Bills Sign Incognito to One-Year Deal

When the Bills signed OG Richie Incognito on Saturday, media outlets everywhere were quick to jump on the irony of Buffalo’s first acquisition of the Rex Ryan era. After saying in his introductory press conference that he wanted to “build a bully,” Ryan went out and signed the man who instigated Miami’s bullying scandal back in 2013.

Incognito’s bullying of former teammate Jonathan Martin is widely known, so there is no need to recap the entire ordeal here. Just know that it was severe enough to get Incognito suspended for the second half of the 2013 season, and to prompt all 32 NFL teams to stay away from him for the entirety of the 2014 campaign.

There is a large contingent of NFL fans who want this whole issue to be forgiven and forgotten. They believe the NFL is a tough-guys league and Incognito got a raw deal because his teammate lacked the necessary toughness to fit in. But these fans are suffering from a selective memory and a lack of common sense.

The bullying scandal was not a one-time incident; it was just the most recent terrible act by a consistently terrible person.

Yes, the nation paid attention after hearing a voicemail from Incognito to Martin that said the following:

“Hey, wassup, you half n—– piece of s—. I saw you on Twitter, you been training 10 weeks. [I want to] s— in your f—ing mouth. [I’m going to] slap your f—ing mouth. [I’m going to] slap your real mother across the face [laughter]. F— you, you’re still a rookie. I’ll kill you.”

But this came after Incognito harassed a female volunteer at the Dolphins’ annual golf tournament in May 2012, poking the woman’s privates with a golf club and pouring water on her face. It cost Incognito roughly $30,000 in a settlement to make that one go away.

And before Incognito’s troubles in Miami, he was just as awful during the first four seasons of his career in St. Louis. He drew 38 penalties in his time with the Rams, including seven unnecessary roughness calls, more than any other player during that span. That stretch included three fines from a single game in 2008, as well as a pair of head-butts in a 2009 game that cost St. Louis 30 yards in penalties.

Do all these infractions mean Incognito does not deserve another chance? In a word: yes. Ray Rice has been railroaded from the league because of 10 seconds of terrible decision-making; Incognito, after 10 years of terrible decision-making, is still landing new deals.

The Bills clearly needed an upgrade at guard and Incognito will give them that, particularly in the running game. He is inconsistent in pass protection, but that won’t matter in Buffalo, as the Bills do not have the personnel to pass the ball effectively anyway.

Bills fans are nonetheless excited that Incognito appears to be an upgrade over incumbent starter Erik Pears, who struggled last season and is set to become a free agent. But while Pears authored one season of inconsistent play, Incongnito has authored a lifetime of consistently destructive decisions. It’s tough to see how that’s an upgrade.

Hardy Not Expected Back in Carolina

Speaking of football players who make headlines for all the wrong reasons, Panthers DE Greg Hardy is back in the news this week with The Charlotte Observer reporting this week that Carolina is not expected to bring back the pending free agent.

Hardy missed the final 15 games this season while on the Exempt/Commissioner’s Permission List following his domestic violence arrest last May. He was initially found guilty but won his appeal today after the alleged victim, ex-girlfriend Nicole Holder, refused to cooperate.

Hardy will draw a lot of attention on the open market. Unlike Rice and Adrian Peterson, Hardy is young (26 years old) and plays a premium position. Productive running backs are in abundance right now, while there is a constant dearth of quality pass rushers.

Hardy is certainly a dominant pass rusher, as evidenced by his 26 sacks between 2012 and 2013. He also grades out as one of the most efficient run-stuffing 4-3 defensive ends in the league.

For what it’s worth, I believe Hardy, Peterson and Rice all deserve another chance. Each man has paid a steep penalty for his missteps, and unlike Incognito, each of these three men was penalized for an isolated incident. But Hardy will be in more demand than either of the disgraced running backs, despite his case being arguably the most disturbing of the three.

It certainly helps Hardy that there is not a video of his incident, as there was with Rice, or graphic photos of his victim, as there were with Peterson. It also helps Hardy that in the NFL, every team’s moral compass points in only one direction — towards the win column.

Reggie Bush Accused of Spiking Drinks

The investigation into accused serial rapist Darren Sharper has implicated another NFL player. Lions RB Reggie Bush, who played with Sharper in New Orleans, has been accused of spiking women’s drinks by Brandon Licciardi, the former sheriff’s deputy in Louisiana who is a codefendent in the Sharper case.

Licciardi made the following statement to investigators, according to the Baton Rouge Advocate: “OK, um, I was in Vegas about three years ago and um, Reggie Bush put Molly in Champagne. He was handing out ‘Molly’ on the dance floor to girls. Handing it out. Like giving it to them.”

Licciardi initially said he saw this happen with his own eyes, then backtracked and said he never actually saw Bush put anything in the drinks. His inconsistent remarks were quickly and emphatically condemned by Bush’s attorney, Shawn Holley.

“There is no investigation, there’s never been any complaint made by any person of this happening,” Holley told the Detroit Free Press. “It appears to be something that’s being stated by someone who is a criminal defendant in a serious case and looking for anything he can say to deflect from his own troubles. But there is not a shred of truth to any of this.”

It is way too early to come down on Bush for this, as these accusations may very well be baseless. But what all of these stories indicate is the 2015 season may be even more challenging for Commissioner Roger Goodell than this past season. And given how poorly he handled things this season, that should leave everybody in the NFL very, very concerned.

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