Richie Incognito

[LogGrad98]

I have to admit that I have chuckled at Deron Williams making the Jazz rookies take pink backpacks on the road or the long standing tradition of rookies buying Crown Burger for the team on locker clean-out. I've considered that harmless rite-of-passage stuff, but I guess the question is where does the good clean fun end and bullying/intimidation begin?

Good point. I think the line is crossed at the point the person being hazed feels they have no way out and when attempts to stifle the hazing results in no change or an increase rather than a decrease of the behavior. It is a lot like harassment at work. It becomes harassment when the person being harassed feels they are in a "hostile" environment, or someone observing the behavior perceives it that way. In this case it definitely crossed the line as you can see from the reaction of the one being hazed.

In the case of D Will and the backpacks and such, I agree it can be just good clean fun, as long as the rookies know they have a way out, are not forced to participate, and accept it in that same spirit. The second they feel trapped, or that it is creating a hostile environment, no matter how cute the backpacks may have been, it crosses a line and is wrong.

As far as the guy not standing up to the harasser, as I have read a lot about people calling him a ***** and such for not just "being a man" about it, we need to keep in mind that everyone is different, and some people will address it head on if they feel it is crossing that line, but others may feel either intimidated, threatened, or just plain uncomfortable addressing the issue with the harasser directly, and that is fully legitimate. It is a terrible situation to be in. If you think about it, everyone has a right to NOT be harassed to begin with, so in no way can the person being harassed be held responsible for the behavior or its escalation just because they are afraid to say anything. Bullying like this is a power play. In that way it is similar to rape, which is really a crime about power, and to say that the victim is responsible for not speaking up is a lot like saying that a rape victim is at fault because she might not have said "no" loudly enough.

Looking at the transcript of that voicemail, any reasonable person would be intimidated and threatened by that, almost no matter what the history. The guy crossed a line big time and in a normal work environment he would lose his job, period.

 

[The Blue Elephant]

Yeah I totally dislike this guy more then that Pats player that killed a man or the Saints player that was bounty hunting, or Tonya Harding that busted her competitors knee, or Tyson that assaulted a woman and bit a chunk out of a dudes ear...

Ok, change it to "he may be one of my least favorite athletes"