Jonathan Martin a symptom of a larger problem in Miami
By Peter Smith
Much has been made about the situation that led up to Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Jonathan Martin lashing out at former teammates and ultimately leaving the team. The concept of ‘bullying’ has been mentioned as a matter of teasing the player, which is what led to the issue. Miami Herald reporter Adam Beasley, who covers the Dolphins has alluded to a larger problem, which involves money and what older players are doing to the younger players on the Dolphins roster, which would include Martin.
According to Beasley, the older players have bought into the Miami lifestyle and are using younger players to pay for it. There have been stories all over the league of rookies paying for huge dinners and getting the bill. Miami falls into that category, but it has been worse. An unnamed defensive player told Beasley that he literally went broke over the pressures of paying for older players.
To this point, it is unclear if Martin was involved in this situation with money, but that outcome would make far more sense as to why the young man would have reacted the way he did with the dining room incident as the final straw. It is one thing for players to get teased, bullied, or whatever term people want to throw around, but all of that on top of sucking them dry of their money could push anyone to a point where they might lose it. The current situation in Miami is not good and this is going to get worse before it gets better.