NFL suspends Giants’ Odell Beckham 1 game

The NFL suspended New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. for one game after his antics in the Carolina Panthers’ 38-35 victory against the Giants on Sunday, but the controversy is far from over.

Multiple reports have surfaced out of New York that Beckham felt intimidated by Panthers’ defensive backs holding and swinging a baseball bat during pregame warmups, and that was, in part, the reason for his out-of-control behavior during the game that was mostly directed toward Panthers cornerback Josh Norman.

Panthers sources have countered, saying the baseball bat has been a part of the defensive backfield’s ritual for weeks. One source said there was some trash talk on the field pregame, but the source couldn’t compute how that led to what the Panthers counted as 12 of the 14 Beckham-related on-field incidents being instigated by Beckham.

Beckham, one of the league’s biggest young stars who graced the most recent cover the Madden video game, was flagged three times for personal fouls. In the past 15 years, only two other receivers have been flagged at least three times for personal fouls in a game, according to ESPN.

Beckham’s most severe foul came late in the third quarter when he ran from 10 yards away as the running play was over and made helmet-to-helmet contact with Norman.

On Monday, the head coaches of each team had their own player’s backs. New York’s Tom Coughlin said he wouldn’t defend Beckham’s actions but that he would “defend the person as long as I’m able to.”

Quarterback Eli Manning said he thought Norman “cried a little bit” in his postgame comments condemning Beckham’s actions.

At least two reports – one from CBS Sports and another from the New York Daily News – cite a source saying that, along with the bat intimidation, the Giants determined Panthers’ players directed homophobic slurs at Beckham.

Panthers spokesman Steven Drummond said the team would have no comment on anything Beckham related. He said Panthers coach Ron Rivera would address the situation Tuesday afternoon.

On Monday, before the news of the day broke, Rivera intimated that Norman was not the instigator of the scuffles, so the coach didn’t feel the need to have to calm Norman down or take him out of the game.

“I think it’s about being the instigator, more so than anything else,” Rivera said. “That’s the big thing that I look for, from my perspective. If I see a guy instigating, I’m going to pull him aside and talk to him. In Josh’s situation, I didn’t necessarily need to say anything to Josh. The referee did it for me. His teammates did it for me. And I thought his teammates handled it very well.”

The bat itself has been used as a symbol for the team in recent weeks, and it recently made its debut on the field as second-year cornerback Bene Benwikere ran out of the tunnel with it before Carolina’s win against Atlanta in Week 14.

“We were going to hit and stick everything we see,” Norman said after the game. “We get a big play. We’re going to try to get a home run.”

Benwikere broke his leg during the Atlanta game. Apparently the Panthers brought the bat with them for the first time on the road as a symbol for their injured teammate.

“Come on now,” Benwikere tweeted Monday afternoon, “my boys carry the bat with them as it symbolizes my presence still being with them at the game and the NFL has a problem???”

Video from before the game shows Norman gripping and slightly swinging the bat before the game. There are also pictures showing practice squad safety Marcus Ball with the bat in his hands on the field.

A team source said Ball had the bat while the active players stretched. He had an exchange with Beckham, the source said, and attempted to engage in trash talk with Beckham.

Monday morning, the Panthers pulled 14 plays where they believe Beckham was involved in some type of extra-curricular activity. Of the 14, the source said Beckham instigated two incidents with cornerback Cortland Finnegan and 10 with Norman. The team found Norman instigated the other two, the source said.

In a statement, the league said Merton Hanks, the league’s vice president of football operations, ruled that multiple actions by Beckham should have been avoided.

“At numerous times during (Sunday’s) game against the Carolina Panthers, your actions placed a fellow player at unnecessary risk,” read a quote directed at Beckham in the statement, “and clearly did not represent the high standards of sportsmanship expected.”

Beckham can appeal within three business days. Further discipline, including a potential fine for Norman, is being reviewed.

Beckham was held without a catch in the first half for the first time in his two-year career, although he did have a drop early that otherwise would have been a touchdown. He didn’t catch a pass on Norman until the third quarter, but he got the better of Norman late in the fourth quarter when he caught a game-tying touchdown pass from Eli Manning on fourth down.

Norman voiced his displeasure with Beckham after the game. No Panthers players were made available to the media on Monday (they had the day off after Sunday’s victory), but Norman did talk with ESPN’s Mike & Mike radio show.

Norman, who fancies himself a Batman fan, made a reference to the comic book hero and his rivals during the interview when comparing what happened on the field Sunday.

“That man had the Joker cleats on. He knew what he was doing. That man knows what he was doing,” Norman said, referring to when Beckham wore cleats with the Joker on them in a game the week previous. “That’s no Joker, man, that’s no Joker. That’s Harvey Dent; that’s Two-Face [Dent’s alter-ego]. That’s who he is.

“I can respect the Joker because at least he would give me a sweet contest. He would give me a sweet epic battle, but that right there was a melee. How can you respect a guy like that? That was ridiculous.”

This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 5:55 PM with the headline "NFL suspends Giants’ Odell Beckham 1 game."