Dear Santa: Make Odell Beckham Story Go Away
Dec 20, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (13) signals first down after a catch and run against the Carolina Panthers during the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium. The Panthers defeated the Giants 38-35. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Hopefully Christmas week will see an end to conversation regarding Odell Beckham Jr and his day with the Carolina Panthers.
Dear Santa,
I may be beyond the age where asking you for materialist concerns has hope of being answered. Or anything else for that matter. In 2015, world peace and a personal fortune still seems quite out of reach, so perhaps I can aim lower.
For this year the only thing I would like for Christmas is to make the Odell Beckham thing go away. It has survived in the news cycle for a week and I am frankly tired of it.
I don’t like it, any of it. I don’t like the incident, and I don’t like the context. I don’t like the way the media has treated the event.
To summarize in case the North Pole does not get cable, the Carolina Panthers played the New York Giants last Sunday. In that game, Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr and Panthers cornerback Josh Norman got into it, drawing multiple unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Both have since been fined by the league. Both appealed their situations.
However Beckham had a moment that is inexplicable to me. With a play resolving on the opposite side of the field, Beckham decided to take advantage of the situation to get to get back at Norman by launching himself at the cornerback and delivering a helmet to helmet hit. He did this by running across the field before getting a full jump. He could easily have injured Norman. He was penalized but not ejected for the move. The NFL now says he should have been ejected.
I lived through Steve Smith’s career here. I remember incidents with DeAngelo Hall and Aqib Talib. I remember Smith kicking a Houston Texan defender that was playing with his ankles. I never saw Smith attempt something like that. Like Beckham he was a speed guy who is not the tallest guy. Beckham is clearly over the line.
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