The incident with the Dolphins involving Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin -- Martin left the team after feeling threatened by Incognito; Incognito was suspended indefinitely Sunday night -- is bringing NFL hazing stories to light. CBS Sports Rich Gannon did just that on CBS Sports Network's NFL Monday QB.
On Monday Gannon recalled a particularly inappropriate scene he encountered when he arrived in Oakland.
"I have absolutely no tolerance for this type of behavior. I’ve seen firsthand how this can divide and really destroy a locker room, a team and quite frankly, an entire organization," Gannon said. "I went to an organization in Oakland, which quite frankly made me sick. This culture and environment existed out there with older players bullying younger players. At one point, I remember coming into the locker room my very first year there, and I saw a group of defensive lineman had our young tight end tied up with tape. They were punching him. They were putting icy-hot and baby powder with water on this guy. They were trying to demoralize the player."
When he saw what was happening, Gannon says he "freaked out" and stopped the players and believes his actions "helped to change" the culture in Oakland.
"I freaked out. I said, ‘I need this guy on Sunday,'" Gannon said. "I really thought that I helped to change the culture and the environment in that building."
Three years after Gannon's arrival, the Raiders would go the Super Bowl on the strength of his MVP season. And he said on Monday QB that success is predicated on not having elements like that in your locker room.
"If this exists in your locker room, you have no chance of being successful. Unfortunately, it still exists in certain locker rooms."
