Player Response to NFL Bullying Incident is “Man Up”

NFL player Jonathan Martin just quit his job over alleged bullying by another player that included an incident where he felt forced to pay for that player’s vacation to Las Vegas.  This is part of a wider allegation that a lot of rookie players are hazed by veterans in various demeaning and (sometimes) expensive ways.

The basic response from many corners is that the guy who quit needed to grow a thicker skin.

You don’t even need a thick skin. That’s what the pads are for, right?

Now I don’t believe I know everything that went on here but I have some experience with bullying and I have to assume that even as a “grown” man, there is a feeling of powerlessness that is hard to overcome.  As a young guy trying to make the team, you will feel compelled to just deal with the bullshit because you want the veteran guys to accept you.

Inevitably, you will view that behavior as acceptable when it becomes your turn to do the same thing.

What has been exposed is a cycle of abuse.  To defend it is to fail to understand that teaching a bunch of man/boy millionaires how to be grown-up’s is the most valuable thing that the NFL can possibly do.

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