It might be over, but give ‘em their due: The wimps had a helluva run.
Future historians will claim their age began with the 1984 avant-garde film “Revenge of the Nerds” (which was snubbed by the Oscars). Soon, they were riding high with Bill Gates, the world’s wealthiest man, whose ominous warning foretold the horrors that awaited: “Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.”
By the time the 1990s came to a close, Gates’ chilling prophecy came to pass: The nerds really were in charge! The geeks, dorks, and wimps had taken over.
[Editorial Note: Okay, technically speaking, geeks, nerds, dorks, and wimps are all slightly different categories, i.e. not all wimps are geeks; not all geeks are wimps. You got me there, Mr. Smarty Pants. But look, I’m painting with broad strokes here. Besides, it’s an ethos we’re trying to capture: The outsider who’s too snivelly and annoying to fit within society’s norms; the weaselly lug with a superiority complex. It’s kind of like Justice Stewart’s critique of obscenity: We know it when we see it.]
There was nothing inherently wrong with the ascent of the wimps and nerds. Hey, it worked out pretty well for Microsoft. Many of the wimps were talented, capable leaders.
The problem was with what came next: The Tyranny of Wimps.
In the early 2000s it was mostly subterranean, swirling silently beneath the surface, only occasionally bubbling up and bearing its gruesome face, but the moment Obama was sworn in, it became institutionalized. Masculinity wasn’t just a bad word; it was now toxic. Machismo was blasphemy! Traditional male behavior — like hanging out, telling jokes, and busting chops — were reclassified as dastardly tools of the Patriarchy.
It set the stage for the gender debate that cost the Democrats dearly in the 2024 election. But back then, Donald Trump and “MAGA” weren’t even on their radar. It was a different time, a different age.
We were just a few days away from President Obama winning his second term, in fact, when a story broke that was apropos of its era: Workplace bullying — in the NFL!
An offensive lineman named Jonathan Martin, a second-round draft pick of the Miami Dolphins, quit his team and left the sport, claiming that he was being bullied by his teammate, fellow offensive lineman Richie Incognito.
The story soon coalesced into a massive media maelstrom, with the racial elements taking root: Jonathan Martin, the bullied player, was half-black; Incognito was white.
The headlines and allegations were exactly what you’d expect.
Incognito denied being a bully and a racist. Still, the Dolphins suspended him immediately. He didn’t play another down that season, nor did he play a single snap the following season. It wasn’t until 2015 that Incognito rejoined the NFL, this time as a member of the Buffalo Bills (and was promptly voted to the Pro Bowl).
Toxic masculinity. Workplace bullying. White supremacy. That’s the “Bullygate” story that the media presented to the American people. And during the Obama years, most people went along with the flow.
Trouble is, the bullying story was bogus.
“I never believed for a second I was being bullied,” Martin now tells ESPN. “It’s a story I’ve been trying to fix for 10 years.”
Too little, too late for Incognito:
Well… well… well…@AdamSchefter @espn https://t.co/tDi1aiHAtZ
— Richie Incognito (@68INCOGNITO) February 16, 2025
Weirdly, Martin seems to blame his mom:
When Martin left the Dolphins' facility on Oct. 28, 2013, reporters started asking questions. At some point after his departure, Martin said during the 2024 call, his mother told a reporter that he was being bullied in Miami, that she "said the word 'bullying.'"
"I had a situation with my teammates that I wasn't super happy about," he said. "But my mother had her own read on the situation."
The word took on a life of its own. The situation went viral.
"I hadn't even told my coaches, hadn't told anyone," Martin said. "And suddenly it's on ESPN, right?"
Martin even added:
"My mother maybe in her mind -- I can't read her mind -- she thought she was doing the right thing," Jonathan Martin said.
Doesn’t it sort of sound like Martin was being bullied by his mom? But maybe she was smart to do so: If Martin simply quit football, he’d owe the Dolphins a portion of his signing bonus. But if he’s the victim of workplace bullying, well, as a second-round draft pick, he’ll be holding on to plenty of moolah.
This seems to be Incognito’s theory:
He couldn’t cut it in the NFL so he quit and his mom blamed me. Legacy media pushed this narrative long and far. Too bad it was all a lie! They lied to protect his money. He quit… the team had every right to claw back that money. His mom started the bullying narrative with @espn… https://t.co/ifFFJPG1H7
— Richie Incognito (@68INCOGNITO) February 16, 2025
The Tyranny of Wimps was a reign of terror that lasted from July 20, 1984 (release date of “Revenge of the Nerds”) to November 5, 2024 (election day of you-know-who). Forty years of heartache, agony, and WAY too much estrogen.
Oh, the horrors: The popularization of “therapy-speak,” with doofuses blathering about “validating feelings” and “telling your truth” — instead of telling the ACTUAL truth. The kneejerk loathing of all things masculine. The way the wimps wielded power by criminalizing pronouns, redefining genders, and institutionalizing male-phobia. The creepy, vindictive way they manipulated language to fuel their sick, twisted revenge fantasies. It was awful! So glad it’s finally over.
What a bunch of bullies.
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