Richie Incognito Taken for Psych Eval After Chucking a Dumbbell at a Guy at the Gym
Source - Two days after Richie Incognito was released by the Buffalo Bills so he could come out of a month-long retirement and play again, he was involved in a troubling incident at a gym.
According to TMZ, and confirmed by WKBW, four-time Pro Bowl guard Incognito is being held for an involuntary mental evaluation after he was accused of throwing a dumbbell at another person working out at the gym Wednesday morning. The incident happened in Boca Raton, Fla.
Police were called and WKBW said Incognito was put under the provisions of the Baker Act, which means he had to undergo a mental evaluation. He was not arrested.
And – Mark [the victim] says Incognito was rapidly switching between exercises with no real plan and then “went to the boxing mannequin and tore it off its pedestal.”
Richie then started cutting off Mark while he was jogging in the area … and when Mark called him out, Richie pegged him with a tennis ball.
Mark says Richie grabbed a sled and “tried to run me over” and then grabbed a dumbbell and launched it at him.
That’s when Mark called 911 — and Richie accused him of working for the government.
Cops arrived and put Incognito in handcuffs before placing him on an involuntary psychiatric hold.
Mark tells us he doesn’t want to press charges — he just wants Richie to get the help he needs.
There are certain elements that you need to look for in order to determine if a news report is funny enough to be blog worthy. Certain story beats. And this one has a lot. Two guys fighting? OK, there’s potential. At the gym? Sure, sure. Because steroid rage can be humorous. One guy throws a dumbbell? OK, now you’re talking. Keep going. In Florida? Everything that happens in America’s Wang is scientifically proven to be at least 10 percent funnier. And the dumbbell thrower is famous? That’s gold, Jerry! Gold! And the dumbbell thrower get taken into custody under the Baker Act and led away for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation? That’s … not funny at all. That is grim and serious and the sign of something gone horribly, horribly wrong with Richie Incognito.
I’d like to say I saw this coming. I’ve written about a few things Incognito’s done over the last year or so. Bitching about how bad Thursday Night Football is right after the Bills – and the O-line in particular – got their dicks kicked in the dirt. Firing his agent via Twitter. Retiring from football shortly after. And then this week he got the news that the Bills had released him, freeing him up unretire to go play elsewhere. And then within 48 hours of getting that particular wish granted, he’s tossing heavy iron chin music at some random gym goer and ranting about the government. Which is not the kind of thing an agent would recommend to a free agent trying to market himself. If he still had an agent, that is.
But I did not see this coming. Raise your hand, anyone who did. Who could’ve predicted that within four years of the Bullygate fiasco that both major characters would end up in the psych ward? Jonathan Martin for threatening to shoot up a school on Instagram and Incognito for practically killing somebody at the gym. This guy Mark who was ducking those pitches certainly sounds like a good dude not trying to press charges or make a fast buck off a lawsuit or whatever.
I said when he retired I’ll miss watching the man play and I was looking forward to seeing him possibly get back. But now that he so clearly has issues, that’s not likely to happen. Instead we can all join his victim in hoping Icognito gets the help he so obviously needs. Because this is sad as hell.