He’s also been told he’s a redneck and asked where he’s flying his Confederate flag.

And while that type of behavior would be punishable in the realm of a corporate board room or along a blue-collar assembly line, it’s what Mandarich, a former MSU and NFL offensive lineman, and others have come to expect in the haven of a college and professional football locker room.

Due to the recent controversy with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins involving offensive linemen Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin, which spiraled out of control after Martin left the Dolphins at the end of October after an alleged bullying incident and led to an indefinite suspension of Incognito, a new light has been shed on the locker room culture in college and professional sports.

In the incident, Incognito is accused of harassing Martin, calling the second-year player a “half-nigger” in a voicemail and being part of a ring of bullying among veteran players pulling pranks and making rookies pay for expensive meals and even a trip to Las Vegas, among other allegations.

However, Incognito told Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer it was “traditional hazing,” going on to say he meant nothing malicious toward a player he considered to be a brother.

So the question needs to be asked: is the locker room a workplace setting? If so, should the locker room be treated like corporate America would an office??

How far is too far?

For Mandarich, now a motivational speaker based in Arizona, he believes nobody truly can understand the relationship between the two players other than those around them.

“I’ve been on both sides of that where I had to step in and tell some player to lay off another player as far as ‘quit harassing him,’ or ‘quit doing this or that,’ and I’ve also been approached where they’ve told me a player or players told me, ‘you’ve got to take it easy on this guy,’” Mandarich said. “And my motivation would be, more or less, not so much to toughen them up, but to let them know, ‘this is a different level of football and you need to pick it up because we’re all working our asses off and you’re not.’”

It’s become a hot button issue that’s drawn commentary from many current and former players, including former Spartan and NFL offensive lineman Flozell Adams.

“The way (Martin) went with it publicly and leaving the team like a big baby. He’s a grown ass man and he’s going to leave the team like a baby because someone’s calling him names?” he said. “Whether it’s racially motivated or not, he’s going to cry and do all of that crap? That wasn’t cool on his part.

“It (also) was not good on Incognito’s part with what he did. Making racial remarks to a guy because he’s bi-racial, half-black or whatever.” ?

Red Cedar rowdies?

There are few other sports on campus that allow extensive locker room access, including MSU’s football team, making it difficult to decipher what exactly happens behind closed doors.

But when asked about locker room culture this week, MSU head coach Mark Dantonio said by putting the right leaders in position, the Spartans have cultivated what he considers “great chemistry” in the locker room.

“It is my hope, and I guess you never really know, because the players are going to know more what’s going on in the locker room then certainly – you would think the coaches would know, but we’re not in there all the time, but I don’t think there’s any hazing that goes on here,” Dantonio said.

It’s a culture that dates back to former head coach and current MSU Board of Trustee member George Perles, who led the football team from 1983-1994.

A former defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Perles was adamant that he “never had the problem” during his time with the Steelers or at MSU, expressing the fact that former Spartans such as Lorenzo White, Shane Bullough — the uncle of Max and Riley Bullough — and Pat Shurmur set the tone.

Former MSU football player and current Board of Trustees member Brian Mosallam, who played several seasons under Perles, echoed the notion he’s never had a problem in the locker room, but admits that only those from a specific locker room are going to understand the culture.

“Nobody is going to ever change the culture of a locker room,” Mosallam said. “Each locker room is gonna have its culture and no matter what’s written, no matter what’s said … all that’s gonna be irrelevant because the culture in the locker room is going to be how the guys dictate it.”?

‘I don’t want to treat people like that’

For many, there’s not a particularly strong need for locker room culture to change, especially if problems have not arisen.

However, Marc Edelman, an associate professor of law and a sports law expert at Baruch College at the Zicklin School of Business in New York, called the criticism of Martin “complete hogwash.” Given the concerns of staying quiet, it becomes dangerous for individuals to not speak up when the situation calls for it, regardless of repercussions. When cultivating this type of atmosphere, Edelman said when things happen behind closed doors and stay behind closed doors, they’re not bound to change.

“While it would be a far cry from the truth to say hazing goes on with every sports team, there are several instances of hazing in professional sports, throughout college sports and high school sports,” Edelman said. “One of the biggest challenges of stopping hazing is the circle of fear or silence.”

Time has given Mandarich an opportunity for reflection on his football career, as he recalled the camaraderie of college versus the business atmosphere in the NFL.

Mandarich realizes he — or anybody else in a college or professional locker room — easily could have been in a situation similar to Incognito or Martin.

But as his playing career remains close to two decades in the past, Mandarich said the time has lent him genuine perspective.

“In Incognito’s defense, it seems, based on his history, like he’s been a bully and stuff, but … everybody has different personalities and that’s what works for him,” Mandarich said. “There were people in the Indianapolis Colts locker room that were bullies that I just distanced myself from because I said ‘I don’t want to treat people like that.’