The Miami Dolphins Bullying Case Just Took an Odd Turn – See What a Lawyer Says the ‘Murder’ Text Sent by the Alleged Victim Actually Was

Editor's note: This post contains some graphic language that's been redacted.

On Sunday, suspended Miami Dolphins lineman Richie Incognito appeared with Fox Sports to defend himself against charges of graphic bullying tactics allegedly used against teammate Jonathan Martin. One of the parts that gained traction from the sit-down was Incognito saying that Martin had actually texted him a week before the incident saying Martin was going to "murder" Incognito's family, but because of the culture of brotherhood, Incognito thought nothing of it.

But wait until you see what Martin's lawyer says the "murder" text actually was.

First, here's Incognito's full quote.

“A week before this went down, Jonathan Martin texted me on my phone – ‘I will murder your whole effing family,’” he told Jay Glazer. “Now did I think Jonathan Martin was going to murder my family? Not one bit. He texted me that. I didn’t think he was going to kill my family. I knew it was coming from a brother. I knew it was coming from a friend. I knew it was coming from a teammate. That just puts in context how we communicate with one another.”

But after the interview aired, David Cornwell, an attorney for Martin, sent out a picture of an Internet meme involving a smiling dog:

We've redacted the language slightly. (Source: Twitter screenshot/TheBlaze)

You can watch Incognito explain the text at the six-minute mark below:

That's led some to question Incognito even more.

"Incognito went on to explain that he knew Martin's message wasn't a real threat, because it was, coming from a brother,'" Deadspin's Tom Ley writes. "Or maybe he knew it wasn't a threat because the message was delivered as a silly internet meme that included a dog?"