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After the Jaguars’ 10–3 win over the Bills on Sunday, Jacksonville defensive end Yannick Ngakoue tweeted that Buffalo guard Richie Incognito directed a racial slur at him during the game, and now the NFL is looking into the matter.
Great win to day! And 64, you goin have to come harder than some weak racist slurs. I’m proud of my African heritage, as are 70% of the other Black players in this league. #Iaintjonathanmartin!
— YANNICK NGAKOUE! (@YannGetSacks91) January 8, 2018
On Monday, Ngakoue stood by his tweet. When asked by reporters if Incognito used the n-word, Ngakoue didn’t offer specifics. “No, I don’t remember, but, he said what he said,” Ngakoue said. “He knows what he said. I don’t gotta repeat it.”
Sunday night, Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins, who played next to Incognito in the game, disputed that the guard said anything racist.
Just for the world to know, everyone always tryna put some bad thing on @68INCOGNITO i was next to my guy the entire game and the entire season and believe me, if he was saying some racist stuff I would have been the first to let him know that was out of line. Cut The BS
— Dion Dawkins (@DDawkins66) January 8, 2018
On Monday, Jaguars defensive end Calais Campbell said that the Bills were trash-talking so much that he suspected it was coached. He added that while nothing out of line was directed at him personally, Campbell believes Ngakoue, according to the Florida Times-Union’s Ryan O’Halloran.
#Jaguars DE Calais Campbell on Bills' chirping yesterday:
— Ryan O'Halloran (@ryanohalloran) January 8, 2018
"There were a lot of guys talking, like it was coached, to try and get us to lose our cool. ... I understand wanting to give yourself an advantage but there are boundaries. You don’t go to racial slurs. That’s not OK."
In Ngakoue’s tweet, he included the hashtag “#Iaintjonathanmartin,” a reference to a 2013 bullying scandal that revealed members of the Miami offensive line, including Incognito, verbally harassed then-Dolphins guard Jonathan Martin. The Dolphins suspended Incognito for the final eight games of the 2013 season for “conduct detrimental to the team,” and a later NFL investigation led by attorney Ted Wells produced a 144-page report that detailed the bullying, including a pattern of racial animus Incognito directed toward Martin, another unnamed offensive lineman, and a member of the training staff. Incognito did not incur any additional punishment from the league when the report came out in February 2014.
The report cited hours of interviews with those involved and more than a thousand texts between Incognito and Martin, including many racist slurs from Incognito. In April 2013, Incognito left a voicemail on Martin’s answering machine calling him a “half-nigger piece of shit.” Martin also said that Incognito called him “nigger” at a restaurant on one occasion, and that in various conversations in person and over text, Incognito made jokes about slavery and referred to Martin as “liberal mulatto bitch” and “stinky Pakistani.” He also referred to a Dolphins assistant trainer as “Chinaman,” “Jap,” and “dirty communist.” The report also states that Incognito asked the trainer to “give me some water you fucking chink” and that he asked for “rubby rubby sucky sucky,” in a mocking Asian accent.
Martin said the bullying made him depressed and that he contemplated suicide twice in 2013, according to the report. After becoming a free agent at the end of the 2013 season, Incognito went unsigned during 2014 before signing on with Rex Ryan’s Bills in 2015.
An NFL official told ESPN’s Adam Schefter the league is “looking into” Ngakoue’s allegation.
