Free-agent defensive end Jared Odrick stopped by Desus & Mero for an interview Wednesday, and told a story from his time with the Miami Dolphins about a 2011 fight involving offensive lineman Richie Incognito, who later left the team rather unceremoniously.
Odrick recounts the tussle at the 2:35 mark of the clip below. According to him, a rookie defender named “Big Frank” was handling Incognito at practice one day, when Incognito lost his temper and told him to “go the fuck back to Alabama.” (“Big Frank” appears to be Frank Kearse, a defensive lineman who played college ball at Alabama A&M.) Odrick said Kearse left practice and waited in the locker room until it ended. When Incognito entered, Kearse charged him, and they traded hands.
It’s a good anecdote—although Kearse was technically a seventh-round draft pick, not a free agent—and seems to be backed up by a report from the next season, when Brian Biggane of the Palm Beach Post mentioned the fight in passing.
Left guard Richie Incognito was in the middle of the first, and it took several players to pull him away from backup defensive end Ryan Baker. The second featured Jake Long and rookie defensive end Olivier Vernon. Long calmed down quickly.
Incognito, of course, has a history of losing his temper, though he hasn’t done so in a game in quite awhile. Last year he did get into it with rookie defensive lineman Frank Kearse in a confrontation that was still bubbling when the two reached the locker room after practice ended.
Odrick told it better.
H/t to Noah