Taylor Lewan made sure to give a special shoutout to Richie Incognito.
On the latest Bussin’ With The Boys episode, Lewan, who cohosts the podcast with Will Compton, took a moment to acknowledge his fellow former offensive lineman. The show recently went independent, leaving Barstool Sports despite wanting to stay, lured by a sponsorship deal with FanDuel.
With the change, they could now land guests like Patrick Mahomes, who was seemingly previously off-limits due to Barstool’s reputation.
But before diving into the next chapter, Lewan made it a point to pay tribute to Incognito.
Why? Because he believes Incognito’s name has finally been cleared after years of controversy.
The saga, infamously known as ‘Bullygate,‘ resurfaced last week when ESPN’s Anthony Olivieri published a story featuring a stunning revelation: Jonathan Martin, the supposed victim of Incognito’s harassment, admitted, “I never believed for a second I was being bullied.”
To be clear, Incognito was no innocent bystander in that saga. He directed some heinous comments toward Martin and was also accused of racially insulting an Asian-American trainer. But rather than letting the past rest, he has taken aim at media figures he believes misrepresented the scandal, calling out the likes of Mike Florio and ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
But now, as a media member himself, Lewan took it upon himself to address the stigma surrounding his former best friend.
“Richie and I, we’re not as close as we used to be, but we used to be legit best friends,” Lewan explained. “Like, at one point was the godfather of my firstborn child. He’s not anymore… But I know there’s a sh*t load of trials and tribulations that Richie Incognito has had, whether it be in college or all over the place. But, the biggest thing that has kind of carried weight on his shoulder for the longest time was this Jonathan Martin out of Stanford, going to Miami, and this whole ‘bullying’ saga that took place with Richie that f*cked him so many ways.
“Like, he had a Pro Bowl season in Miami and was about to get [paid]. And in that offseason, Jonathan Martin comes out… He says he’s getting bullied by Richie and paints Richie in this horrible picture. I’m not here to say that Richie Incognito — his track record has got some bumps and bruises to it, don’t get me wrong, the boy’s had some issues. But, that really screwed him over in a lot of ways and probably contributed to a lot more things happening in the future after that that painted him in a bad light.”
Despite Incognito’s reputation, Lewan insists that at his core, the four-time Pro Bowler is a good person.
“When Richie is the healthiest version of himself, he’s a great person,” Lewan added. “He cares about people. He loves people. Him and Taylin (Lewan’s wife); he was around when Taylin and I first met. I told Richie in confidence, ‘Hey, I’m probably going to propose to this girl.’ He sat me down and gave me the whole conversation like, ‘You just met this girl, you’re in the NFL.’ We all know what I’m talking about; there’s some areas that you’re going to have to look and make sure you’re safe. Eventually, when I told him I was going to marry this girl, he was the first one to support me.”
He was even supposed to be in Lewan’s wedding.
For Lewan, seeing Martin admit he was never actually bullied only reinforces what he and others have believed all along, which was that Incognito was unfairly vilified.
“He missed out on millions of dollars because of it — he was about to get broke off,” Lewan says. “And I just think it’s good for somebody that didn’t actually did the bad thing that people said he was so bad for doing, you know, have his deal. Jonathan Martin, I think it’s a scumbag move. I think it’s f*cked up. I know he’s had his own issues himself, but [to] have your own problems and project that onto somebody else, so they have problems, it’s not going to take away your problems.”
Lewan doesn’t claim to know why Martin decided to change his story after all these years.
But for him, what matters most is that Incognito can finally move forward.
“I don’t know the whole story allegedly of how Jonathan Martin came to this conclusion that he should now be truthful about the whole bullying thing,” the ex-Tennessee Titans left tackle added. “It’s scummy, but it is what it is. I’m stoked for Richie to have this regardless of anything financially that comes from this, just for him to have the peace of mind to know that this is all over, that fires me up for the boy.
“He deserves it. He’s a good person. And I think the sports world needs to apologize to some extent. Not me; I’ve always had his back.”
And whether the sports world offers that apology or not, Lewan made it clear — he’s standing by his friend, just like he always has.
