Richie Incognito, the NFL player fighting to repair his image and rejuvenate his career after his long history of racist and homophobic bullying became public knowledge, just wants everyone to know he’s not actually a “racist jerk” anymore. He just might find some things kind of funny that other people might think are kind of horrible.
In a text message to NFL.com this week, Incognito wrote that he has learned from his past mistakes and hopes to “bring attention to a sensitive subject” (presumably bullying, racism or homphobia) next season with the Buffalo Bills, the team he agreed to sign with over the weekend.
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For now, anti-bullying advocates in Buffalo are trying to remember that people can change, but seem dubious about whether Incognito really has.
“Can people be redeemed? Should we give second chances? Absolutely, if we’re talking about a kid or a first offense,” Amanda Nickerson, director of the University at Buffalo’s Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention, told The Buffalo News this week. “[But] I’m concerned about it. If it was just Incognito’s issues from 2013, that would be one thing. But there’s been a history of aggressive and violent and demeaning behavior that is hard to ignore.”
