Odell Beckham Really Thought The Panthers Would Hit Him With A Bat?
BOSTON (CBS) -- With a sloppy, boring Patriots blowout going on, New England fans got an early Christmas present if they were able to flip over to the Giants - Panthers game. Odell Beckham Jr. and Josh Norman delivered on the hype with one of the most entertaining and outrageous one-on-one matchups in recent memory.
As you know by now, Beckham launched his helmet at Norman's after the whistle on a play where neither was involved in the tackle, and it has earned him a one-game suspension. An inexcusable act by Beckham, who generally lost his mind during the game as Norman locked him down for the entire first half. But now, the reasons for his actions are becoming clearer.
Are we calling this BatGate yet? The Panthers brought baseball bats on the field during Giants warmups and got in OBJ's face, clearly taunting him and trying to get in his head. Well, it worked. But as uncalled-for as the Panthers' actions appear - shouldn't it be some kind of unwritten rule not to walk right on the field and interrupt your opponent's warmups? - Beckham felt "threatened" by the bats and their comments, according to Adam Schefter. It turns out that the bat is really one of the team's traditions dedicated to an injured player. Not a weapon. Does Beckham - anyone, really - need to be told that?
It's clear that the Panthers got in Beckham's head with their behavior, especially in the first half of the game. As a result, Beckham showed the world that he has a tendency to lose his cool when thrown off his game.
There are also reports that the Panthers players hurled homophobic slurs at Beckham before the game. Not a good look for whoever said it, if it did happen - but that does not excuse his blatant, unnecessary helmet-to-helmet hit and it certainly does not explain why he would feel legitimately threatened.
How could Beckham possibly feel that the Panthers would actually attack him with a bat? If that's not what he is referring to by being "threatened," then what is it? There's zero chance a Panthers player would pull a Tonya Harding on OBJ in any situation, let alone right on the field before the game. It feels more like Beckham is simply victimizing himself after the intense backlash he felt in the fallout of the game.
Beckham is without question one of the most dynamic receivers in the game, and could have an illustrious career ahead of him. But he needs to have thicker skin and better emotional control if he wants to win. He showed his flaws on Sunday. And I'm not buying his excuses.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read more from Matt here. Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.