Arrested ex-NFL player Jonathan Martin had disturbing items in his possession
Former NFL offensive lineman Jonathan Martin — who was arrested late last month after a threatening image was posted on his Instagram account — reportedly had several disturbing items in his possession when police took him into custody.
According to TMZ Sports, who obtained court documents relating to Martin’s case, the former lineman was “arrested with a cache of weapons including a loaded shotgun, knife and an ax.”
Police reported that they received a call about a “suicidal male with a gun” in a Glendale, California hospital.
Because authorities thought he might pose a physical danger both to himself and others, he was placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold. Police searched Martin’s car and discovered a loaded 12-gauge shotgun, a large knife and an ax. They also found a second shotgun at the residence inhabited by Martin’s parents.
Martin was taken into custody on Feb. 23, the same day that he allegedly posted a photo to Instagram of a shotgun and shells, along with the words, “When you’re a bully victim & a coward, your options are suicide, or revenge.”
Four people were tagged in the post, including Dolphins center Mike Pouncey and Bills guard Richie Incognito — two of Martin’s former teammates who were at the center of a 2013 bullying scandal.
The Instagram post also tagged the Dolphins and Harvard-Westlake, an elite private school in Los Angeles that Martin attended. The school closed for a day in response to Martin’s post, with school officials being on particularly high alert following last month’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
In the month prior to his arrest, Martin had reportedly been growing more and more depressed, and even suicidal.
His girlfriend told officials that he had been “writing on the walls” of his home.
And that’s not all. The two high school classmates tagged in Martin’s post told investigators they had been receiving disturbing Facebook messages from him since 2016.
“Thank you for being such an a–hole to me when I was a kid and didn’t fit in … being d—s to me when I was a kid has made me, quite literally, insane,” one of the messages reportedly read.
“And I blame you above all. You’ll get yours, eventually — I have already paid my price for being a bad person. I wish you nothing but the worst. Best, Jonathan Martin.”
Another message to the same classmate read, “You’re a bad person. You irreparably damaged people’s lives. And you will be exposed publicly. If there is anything else I accomplish in life, it will be making sure you are outed and shamed for who you are.”
However, that classmate also said Martin had apologized in August 2016.
It’s been a rough few years for Martin, who was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2012 NFL draft out of Stanford.
In October 2013, he left the team facilities, citing “emotional” reasons. It was revealed that he had faced hazing and harassment that reportedly included voice mails and text messages from Incognito with racial slurs and crude threats.
An NFL investigation found that Incognito, Pouncey and guard John Jerry, now with the Giants, subjected Martin to “a pattern of harassment” in “a classic case of bullying.”
Incognito was suspended indefinitely in November 2013. His suspension was lifted the following February, but he missed the entire 2014 season. Incognito signed with the Bills in 2015.
Martin didn’t play for the Dolphins again, sitting out the rest of the 2013 season before being traded to San Francisco in 2014. He was waived by the 49ers in March 2015.
Five months later, Martin wrote in a lengthy Facebook post that he had attempted suicide “on multiple occasions.”
“Your self-perceived social inadequacy dominates your every waking moment and thought,” he wrote. “You are petrified of going to work. You either sleep 12, 14, 16 hours a day when you can, or not at all. You drink too much, smoke weed constantly, have trouble focusing on doing your job, playing the sport you grew up obsessed with.”
He ended with a message for others who have been bullied:
“You let your demons go, knowing that, perhaps, sharing your story can help some other chubby, goofy, socially-isolated kid getting bullied in America who feels like no one in the world cares about them. And let them know that they are not alone.”
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