The Richie Incognito bullying scandal may have long ago faded in the sports news cycle, but it's still certainly on the mind of those in the Miami Dolphins locker room.
In fact, the players unveiled a new shirt today with the team's new "credo," which takes a very pro-bonding, anti-bullying stance. Apparently for the Miami Dolphins, it gets better.
In case you can't quite read all of that from the photo, here's the team's cheery new message:
I am a Miami Dolphin
I am a warrior and a member of an unbeatable team.
I will always place the team first.
If I see something -- I will say something -- I commit to call it as it is.
I will develop undying trust with the man to my left and right.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I am the change I want to see in my team.
I live respect and truth telling.
I am disciplined, physically and mentally fought, and proficient in my position tasks and drills.
I am a professional.
I am a Miami Dolphin.
In case you're wondering, yes, players came together to write the new credo themselves. Players suggested individual slogans, and the best were thrown around and collected in the credo. Is this the first time an NFL team has engaged in a group creative writing effort together? No, seriously, how did the '85 Chicago Bears handle the lyrics of the Super Bowl shuffle? Was that a group effort?
Granted, the players are taking this much more seriously than a rap song. They unveiled the t-shirt today at training camp, with each player putting it on one-by-one.
"It started in the offseason when [Coach Joe Philbin] came to a group of guys, veterans on the team, reiterating that this is our team," Cameron Wake told Pro Football Talk. "If you go around any locker room, they'll have all the mantras and the sayings. From my experience, it's been coach-driven, what they want the team statement to be. He said it should come from you guys. We sat down as a group of men, teammates, brothers and came up with a group of statements about what the Dolphins are and should be."
Wake also claimed that the large "I will never quit" line is not meant as a dig at Jonathan Martin, who quit the team last season after Incognito's bullying. That's just how the design of the shirt worked out.
In another interview with the Associated Press, Coach Joe Philbin lauded the credo, and said its better for the players to take ownership of locker room morale instead of everything coming down as dictates from the coaching staff.
No word on whether fans will be able to purchase their own version.
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