Richie Incognito's Grievance Calls Jonathan Martin's Legal Strategy into Question

The Jonathan Martin/Richie Incognito situation with the Miami Dolphins appears to have cooled off from the media frenzy it was a week ago. About the only news the last couple days on the story that made repeated headlines earlier this month was Mike Tirico mistakenly attributing an unnecessary roughness call on Incognito Monday night against the Bucs despite the fact he’s been suspended indefinitely by Miami for his role in the alleged harassment of Martin. Thursday Incongito filed a grievance and now details of said grievance are coming out.

Early Sunday morning NFL Network’s Albert Breer posted details from the four-page document:

"“If any conduct has been detrimental to the team, it is the manner in which Mr. Martin’s representatives, including Mr. (David) Cornwell on behalf of his client, have elected to vilify Mr. Incognito and the entire Dolphins organization in the court of public opinion.”"

The rest of the report basically says Incognito was never warned about his behavior. Naturally Incognito (or whomever wrote the statement) takes a swing at the media:

"“The only detriment to the club arising out of this incident is the harm resulting from the media strategy employed by Mr. Cornwell and Mr. Martin’s other representatives. … Had Mr. Martin and Mr. Cornwell approached this complaint as a professional employment complaint rather than a media blitz, the club could have carried out an orderly, impartial investigation and determined that Mr. Martin’s mental health issues are unrelated to Mr. Incognito or any other member of the Dolphins organization.”"

Incognito is scheduled to meet with arbitrator Jonathan Marks on Thursday. The Dolphins have until Dec. 2 to either cut him or reinstate him.

This strategy taken by the Incognito camp sounds very similar to the Alex Rodriguez grievance against Major League Baseball where each side is trying to disparage and discredit the other in both the hearing and the court of public opinion. Expect the Dolphins issue to be resolved well before the A-Rod saga, which might wrap up by Groundhog Day at the rate they’re dragging their feet.