Miami Dolphins
At the 2012 NFL draft, Martin was selected in round 2, with the 42nd overall pick by the Miami Dolphins. Despite playing mostly at left tackle in college, the Dolphins drafted him to play at right tackle.
During his rookie season, Martin started at right tackle from the beginning of training camp and struggled early in preseason with giving up sacks and penalties. On October 2, 2012, Martin was fined $10,000 for illegal clipping, a standard fine imposed on a player for the common foul of blocking an opponent from behind and below the waist. In December 2012, Martin was moved over to left tackle to take over for Pro Bowler Jake Long, who had been placed on injured reserve with a torn triceps. Martin had started the first 12 games of the season at right tackle, ranking 63rd out of the 69 NFL tackles who had played at least 300 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus’ grading system.
For the 2013 season, Martin was slotted at left tackle in order to replace Long, who had left in free agency, and was noted to struggle throughout the early part of the season in pass protection. On October 21, 2013, the Dolphins signed Bryant McKinnie to take over at left tackle, moving Martin back over to right tackle. The Miami Herald reported that the Dolphins were concerned about moving Martin due to the impact on him. Writing for the Herald, Armando Salguero reported "It was clear Martin isn't thrilled about the move. 'You can approach this two different ways,' Martin said. 'You can go in the tank and be one of those guys who bitches and moans and is a cancer in the locker room, or you can be a guy who goes out there and can be a professional and plays as hard as I can.' Martin stated he'll be the latter."
On October 30, 2013, it was reported that Martin had left team facilities two days earlier, citing "emotional" reasons. It was initially reported that he had been mistreated by some teammates during lunch that day when they asked him to sit with them, but then promptly got up and left the table when he sat down. Martin was subsequently listed on the injury report with an unspecified injury and missed the Dolphins' game on October 31. It was later reported that during this period Martin had briefly checked into a hospital for emotional distress before flying to his parents' home in California, where he is "preparing a detailed document for his cooperation with a league investigation into a string of alleged multiple incidents he says led to his emotional distress and exit from the team".
On November 2, it was reported that Richie Incognito's ring-leading role in the harassment of Martin dating as far back as the 2012 season was being reviewed by the NFL Players Association. On November 3, Incognito was suspended by the Dolphins for "conduct detrimental to the team." The next day, it was reported that Incognito had sent numerous texts and voicemails making threats against Martin and Martin's family.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the most egregious of these exchanges was a highly graphic voicemail Incognito left in April 2013, in which Incognito called Martin a "half-nigger piece of shit," threatened to slap Martin's mother across the face and even uttered a death threat against Martin. Until obtaining the tape from Martin's legal team, the Dolphins had publicly maintained the charges against Incognito were pure speculation. Schefter said that as late as the afternoon of November 3, the Dolphins didn't even know the voicemail existed. However, within hours of hearing the tape, Incognito had been suspended. On November 5, the Sun-Sentinel reported that the message that ultimately led to Incognito's suspension was made after Martin missed two days of the team's voluntary workout program. The coaches asked Incognito to help "toughen up" Martin and "get him into the fold".
On November 11, a source close to Martin told ESPN's Lisa Salters that Martin was not willing to play for the Dolphins again, and planned to sit out the remainder of the 2013 season, which he did. In February 2014, a 144-page report by Ted Wells—an attorney hired by the NFL to investigate the scandal—found that Incognito and fellow linemen John Jerry and Mike Pouncey "engaged in a pattern of harassment" toward Martin, another offensive lineman, and an assistant trainer.
In February 2025, Martin did a lengthy ESPN article where he reframed how he viewed his treatment by teammates in Miami, and highlighted how it was his mother that first used the word bullying. The article included a transcript of the voicemail that Incognito left Martin, with derogatory and racist comments. Incognito and others quickly pointed to pulled quotes from the article, lambasting ESPN and other journalists for what he viewed as evidence of his vindication. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk defended his original reporting, highlighting the nuance of the situation and the original findings by Ted Wells that Incognito and others behaved inappropriately, even within the context of an NFL locker room.
