New Investigation of Bullying in NFL
PHILLIPS: Ex-NFL star Darren Sharper was charged today with drugging and raping two women. One in October and the other last month. That's according to the district attorney's office in Los Angeles. He is expected to be arraigned today. And that's not all. The five-time pro-bowler faces rape investigations in New Orleans and Las Vegas. Well, the NFL may never be the same again after a report today about bullying in the locker room. The report by the investigator Ted Wells says that Jonathan Martin was relentlessly harassed by these three men who all played on the offensive line with him. John Jerry, a guard who was drafted in 2010, Mike Pouncey, also a guard, drafted one year later who played in the pro bowl just last year and, of course, Richie Incognito, the player most vilified for the alleged abuse. The report actually says that Martin wasn't this trio's only victim, but that another player, even a trainer were also bullied. CNN's Joe Carter joining me now with more. Pretty damning report.</s>JOE CARTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Really. Really bad. I was surprised. It's 148 pages. So, Ted Wells was very thorough in this investigation. And it took a lot longer than we expected. We expected the results to come back last week. But I tell you, the most damaging part about this is that the harassment was so persistent and it was so damaging that Jonathan Martin not only felt like he had to leave the team, but he contemplated killing himself not once, but twice in 2013.</s>PHILLIPS: And we heard some of those voice mails.</s>CARTER: Those voice mails.</s>PHILLIPS: They were awful.</s>CARTER: Were awful. And, you know, and Incognito's side tried to combat that by releasing several text messages between the two that showed that there was an engagement, that shows that there was a friendship. Ted Wells' report says that it got so bad for Jonathan Martin that he felt like he had to engage with them, he had to join in to hopefully lessen the amount of harassment that he's receiving. You know how that is. That's text book victim versus bully. OK, well, I will join and I'll kind of be like them. So maybe it's a little bit less on me. Some of the other damaging things, as you said in the intro, it's not just Jonathan Martin. There was another offensive lineman and it was a trainer and the kind of abuse that it was, was on a consistent daily basis talking about their mother, talking about their race, talking about their families. Talking about their sexuality. So it comes from all different angles, hitting them where it hurts most. Embarrassment. Jonathan Martin in this report said that he has a history of a lack of self-confidence. That during junior high and during high school, he felt that he was a lesser of a person. So, maybe that contributed to the fact that he didn't feel self-confidence - some of the other players. Because we know, we all know that the workplace environment in the NFL much different than the workplace environment, perhaps, her at CNN. But still, to the point where somebody felt like they hadn't only removed themselves from that environment, but also contemplated taking their life not once, but two different times.</s>PHILLIPS: You know, there is a lot of workplaces that could be pretty nasty and a lot of things that go on behind closed doors, but I think it's interesting, you know, in sports, guys are rough, they are tough. They give each other a hard time. So, I don't think a lot of people were surprised by this, but extremely disappointed. And I think this is going to completely change policy. Yes? I mean are we hearing from the Dolphins? Are we hearing from Incognito or the other two?</s>CARTER: Well, as far as the players go, we've not heard from either of the three players. The Incognito, John Jerry or Mike Pouncey. The Dolphins did release the statement, and basically they are saying that we want to review this, that they want to, obviously, look if detail before they respond to some sort of, you know, punishment, relative to the findings. They asked, the NFL, to conduct this independent review and the Dolphins felt like it was important to take a step back and thoroughly research these serious allegations and obviously as an organization the Dolphins believe that they are committed to a team- first accountability and respect for one another. But you would have to think that given Roger Goodell's history, given his heavy handedness towards anything that goes against rules and policies in the NFL, you have to think that there are definitely going to be some punishments that are going to be laid out for the three players that are involved.</s>PHILLIPS: And there should be certain lines you just can't cross.</s>CARTER: It's surprising. You know, in this - one of the other things that really jumped out to me here is that Jonathan Martin, 300 pounds, 6'3". Big enough and strong enough to play in the NFL felt helpless. He's felt - he said he felt so helpless by these verbal assaults that he was unable to stop them. Because he felt like a true pushover. And so that's when he felt like - maybe I will join them and maybe then they will accept me. But they got to the point where just - he had to leave the team and then obviously, felt that ...</s>PHILLIPS: He's the better person. He needs the real - you know, he wasn't the one doing the bulling. It was these other three. So.</s>CARTER: 148 pages. It's a lot to go through, but I think this story, we have some resolution, but I think there's still more to come.</s>PHILLIPS: Thanks, Joe. And coming up at 3:00 Eastern, I'm actually going to talk to a former NFL player. What did he see in the locker room and does he think this is a normal behavior? And should it -what should be done? Tune in for that the next hour. Well, right now the jury is deliberating in the so-called loud music murder trial. They are trying to determine if Michael Dunn killed Jordan Davis in cold blood or in self-defense. But while we wait for the verdict, Dunn's attorney is speaking out, driving home one of the arguments that he made in court. Stay with us.