On Oct. 28, Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Jonathan Martin walked away from the team after reportedly being mistreated and harassed by teammates. Martin, a second-year lineman out of Stanford, cited “emotional issues” as his reason for abruptly leaving the team.

Days after, multiple reports came out stating that nine-year NFL veteran Richie Incognito was linked to the alleged harassment that prompted Martin’s departure.

ESPN reported the transcript of a voice mail message that Incognito left Martin where he threatened to defecate in Martin’s mouth, slap his mother’s face and ended the voice mail with “you’re still a rookie. I’ll kill you.” At the beginning of the message Incognito, who is white, uses a racial slur against Martin, who is of mixed race.

Following their game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 31, Incognito was suspended indefinitely by the Dolphins and has not returned back to the team. The Dolphins released a statement saying in part, “we believe in maintaining a culture of respect for one another and as a result we believe this decision is in the best interest of the organization at this time.”

Incognito has a bad reputation for taking things too far in the past, including fighting, taunting fans and being arrested for assault. But for many NFL players, it’s still not enough to put all the blame on Incognito. Many NFL players were upset with Martin for breaking the unwritten rules and culture of the locker room by abandoning his team mid-season.

Hazing and bullying have been a part of all locker rooms in every sport. It’s hard to say what is the line is between the two, but when a player feels that things are going too far, something must be changed.

On Nov. 10, Incognito broke his silence with an interview with FOX Sports, insisting that he was “not a racist,” and that his actions were “coming from a place of love.” Incognito refused to answer any questions dealing with reports that coaches asked him to “toughen up” Martin.

If that report is true, then coaches should be held accountable as well. There is always the mentality to win at any cost, and unfortunately that cost may have been Martin’s self-esteem and Incognito’s integrity.

In another twist to the story, Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill said that Incognito and Martin were close friends, and that Incognito was the best teammate he could have asked for.

“If you asked Jonathan Martin who his best friend is on this team two weeks ago, he would say Richie Incognito,” Tannehill said.

The exact facts of the story have yet to be determined, but there should be lessons learned from this incident. Teams and players have to do a better job with not crossing the line when joking around. There are very tough men in the NFL, but everyone has a breaking point.