What Happened To Richie Incognito? (The Kid Who Got Bullied & Then Turned Into One)

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Richie Incognito got bullied as a kid. Later in his life, he became the biggest bully in the NFL. Jonathan Martin was his most notable victim...or did he never get bullied at all?

This video reflects my personal opinions and interpretations based on publicly available reporting, including news articles, police reports, court documents, and the NFL’s independent investigation. All factual claims are drawn from the sources listed below. Any characterizations, conclusions, or commentary about the people involved are my own analysis and should be understood as opinion, not as statements of fact. This video is intended for commentary and educational purposes.

Key Sources:

*ESPN — Anthony Olivieri, Feb. 2025 — espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/43707519/jonathan-martin-miami-dolphins-nfl-bullying-wells-report-bullygate (“I never believed for a second I was being bullied,” the “alpha” / “edits himself in real time” / “story I’ve been trying to fix for 10 years” passage, Martin’s rebrand)
*USA Today — Brent Schrotenboer, Nov. 5, 2013 — usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2013/11/05/incognito-bully-accusations-nebraska-freshman/3439819 (Jack Limbaugh story: turned down two scholarships, SI cover, Academic All-Big 12, 2002 blindside, walked out of practice without punishment; “easy mark for a guy like Richie”; Steve Safranek “knock it off” excerpt)
Yahoo Shutdown Corner — Incognito’s troubled timeline — ca.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/richie-incognito-troubled-timeline-dates-back-early-college-224648711--nfl.html (college-to-NFL incident chronology; Bellotti “He was talented, but came with issues” quote)
*New York Post — “Booze, beefs and brawls: Incognito’s history of violence,” Nov. 9, 2013 — nypost.com/2013/11/09/booze-beefs-and-brawls-incognitos-history-of-violence (Jim Moore “definitely psychotic,” mom “whining to the referees,” Richie Sr./Donna “put a bullet in a gun” court documents, 2004 party fight “irate” / “tried to pin me on the bed” / cell phone quotes, Richie Sr. “Nebraska doesn’t want hard-nosed kids anymore”)
*CBS Sports — “Incognito’s sad story: going from bullied to bully” — cbssports.com/college-football/news/incognitos-sad-story-going-from-bullied-to-bully (bullied-as-a-kid framing, playing up with older kids, the one punch that stopped the teasing)
*ESPN — Elizabeth Merrill, “Who is Richie Incognito?”, Nov. 2013 — espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/9943353/who-richie-incognito (crying on the sidelines / welts, holes punched in his bedroom wall, destroyed toys, teacher-told-dad story and “You can’t let them keep doing it,” coach Deutsch on his dad, high school coach Ewan quotes incl. “I disciplined Richie a couple of times,” Nebraska freshman codes, Frank Kush award, 171 pancake blocks)
*Pro Football History — Richie Incognito — profootballhistory.com/richie-incognito (combine numbers 6'3" 305 / 29 reps, draft and career stats, 2005 Rams offense numbers, Pro Bowls)

*NFL.com — Summary of the Ted Wells report — nfl.com/news/summary-of-ted-wells-report-on-miami-dolphins-0ap2000000325899 (John Jerry’s early test, “I got punked again today” text to his mom, rising-sun headbands / Pearl Harbor, Christmas 2012 couch punching, n-word and mom/sister remarks, the ~$15,000 Vegas trip, “kind of a disease; he divides a locker room,” antidepressants and suicidal thoughts, Dolphins ban)
* PFT / NBC Sports — “Revisiting the Ted Wells report” — nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/revisiting-the-ted-wells-report-from-the-jonathan-martin-richie-incognito-case
* Adam Schefter tweets, Nov. 4, 2013 — the April 2013 voicemail transcript (also reproduced in the Wells report and the Grantland timeline: grantland.com/the-triangle/a-tumultuous-timeline-of-richie-incognito)
* Lawrence Jackson tweets, Nov. 2013, via WebProNews — “Hate is a strong word but I’ve always hated Incognito” / “makes you want to spit in his face” [FLAG: secondary site, original tweets not pulled]
*Darnell Dockett, Nov. 2013 — “His whole makeup is playing dirty and trying to hurt guys” (widely quoted; came up in the same player-quotes search)
* Vice/Broadly — “Richie Incognito, Guard, Accused of Sexual Battery with a Golf Club” — vice.com/en/article/richie-incognito-guard-accused-of-sexual-battery-with-a-golf-club (May 2012 Turnberry golf tournament police report, $50K team fine, Goodell meeting; the “Let it rain!” police-report wording was also in the NY Post piece above)
* Sporting News 2009 player poll — dirtiest player in the NFL (99 votes) [FLAG: one CBS Miami piece dates it 1999, looks like a typo]
* Tony Dungy / Scott Pioli comments, Nov. 2013 — Colts do-not-draft list and Patriots passing on him in 2005