Bullying expert calls football player's signing 'disheartening'

Amanda B. Nickerson, director of UB’s Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention, calls the Buffalo Bills’ signing of troubled guard Richie Incognito “disheartening,” especially in light of Bills Head Coach Rex Ryan’s ambitions to “build a bully.”

“It almost seems like this is the next step in Coach Ryan trying to actually achieve this,” says Nickerson, associate professor in the Department of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology in the Graduate School of Education.

At the Jan. 14 news conference announcing his appointment as Bills’ head coach, Ryan declared, “We’re going to build a bully, and we’re going to see if you’re going to play us for 60 minutes because we’re going to give everything we have every snap out there.”

The Bills signed Incognito on Feb. 9 to a one-year contract, giving the nine-year veteran guard another opportunity. He was suspended indefinitely by the NFL halfway through the 2013 season for his role in harassing teammate Jonathan Martin. The Dolphins eventually cut Incognito, a 2012 Pro Bowler known for his nasty streak.

Incognito, who has been out of professional football since then, played briefly for the Bills in 2009.

Although Nickerson questions the motives in signing Incognito — a player with a history of behavior that can be characterized as bullying and harassing to players and others, she says — she also calls the signing “an opportunity, if handled correctly.”

“It sounds like the Pegulas (owners of the Bills) and Coach Ryan have addressed this behavior with Incognito and are convinced that he has and will improve himself as a person and teammate,” Nickerson says.

“It could be an opportunity for the Bills to reaffirm their commitment to positive youth development and character development by showing that they are giving a second chance to someone who has gotten help and is planning to make changes in his behavior.

“Unfortunately, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, and there seem to have been enough incidents that it would be unlikely to see a drastic change,” she says. “But since the deal is done, it will serve us best to remain hopeful that this will be a good move.”

Incognito, who will be 32 when the next Bills season begins, has been voted the NFL’s dirtiest player in various player polls over the years.