More than any other sport, professional football is marked by a distinct culture that most of the public could never be able to understand. For obvious reasons, a majority of people cannot understand what would motivate someone to put their bodies on the line and repeatedly slam into hulking mounds of muscle, all in the name of winning a game. Given this fact, it is then natural that the people who do play football at the professional level are cut from a decidedly different cloth. Toughness is their religion, and weakness is the enemy. It is difficult to succeed in the National Football League if a player cannot fully embrace and embody that mindset.

The Miami Dolphins bullying controversy, centered around supposed victim, tackle Jonathan Martin, and the perceived tormentor, guard Richie Incognito, erupted into the biggest story in sports this week. The story provides a fascinating insight into the psychology of an NFL locker room and the players in that room. In addition, the scandal can serve as a cautionary tale for aspiring professional football players who may not be up to snuff in terms of expected mental toughness.

Clearly, there is no justification for the actions of Incognito, who comes out of this situation looking like a racist and an all-around jerk. His days with the Dolphins are almost certainly finished, and his reputation is forever tarnished. Despite this, the overwhelming majority of his teammates have rushed to Incognito’s defense this week, sticking up for a man who was elected by the Dolphins players to the team’s leadership council. Even the African-American members of the team were nearly universal in their support for Incognito. The question is, why did nearly all of the Dolphins stand behind a player who referred to Jonathan Martin in such vile, racist terms and so persistently harassed him that Martin left the team?

The answer lies in the culture of toughness that so dominates football. It is the same culture that drives players to hide concussions to stay on the field, subjecting themselves to potentially life-altering consequences. Perhaps the most common response given by players this past week was that Martin should have been “man enough” to confront Incognito face-to-face, rather than leave the team to seek treatment. While these players are aware of the treatment Martin was subjected to, they still fault him for failing to deal with it in a manner that falls in accordance with their cardinal virtue of toughness.

Even more revealing is the report that Incognito was directed to thicken the skin of Martin by higher-ups in the Dolphins organization. Martin, though physically gifted, has struggled mightily throughout his brief professional career, and his mental toughness was apparently a cause for concern. If Incognito was actually told to “needle” Martin to toughen him up, then the Dolphins did a spectacularly poor job of monitoring their players, and the whole incident represents a massive cultural and organizational failure. Such an order reflects the camouflaging of common sense by the culture of masculinity and toughness that consumes the NFL.

It is true that some people are not cut out for certain professions, and Jonathan Martin may be one of those people. However, everyone should feel safe in his workplace, and in this case, football’s obsession with manliness and toughness prevented that from happening.