Time to tell Richie Incognito ‘thanks but no thanks’

Here are three headlines to ponder from Tuesday morning: From ProFootballTalk.com: Joey Porter still looking for work. From Adam Schefter’s Twitter account: Dez Bryant moves Pro Day back to March 30. From The Palm Beach Post: Miami talks with volatile lineman. What do the three have in common? All three involve quality players who have generated serious questions about their character. And considering one of those players (Porter) is a former Dolphin and the other two (Bryant and Richie Incognito) could be in the fold in a matter of weeks, those questions are due serious consideration. Many of the same fans who couldn’t wait to get rid of Porter now seem to think it’s worth taking a chance on Bryant and Incognito. As they say, be careful what you wish for. Porter, of course, bought his one-way ticket out of Miami by his own bad behavior. He couldn’t get along with coach Tony Sparano – a guy just about everyone else in the locker room seems to really enjoy working with – and then went up and down Radio Row during Super Bowl week saying it was time to leave. He got his wish and no one will miss him. Bryant also made his own bed. Meeting with Deion Sanders wasn’t in itself a violation, but lying about it to NCAA investigators was. In his 20-minute interview with the media at last month’s Combine, about two-thirds of the questions posed to Bryant concerned Sanders and that misstep. He’s no doubt a huge talent – by all accounts the best wide receiver in next month’s NFL Draft – but teams will look at that lapse in judgment and debate his character. It’s a risk/reward proposition, and only time will tell how that turns out. Speaking of risk and reward, those issues are front and center with Incognito. The St. Louis Rams knew all about Incognito’s checkered past when

they drafted him in the third round in 2005. He’d been such a bad boy off the field at Nebraska the coaching staff suspended him for the 2004 season, prompting his transfer to Oregon, where NCAA rules prohibited him from playing. His problems continued with the Rams to the point where, despite having started him in 44 games over four seasons, they let him go last December. Buffalo picked him up but, despite the lack of any depth on its offensive line, also decided against keeping him. Sparano and offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo reportedly had dinner with Ignognito Monday night and he was scheduled to work out Tuesday. Sparano and DeGuglielmo are no-nonsense guys who have spent their adult lives around offensive linemen, and one can imagine Incognito telling them everything they wanted to hear about cleaning up his act. Still, how can anyone – including Incognito himself – predict how he’ll react when, say, he gets clocked in the jaw by an opponent and no flag is thrown? And if officials see an altercation in which Incognito is involved, with his reputation, how would you expect them to react? Everyone can point to situations where a bad boy got straightened out. It’s certainly worked out that way of late with Randy Moss, although there were signs of him unraveling last year in New England as well. But it seems in 90 percent of these cases, the behavior doesn’t change and sooner rather than later the time comes to move on once again. Porter is gone. With Miami’s other draft needs and Bill Parcells’ reluctance to take receivers high in the draft, Bryant is likely not coming. As for Incognito, as much as the Dolphins need O-line depth, this should be a case of ‘good luck wherever you wind up.’

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Time to tell Richie Incognito ‘thanks but no thanks’

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