Today was a Big Day for Jonathan Martin, who was traded from the Miami Dolphins to the San Francisco Forty-Niners for a conditional 7th round pick.  There he will be reunited with his former college coach Jim Harbaugh.  Things couldn't have worked out better for him in that regard, he had to leave Miami and with the Niners he can fly in under the radar as a back up to established vets Joe Staley and Anthony Davis.  I am happy for Martin because he is back in California where he grew up with a coach he is familiar with.  If the former 2nd round pick can now reach his potential it will have been a steal for San Francisco.

On the flipside there is Richie Incognito, who has reportedly checked himself into a mental hospital.  His life has been in the spotlight since early November with progressively more shocking headlines that only Riley Cooper could be happy about.  I can't help but feel a little bad for the man.  Sure the his actions were appalling, but the Dolphins' staff allowing it to go on was worse.  If they handled this properly both men involved could have been spared the media frenzy and the team probly makes the playoffs. 

Incognito's aggressive personality is what made him good at football and the Dolphins were willing to put up with him if he performed on Sunday.  Some have said Martin should have ended the harassment by retaliating with violence and that might have worked.  But when Martin reported incidents to the Dolphins that had to be the end of it.  Allowing the harassment to continue was a disservice to everyone in the locker room.  

It starts in High School (maybe earlier) - athletes can get away with murder as long as they perform. This look-the-other-way attitude creates a dangerous culture where horrendous acts like the ones that occurred at Penn State can flourish. The Dolphins only reacted after Martin went public, which is too little too late in my opinion.  The NFL needs to investigate this situation for proof of complacency on the Dolphins part.  The franchise should be punished to discourage this behavior.  Hopefully everyone involved in this situation can learn something from it and become better individuals going forward.