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Three starting offensive linemen for the Miami Dolphins “engaged in a pattern of harassment” toward their teammate Jonathan Martin, another young offensive lineman and an assistant trainer that included racist and homophobic language and improper touching, according to an extensive investigation commissioned by the N.F.L.

The investigation concluded that harassment by the three players — Richie Incognito, John Jerry and Mike Pouncey — caused significant emotional distress to Martin, who abruptly left the team in October amid reports that he had been bullied by Incognito. What is now clear is that the episode extended far beyond Incognito and Martin. Incognito was labeled “the main instigator” in the harassment, while Jerry and Pouncey “tended to follow Incognito’s lead.” Incognito was said to have dictated the locker-room culture.

The findings were announced by Ted Wells, a defense lawyer who was hired by the N.F.L. in November to conduct an independent investigation into the bullying scandal that engulfed the Dolphins and the league, and also cast a spotlight on the issue of workplace conduct in the locker room.

“The report rejects any suggestion that Martin manufactured claims of abuse after the fact to cover up an impetuous decision to leave the team,” Wells said in a statement.

… According to the report, Martin was teased “on a persistent basis with sexually explicit remarks about his sister and his mother and at times ridiculed with racial insults and other offensive comments,” while the trainer, who was born in Japan, was “the object of racial slurs and other racially derogatory language.” The trainer was said to have confided in Martin that he was upset, but he denied in interviews with investigators that Incognito had offended him because he said he was worried about losing players’ trust.

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