By Trey Crosby III

Welp folks, I came back down to reality last week and only pulled a (7-6) record picking games.

My apologies.

This week in the NFL was anything but normal, I really don’t think there is a proper word for it, however, I will do my best addressing the situation in Miami.
South Beach. Aside from a 2 point victory at home against Cincy last week, the Dolphins had the WORST WEEK EVER.

Apparently, OT Jonathan Martin, who was selected in the 2nd round of the 2012 NFL Draft has been bullied by his teammate and “OG/BADASS” Richie Incognito.

Forget the fact that Martin is 6’ 5” inches tall and 312 lbs.

Somehow, this big NFL giant didn’t have the guts to stand up for himself and he has been a Mr. Softy Pants on and off the field.

Philbin senses the softness and orders a CODE RED. The enforcer (Incognito) tries to toughen Martin up by leaving him a voicemail full of racial slurs and just being an overall jerk to him.

On Oct. 30th, Martin left the team and on Nov. 3rd, Incognito was dismissed from the Dolphins.

You can find out more of the backstory if you want, just not here.

So, naturally you want to hear what I think.

This is a classic failure to communicate, and I blame all parties involved. First and foremost, some of the blame must go to the coaching staff of the Miami Dolphins.

Clearly, they dropped the ball here. I don’t have a problem with the signing of Richie Incognito, he’s a semi dirty player, but he’s good and he’s a tough guy.

You want guys like that in your locker room, he’s an enforcer and exactly the type of guy you want in your corner and not against you during a fight or altercation.

The fact Philbin and Co. didn’t have any type of knowledge that the situation was getting out of hand shows a disconnect.

The coaching staff ordered the “CODE RED” and they probably should have either left the situation alone or approached things in a lighter manner.
Which brings me to Incognito, as the enforcer he clearly felt like he had a job to do. He was told to toughen a guy up, and in his mind he was doing just that.

Now his choice of vocabulary was deplorable to say the least, but for everyone saying, “this is a workplace and you don’t act like that in a workplace”. STOP IT.

This isn’t your average 9-5 job. Those guys aren’t sitting in a cubicle or hanging around the water cooler discussing the latest marketing strategy.

This is a hard nosed job and requires a totally different skillset than most jobs, one of those skills is toughness, both mental and physical.

Tom Hanks said there is no crying in baseball.

Well Tom, there is NO CRYING IN FOOTBALL either. Maybe, what we have learned from this entire episode, is that Jon Martin really can’t handle being in the NFL.

Obviously, he can’t handle playing for the Dolphins. Whether he was bullied or not (Dolphins WR Brian Hartline claims now that Martin had previously laughed about the text and voicemail messages left on his phone from Incognito) Martin has to realize that rookie hazing is a part of the game. You either get with it, or be ostracized from the team.

As you may or may not know, I played football collegiately at Howard University for three seasons and YES Freshman/Rookie hazing is alive and well. Things didn’t turn out well for him and he ultimately was the butt of many jokes and decided to quit before the season even ended.

My point is, nobody individually is too big for the team. You don’t just decide as a rookie or freshman what you will and will not do as far as hazing goes. Now, no one is suggesting that Martin should give in to any and every request that was asked of him from Incognito, if he felt strongly about a situation, he had options which he chose not to use.

Option A: DEFEND YOURSELF. Sir, you are a grown man playing a GROWN MAN’s game, no way to look at this situation other than to say, Martin chose to tattle, like a kid. Option B: Go to the coaching staff or leadership of the team. From all reports so far, Martin did neither of those things.

Instead, Martin did the ONLY thing you aren’t supposed to do. Martin took the issue outside of the facility. For that reason alone, I doubt very seriously he will be accepted with open arms in Miami again if he ever decides to come back.

Once you violate the trust of the other 50 or so odd guys in that locker room, it’s very hard earn it back. It also seems like the team has rallied around Richie Incognito as a leader and a model citizen in that locker room.

Martin seems to be the real problem here, not Incognito.

Lastly, the entire team is to blame for not noticing the problem and stopping it before it got out of control. It’s hard for me to believe that NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY saw this thing brewing. SOMEBODY knew SOMETHING.

Sheesh, didn’t know I was going to have so much to say about the Dolphins this week, no room to talk about everything else that happened. Oh well, to the picks we go.

#GuruSays
#GetWellSoonAaronRodgers

2013-2014 Season picks record

Upset Special (3-5)

GuruDAMNtee (5-4)

Last Week (7-6)

Overall (79-54)
Redskins 34 @ Vikings 20
Bills 13 @ Steelers 17
Bengals 21 @ Ravens 23
Lions 30 @ Bears 24
Eagles 27 @ Packers 19
*Rams 17 @ Colts 31* GuruDAMNtee
Jaguars 10 @ Titans 21
Raiders 17 @ Giants 16
Seahawks 20 @ Falcons 22
Panthers 27 @ 49ers 31
Broncos 38 @ Chargers 35
Texans 28 @ Cardinals 24
*Cowboys 31 @ Saints 30* Upset Special
Dolphins 20 @ Bucs 26

Give me the Cowboys in the dome against New Orleans for my upset special. They were exposed last week against Geno Smith and the Jets. Imagine what will happen when Tony Romo and the high powered Cowboys offense comes to town.

I like the Colts as my “GuruDAMNtee”. No way they drop one against the lowly Sam Bradfordless Rams.

I’ll take the Skins on Thursday night. All sorts of trouble in Minnesota at the QB position. RG Knee should be good enough to take care of the Vikings.

Flacco has been Fluke-o as of late, but I will take the Ravens at home with their backs against the proverbial wall this week.
What a day Nick Foles had last Sunday. Breaking records and everything. Listen, I like Nick Foles, I think he’s halfway decent.

But, let’s not act like he didn’t put those numbers up against the Raiders or anything. Not to take away from his day but, I’m still not convinced the Eagles are a legitimate team in any type of way, shape or form.

On the other hand, the absence of Aaron Rodgers is going to seriously hurt Green Bay.

That goes without saying. I don’t think Seneca Wallace can get anything going this week. Give me the Eagles.
The most intriguing game of the week sounds like it will be Carolina @ San Francisco.

If you don’t know by now, YES I AM A PANTHER FAN/HOMER. I love Cam Newton. I’ve been telling you these guys are on the rise, and everybody says “well, you haven’t played anybody good”.

A lot of people are going to watch this game to see how Carolina stacks up against SF. I’m picking Frisco ONLY because they are at home, but this is going to be a very enjoyable matchup.

Finally, I’ll take Denver in a shootout with Philip Rivers and the San Diego Super Chargers.

As much as I like the Chargers, I just think the Mile High boys will be a little.

Feel free to comment as always. I love hearing your opinions.

Especially if you would like to weigh in on the situation down in Miami. Or, if you think you’re up to it, challenge me head to head on picks.

Thanks guys. To Jonathan Martin, go hit the yellow brick road big fella’. You need it…COURAGE