The National Football League’s culture of violence has come under scrutiny after Miami Dolphins player Richie Incognito allegedly made bullying and racist threats to his teammate Jonathan Martin. The Dolphins initially denied the threats, but later suspended Incognito, one of the team’s most popular players. For more, we talk with Dave Zirin, The Nation sports editor and host of Edge of Sports Radio. For those who think the controversy is simply a “sports issue,” Zirin explains: “Think about other stories that have been in the media recently with names like Steubenville, or Maryville, or Torrington, Connecticut, instances where you see this connective tissue between jock culture and rape culture, all of these things are very connected. This idea where you get young men in a very violent kind of group mentality … It creates a very, very destructive social climate that puts terrible social cues out to the general public.”
