Miami Dolphins

I'm not ready to abandon my allegiance to my favorite team, because I believe heads will roll and the situation will be resolved. But today, I am ashamed to be a Miami Dolphin fan.

The investigation is just beginning, but much has been said already about things that cannot be denied. A physical attack from Richie Incognito on Johnathan Martin, emails and text messages filled with racial epithets and alleged death threats against Martin and his family.

No matter what comes out of the investigation, this goes beyond bullying. The NFL has long been an organization that policed themselves, especially in the locker room. Thus far, nothing like this situation has ever surfaced.

Incognito has blamed the Dolphins locker room culture. He claims, and is backed up by several Dolphin players, including quarterback Ryan Tannahill. Players are rallying around Incognito, which speaks volumes about the leadership of the Miami Dolphins organization.

There is no acceptable reason for the use of racial epithets. Incognito claims that the African American players made him an honorary African American, allowing him to use the "N" word. That's absurd. There is no such thing and the use of such language is completely unacceptable.

We have to wait until the independent investigation has concluded, but even knowing what we currently know, Joe Filbin and Jeff Ireland should be ousted, along with Incognito. Outside of that, any executive who knew what was happening and turned a blind eye, should be fired, at the very least.

Incognito now claims that Martin sent him threatening text messages, but were they responses to those initially sent by Richie?

The culture of the team, in terms of what is deemed acceptable by Dolphin players, coaches and executive staff is really what is in question. According to Johnathan Martin's Dad, he is ok. We'll see how things shake out. In the meantime, I am going to do what most fans will do, root for the team to win.

See you tomorrow.