Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito has claimed that Jonathan Martin sent similar text messages to the ones that resulted in his suspension from the team.
Incognito is accused of being the ring-leader in a situation that forced Martin to leave the team due to persistent harassment, and the 30-year-old is currently under investigation by the NFL over the incident.
However, in his first in-depth interview since being suspended by coach Joe Philbin, Incognito claimed that his treatment of Martin was merely the nature of their relationship.
"When words are put in a context, I understand why a lot of eyebrows get raised. But people don't know how Jon and I communicate to one another," Incognito told Fox Sports.
"For instance, a week before this went down, Jonathan Martin texted me on my phone, 'I will murder your whole fucking family.' Now, do I think Jonathan Martin was going to murder my family? Not one bit.
"He texted me that. I didn't think he was going to kill my family. I knew that was coming from a brother. I knew it was coming from a friend. I knew it was coming from a teammate."
In the interview, Incognito also admitted that he regrets using racial slurs towards Martin, but claims that such language is created by the locker room environment.
