David Cornwell, said in a prepared statement. "... These facts are not in dispute."
The comments, through the intermediary, break a silence from the offensive lineman who walked out after an incident in the team's cafeteria and hasn't been back since, according to Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin.
Days later, Miami suspended Richie Incognito, 30, for conduct detrimental to the team. Rumors and news stories flew quickly in the days to come, including a well-publicized voice mail in which Incognito reportedly calls Martin a racial epithet and threatens his life.
Richie Incognito, Jonathan Martin, and the NFL's future
Some also questioned the toughness of Martin, a Stanford University graduate who was in his second NFL season, especially as it came out that he might be seeking help for emotional issues.
But Cornwell stressed: "Jonathan Martin's toughness is not an issue."
"Jonathan started every game with the Miami Dolphins since he was drafted in 2012," he said of the second-round draft pick. "At Stanford, he was the anchor for Jim Harbaugh's 'smash mouth' brand of football and he protected (then-Stanford, now Indianapolis Colts quarterback) Andrew Luck's blind side.
"The issue is Jonathan's treatment by his teammates."
Cornwell then outlined some of that treatment, including Martin's reaction to it.
Martin tried "to befriend ... teammates who subjected him to the abuse with the hope that doing so would end the harassment" -- something that Cornwell called "a textbook reaction of victims of bullying."
It didn't work, the lawyer said. Instead, there was more taunting, "a malicious physical attack on him by a teammate and daily vulgar comments," and a threat of a group sexual assault against Martin's sister.
"Eventually, Jonathan made a difficult choice," Cornwell said of Martin leaving the Dolphins. "... Jonathan looks forward to getting back to playing football. In the meantime, he will cooperate fully with the NFL investigation.
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