Incognito and Martin (Lynne Sladky/AP)
In the play Othello, Iago sets up Michael Cassio by forcing him to drink. Cassio in an alcoholic and he was trying to stay away from drinking, so that he wouldn't get drunk and be reckless. Iago continued to try to get Cassio to take a drink, and he eventually did. Cassio became drunk and it inhibited him, and he eventually fought Montano, and killed him, and that murder got him fired from his job as Lieutenant.
Now, obviously there are a lot of issues with drinking in the NFL, and that's the easy comparison, but I want to compare it to a deeper issue in sports. This issue is one that begins all the way down in the lowest levels of organized sports. This issue is players pushing other players to do something to someone that winds up hurting them psychically or emotionally. Now, most recently, you can think of the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal as the prime example of this. If you haven't yet heard about this incident, Jonathan Martin, Miami Dolphins Offensive Tackle, complained that he was being bullied by teammates with Richie Incognito being the most prominent bully. Richie Incognito is taking a lot of the blame for this incident, and rightfully so, but can we honestly say that he is the sole reason this happened? If no one else in that locker room was telling him to do this, and finding it funny that he was doing it, then he would find no purpose in doing it.
The funniest part of all of this, is the one which everyone is looking past the most. You see no headlines about this guy, but interestingly enough, one of the Dolphins Offensive Line coaches stepped down after sources said that the Dolphins coaches knew about the bullying, and thought it would toughen guys up. Toughen guys up? Are you kidding, it is a complete joke what is going on in locker rooms all across America; we think it's fine to harm a kid, or another person because its funny, or because we have to toughen guys up? Coaches might want to re-evaluate their coaching methods, and pay a little more attention to their players needs, before worrying about toughening them up.
You see in both of these stories people get hurt through the actions of another person. Also, both have a guy that's working behind the scenes that doesn't get any attention for their wrong doings, but instead the lens is focused directly on the person who committed the visible action. In Othello, this person would be Cassio, because he did the visible action of killing someone, but Iago is the one that continually tempted him to drink, which somewhat forced this action. In the bullying story, Incognito did the visual action, by bullying Jonathan Martin, but he was told and pushed to do that by his coaches, and his coaches have received no negative media attention. Interestingly enough, Incognito may be banned from the NFL for life, while some of the coaches involved are STILL COACHING THIS YEAR!
It's obvious the roles that these people play when you compare the stories. Iago would be related to the coaches, Incognito to Cassio, and Martin to Montano. If you take the temptation from other members of these stories, than those who it is directly related to, neither of these harmful actions would have occurred.
