Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill is mystified by the suspension of Richie Incognito and the departure of Jonathan Martin, because as far as Tannehill knew, the two were best friends.
Asked today about reports that Incognito bullied, harassed and threatened Martin to the point where Martin felt he had to leave the team, Tannehill said that to the contrary, he always was under the impression that Martin and Incognito were like brothers.
“I think if you had asked Jon Martin a week before who his best friend on the team was, he would have said Richie Incognito,” Tannehill said. “The first guy to stand up for Jonathan when anything went down on the field, any kind of tussle, Richie was the first guy there. When we would hang on off the field, outside football, who was together? Richie and Jon. I’m not in those guys’ shoes, I can’t explain what’s going on.”
So if these two were allegedly best friends, why are there reports that Incognito left Martin a voicemail calling him the N-word and threatening to kill him? Tannehill says he doesn’t know.
“I had no clue about the voicemail. I had never seen that, never heard about that,” Tannehill said.
Tannehill acknowledged that Incognito likes to give teammates a hard time in the locker room, but Tannehill says he loved playing with Incognito.
“He was the best teammate I could ask for,” Tannehill said of Incognito.
Clearly, Tannehill does not believe the situation inside the locker room is the way it has been described. Or even close.
