You know what’s crazy? I’ll tell you what’s crazy™
Big League Bullying.
The man being bullied is is 6’5″ 300 pounds.
The man doing the bullying is about the same size.
That’s 600 pounds of guy standing about 12 feet tall.
That’s an amazing amount of humanity.
These mastodon of flesh are lineman for the Miami Dolphins.
These are warriors who are paid millions of dollars to beat on one another.
It’s like saying one brontosaurus is picking on another brontosaurus in a jungle full of brontosauruses fighting for survival.
Bully is not a term I would ever associate with NFL players.
These are millionaire monsters of the Midway who are paid to play hurt, paid to play tough, paid to play rough and tumble.
Trash talking and bad mouthing is part of the game.
There are cheap shots and violent hits. It’s the F-in NFL!
I’m told it’s so combative, so dirty at the bottom of a fumble, you could lose a testicle.
You gonna file a damn grievance for that?
This is why I find the story of NFL bullying so intriguing.
It is a gigantic debate because the NFL is gigantic. The work force is gigantic men paid gigantic salaries to be warriors, to kick ass, to endure pain.
Bullying is a hot button issue in America. The NFL is the biggest sport in America. Put the two together and it is fertile ground for controversy.
Bullying leads newscasts when children commit suicide. Bullying is a very very serious issue that must be addressed.
But NFL bullying? Please….
Some say this proves that anyone can be bullied.
I think in some ways, it actually diminishes bullying.
Here are the facts as we know them: Lineman Richie Incognito, once voted the dirtiest player in the league, has been thrown off the team. He is accused of bullying a fellow player with a scathing, racially insensitive tirade.
He is accused of bullying 300 pound teammate Jonathon Martin, who simply left the team, for unspecified reasons.
Was it bullying?
That’s what we hear.
In the old days Martin would have been ridiculed for being soft, for being a pansy, for being a female part of the anatomy.
But the old days are gone.
No longer in the NFL can you clothesline a guy in the adam’s apple. You can no longer launch your helmet at a guy in the process of catching the ball to dislodge the ball, his manhood and the molars from his teeth. No longer is it acceptable to taunt or fight or trash talk.
It’s not your daddy’s NFL anymore.
Now, in this regulate everything society, it is illegal for a 300 pound man to berate another 300 pound man.
In the old days we use to say man up. Say that now and prepare for a lawsuit from the N.O.W.
Now we call one guy a bully and call the other guy a victim.
Miami Dolphin Head Coach, Joe Philbin said.
“The NFL is going to review the workplace and as an organization. We will give the NFL our full cooperation.”
That’s a bunch of Bull S*** for we didn’t ask any questions and we didn’t see anything.
It’s a locker room where guys shower together, know whose hung like a donkey and who has the nuts of a squirrel. Nothing is unknown.
So for the organization to say they had no idea that one big guy was harassing another big guy is crap.
But the issue is Bullying.
At school I get it. At school, or on the bus, I say put a stop to it.
But on the grid iron? I’m underwhelmed.
I all ready think the NFL is emasculated.
I like my hits raw and viscious. I like my warriors to leave a spleen on the playing field.
That’s why they make 4 million a year. Catch a ball. Run a ball. Throw a ball. and when it is necessary, take one for the team.
It’s a violent sport played by large fast violent men.
And now one large violent man is accused of bullying another large violent man.
I’m not sold that bullying is the right word.
It was recently disclosed that Incognito harassed Martin with racist voice mails and texts calling him the N word and saying he would kill him.”
I can see suspending him for racial insensitivity. but it is the NFL. I have no problem with him saying he would kill him. So what?
That’s the NFL.
Have you ever seen the Oklahoma drill.
Two men face each other. One man with the ball. One man on defense. The coach blows the whistle and both men explode toward one another. There is a collision like two trucks smashing into a brick wall.
It sounds like the crackle of thunder. It hurts like being dropped from a moving car.
It is orchestrated violence. Someone could get hurt. Some one could get mad. Someone might call someone a bad word.
It’s the NFL.
Bullying?
It’s the nature of the beast. If you don’t like it, then go home and work at a factory. Get paid $8 an hour and bitch about your sorry ass life.
Is life bullying you too?
If someone says they want to kill you, call the police.
But don’t talk to me about a 300 pound guy bullying another 300 pound guy.
That is different than a kid on a school bus being bullied by some kids.
That kid has the expectation to go to school to learn to be safe.
An NFL player has an expectation to go to work and get his head jacked off his shoulders.
If I’m an NFL player, call me anything you want, just don’t hit me in the knees.
We’ll see how all this plays out.
Bullying is an important issue.
I’m not sure saying a 300 pound man bullied another 300 pound man is what the term was designed for.
Life’s Crazy™