The agent for Andrew McDonald -- previously identified as Player A in Ted Wells' independent investigation of misconduct within the Dolphins -- and Miami offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie are not in accord with the report's classification of the team's locker-room culture as bullying.
"The things that were done were done in a humorous and maybe off-color way, but not in a way that at all made Andrew feel bullied or abused or anything of that nature," Brent Tessler said in a Monday interview on ESPN's "Outside the Lines."
Tessler also said his client "does not like the way he is portrayed in the report" and that McDonald's relationship with Dolphins offensive line coach Jim Turner has been mischaracterized, going as far to say that Turner "is one of the best people and coaches he's ever played for."
"Well, if you just take the report at its words, naturally it appears that coach Turner participated in some behavior that could be seen as insensitive or not becoming of a man of his position within the organization," Tessler said. "But according to Andrew, he absolutely loves coach Turner."
Per Wells' report, Dolphins offensive linemen Richie Incognito, John Jerry and Mike Pouncey "engaged in a pattern of harassment" toward teammate Jonathan Martin; an assistant trainer and an unnamed Player A were also on the end of disparaging treatment.Â
Player A, who "frequently was subjected to homophobic name-calling and improper physical touching," was later revealed as McDonald, now a member of the Carolina Panthers. The report stated that Turner verbally taunted McDonald and purchased a male blow-up doll as a gag gift for the offensive tackle.
Team owner Stephen Ross later called the language and behavior in the report "deeply disturbing." However, according to Tessler, his client had no issue with his stint in Miami despite the documented actions and merely "cooperated with the investigation."
"As far as it relates to Andrew McDonald, he absolutely had no problem during his time there," the agent said. "He has no emotional, mental, physical scars from his time there. He's moved on.
" ... He didn't let the sticks and stones break his bones. Basically, as far as some of the words that were used toward him, he's very confident and secure in his sexuality, and so anything that anybody called him or said to him didn't really affect his need to go about his business and do the best he could to make the team."
McKinnie also refuted the report's findings, stopping short of using the word "bullying" to represent the team's beleaguered locker-room culture or attitude toward Martin.
"I don't feel like bullying was the term because I don't feel like nobody physically harmed (Martin) or made him do anything," McKinnie told SiriusXM NFL Radio on Monday. "He always had an option to say yes or no. It was never like he got bullied and he was fearing for his life."
In addition, McKinnie discussed the 1,000-plus text messages exchanged between Martin and Incognito from October 2012 to November 2013, while questioning Martin's decision to seek help outside of the Dolphins' auspices.
"It went from keeping it to yourself to just letting the whole world know how you feel. So now you kind of blindsided some of our coaches and everybody, because everybody wasn't aware," McKinnie said. "If you're sending messages back and stuff, and you're kind of joking and they think you're joking back with them, they don't see it either. I just think it was a lack of communication."
McKinnie opined that in an attempt to return to the NFL, Martin might even face some reluctant suitors.
"Some people might look at Jon as well, 'He might be too sensitive for this environment, and we don't know, emotionally, if he's emotionally stable enough to do this.' So I don't know," McKinnie said.
Follow Ryan Maquinana on Twitter @RMaq28.
