Taylor Lewan gave a special shoutout to Richie Incognito during a recent episode of Bussin’ With The Boys, the podcast he cohosts with Will Compton. The show, which recently became independent from Barstool Sports despite wanting to stay, now features guests like Patrick Mahomes, who was previously deemed off-limits because of Barstool’s reputation. Before diving into this new chapter, Lewan took a moment to pay tribute to Incognito.
Lewan believes Incognito’s name has finally been cleared after years of controversy. The infamous ‘Bullygate’ saga resurfaced last week when ESPN’s Anthony Olivieri published a story revealing that Jonathan Martin, supposedly the victim of Incognito’s harassment, admitted, “I never believed for a second I was being bullied.” Although Lewan wasn’t an innocent bystander in that saga—having directed some heinous comments toward Martin and was accused of racially insulting an Asian-American trainer—he now sees it as his responsibility to address the stigma surrounding Incognito, who has also called out media figures like Mike Florio and Adam Schefter for misrepresenting the scandal.
“Richie and I aren’t as close as we used to be, but we were once legit best friends,” Lewan shared. “He was the godfather of my firstborn child at one point. I know he has faced a lot of trials over the years, but what weighs most heavily on him is the whole ‘bullying’ saga involving Jonathan Martin, which really hurt him in many ways. After a Pro Bowl season, he was about to get paid, then Martin paints him in a horrible light by claiming he was bullied. Incognito has his issues, no doubt, but that incident had devastating effects on his career.” Despite Incognito’s troubled reputation, Lewan insists he is fundamentally a good person: “When Richie is at his best, he’s great. He cares about people and was supportive when I told him about proposing to my wife.”
For Lewan, Martin’s admission of never being bullied only reinforces the belief that Incognito has been unfairly vilified. “He lost millions because of it—and that’s just wrong. I think it’s scummy for Jonathan to project his issues onto someone else. I don’t know why Martin changed his story, but what matters is that Incognito can finally move forward.” he concluded. “I’m excited for Richie. He deserves this recognition, and I think the sports world needs to apologize in some way. I’ve always supported him.” No matter what, Lewan remains steadfastly by his friend’s side.
