The whole point is that word I'm sure is very widespread among NFL football players. For a multimillionaire professional athlete to claim the be all hot and bothered by the fact a player said it to me is nonsensical.
Who knows? I wouldn't put it past Carolina. They are the epitome of a douche bag team in my opinion. Led by a giant schedule bag at QB
So because you think it's widespread, it should be acceptable? And ODB shouldn't be bothered by being called homophobic slurs because he's a rich athlete? He should just sit there and take it? And are you saying it's ok to say these things to a player, but not a ref? Are you kidding me?
http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2015/12/josh_normans_panther_teammate_says_odell_beckham_w.html
I agree with your general point, but one thing to add:
What Beckham did was create transverse, not axial, loading. Axial in this context means along the spinal column, as when a player goes head-first straight into another player
Beckham created the most risk to HIMSELF! Norman achieved his dastardly goals.
No, it's not OK and he can be bothered all he wants but retaliating the way he did is wrong on many fronts. He hurt his team, he hurt his image and he's now shown people how to get him off his game. I don't generally have much faith in humanity, even less for guys who are looking for whatever edge they can get so I'll be amazed if that's the last time ODB gets taunted.
Not excusing Beckham's behavior, but assuming this is what went down, unless Norman is gay I don't see the equivalence.
I'm sure it is widespread. But how does that make us confident that it's what caused this whole thing? I'd argue that the fact that it's so common means that Norman probably used some more creative language to get OBJ all fired up - otherwise, he'd be acting out like that every game. I can think of a list of terrible things I could say to another player right off the top of my head, and my organized sports playing days are well behind me.
And here you are bringing common sense to a bat fight. Er...a BBtL thread. You should be suspended from this forum for failure to support hot-takez mob rule!
I don't think there is anything wrong with that though. If Beckham wants to be twinkle toes prior to the start of the game why isn't that open to ridicule inside the lines of a football game? This PC era is getting outta control.
If I recall correctly this has been an issue for a few guys (Kerry Collins, Jeremy Shockey) who called teammates the n-word in a way that was, I guess, supposed to be friendly but wasn't appreciated. I think a white guy calling an African amercian player the n-word would be Armageddon.
This is like the one time you can call a guy twinkle toes and get away with it--I think it's pretty widely understood to be a homophobic comment, but then again Beckham had fucking xmas lights on his shoes.
This is, you know, not all that happened though. If Beckham is, in fact, gay and working with the You Can Play organization with the hopes of someday being himself in the public eye, there's a fuckton more at play here.
If there's any truth to the stories that OBJ is gay and that this is known around the NFL, I have no trouble believing this was at the core of the issue. Having said this, I don't believe a single word of the story about the baseball bats being used to intimidate him. That just screams "cover story."
Well, we certainly have video evidence that he was approached by a Carolina player who had a bat in his hands and got in his face. Does this mean that verbal threats were made? No. But, we have a bat present and a heated exchange. Hard to say for certain that OBJ is just covering his ass.
As of right now, the "Beckham is gay" stuff is just rumor/innuendo. We have no idea if he is or if he "wants to be a respected banner-holder" for anything. That's getting far afield.
Do we have video evidence that a Carolina player got in his face? I just saw the video of this exchange at lunch today and that's not necessarily how I saw it. Beckham is seen walking off the field, stops and turns around, takes off his helmet and begins to yell at someone off camera. The Carolina player comes into frame, with bat in hand, and the two meet up and exchange words. If you ask me, they got in each others' faces.
Your statement is technically true but they have assumed responsibility for what players say on the field because they have a penalty called "taunting." Also, by analogy, they routinely police and punish excessive celebration as an improper expressive act, and if anyone thinks excessive celebration is more worthy of policing than homophobic insults/incitement, then I don't know what to say.
Surprised this one wasn't mentioned especially on this board.
Average Reds correctly noted that the bats business is a transparent cover story. With everyone in his own city crushing ODB, it's mystifying that people are straining to explain if not justify his actions, or put the spotlight on somebody else, but whatever. Peace on Earth, good will and so forth.
I've read multiple reports that Carolina players tried to intimidate him with bats while saying they were going to end his career, or something to that effect. I'm not excusing Beckham's behavior, but we have no idea exactly what happened before the game or how inflammatory it was.
I agree, it's absolutely a cover story. If Beckham had felt physically threatened in any way, there's no way in hell he confronts the Carolina practice squad player. They got in his head and he reacted in the most self-destructive way possible. To argue anything other than that is just pissing in the wind.
Unless of course OBJ is gay and claims he legitimately felt threatened with the Panthers pre-game antics - whatever they truly entailed.
I agree with the bolded, but the "bats" story seems flimsy on its face considering that (1) they seem to do it at every game and (2) this is the sort of nonsense that NFL players spout routinely and you don't see people losing their minds over it.
Parent died 10 days later in the hospital. The savage beating so appalled the television audience (and network execs) that it would be eight years before another boxing match would be broadcast live.
My only point was that while having a few bats on the sideline isn't a big deal, if multiple players were threatening Beckham with them while saying that their intent during the game would be to injure him, the presence of the bats is pretty irrelevant. Again that doesn't excuse Beckham's spearing of Norman or his behavior in general, but Carolina's antics should be investigated as well.
Let's also note that the first on-field contact between Beckham and Norman was on the Giants' first drive and Norman did this:
Yeah, I didn't watch the highlights, but that was a horrific job by the refs not to throw a flag there. Now I see why Beckham walked over Norman after the touchdown.
The zebra was right on top of it too. Was he thinking "That's not unnecessary roughness because it was not violent enough," or "OBJ needs to be taken down a peg/hasn't been around enough to get calls?" I don't think either is defensible.
Completely agree. It's really not a hard or violent shove. He just lets go of a guy who is whining and begging for a flag. They engaged each other at the same time and were giving the same pushing/fighting until Beckham started crying. I don't think keeping the flag in the pocket there is really all that egregious
Let's also note that the first on-field contact between Beckham and Norman was on the Giants' first drive and Norman did this:
If he had been jawed at pregame and told Carolina was going to "end his career", called homophobic names, and then tossed to the ground with a cheap shot like that... it seems to build a case as to why he flipped his lid.
It doesn't excuse OBJ's actions, but it explains them, IMO.
I'm interested in knowing why he lost his cool moreso than excusing it. He deserves the punishment for the helmet to helmet hit, IMO.
I'd like to see a flag thrown there, because I think not calling these things causes them to escalate.
I hadn't seen that. And had to go to the YouTube link but that's nasty.
What?
