Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Jonathan Martin was subjected to mistreatment by his teammates "that went far beyond the traditional locker room hazing," according to a statement issued by his attorney on Thursday. A second-year player out of Stanford, Martin abruptly left the team last week and reportedly checked into a South Florida hospital to receive treatment for emotional distress resulting from alleged bullying.
Among the allegations of physical and verbal abuse outlined in the statement released by attorney David Cornwell, an unnamed Dolphins player is said to have made a sexually explicit threat involving Martin's sister.
Here is complete text of the statement, obtained by ProFootballTalk:
Jonathan Martin’s toughness is not at issue. Jonathan has started every game with the Miami Dolphins since he was drafted in 2012. At Stanford, he was the anchor for Jim Harbaugh’s “smash mouth” brand of football and he protected Andrew Luck’s blind side.
The issue is Jonathan’s treatment by his teammates. Jonathan endured harassment that went far beyond the traditional locker room hazing. For the entire season-and-a-half that he was with the Dolphins, he attempted to befriend the same teammates who subjected him to the abuse with the hope that doing so would end the harassment. This is a textbook reaction of victims of bullying. Despite these efforts, the taunting continued. Beyond the well-publicized voice mail with its racial epithet, Jonathan endured a malicious physical attack on him by a teammate, and daily vulgar comments such as the quote at the bottom. These facts are not in dispute.
Eventually, Jonathan made a difficult choice. Despite his love for football, Jonathan left the Dolphins. Jonathan looks forward to getting back to playing football. In the meantime, he will cooperate fully with the NFL investigation.
Quote from teammate: “We are going to run train on your sister. . . . She loves me. I am going to f–k her without a condom and c– in her c—.”