ODB wasn’t the only player on the field acting a fool. He had a partner in crime named Josh Norman and the NFL agrees.
With Beckham’s appeal hearing only minutes away, ESPN’s Josina Anderson reported that the NFL has also fined Norman $26,000 for his role in the fiasco.The Carolina Panthers cornerback was finally held accountable for his involvement in Sunday’s MMA battle between the Giants and Panthers.
Really it was just Odell Beckham Jr. and Norman going H.A.M on each other. Initially, I was a bit surprised at how Norman seemed to be exonerated from the situation when there are hundreds of photos and video showing him to be an equal aggressor.
Norman reportedly instigated the situation and fed into the media hype by bringing a baseball bat out to pregame (something the Panthers have done this season and it’s symbolic for “bringing the wood”). He was swinging it around and sources say an unidentified Panthers player in street clothes threatened Beckham with it, which fueled his anger.
Once Norman got roasted by Beckham on the 4th play of the game, he got tight, words were exchanged and Norman body-slammed Beckham a play later. ODB was on his shimmy, shimmy yay all day after that. Giants HC Tom Coughlin acknowledged Beckham’s wild behavior, but implied in a press conference that Norman set the day off wrong with the bat wielding.
“The situation pregame with the baseball bat (set it off),” said Coughlin. “And if you know what happened at the beginning of the game you’ll understand that there’s two sides to this and not just one. That’s all I’m saying”
Then, following the final whistle, Norman let loose, first telling CBS that Beckham is a B and F him, and later saying Beckham shouldve been ejected and the league should discipline him for his actions.
Cortland Finnegan chimed in with the most shocking quote of the day when he said: He may have something in his blood, I dont know. Maybe its female related. Thats the only thing I can think of.
Those are fighting words. Don’t be surprised if it’s on and popping again if these squads meet up again in the near future.
So media, fans and the like need to share the love and the hate in this situation. Let’s get the narrative correct instead of piling on with the same opinions about ODB to be politically correct. There can’t always be a hero and a villain. In this case, both guys either spoiled the show or were the greatest show on earth, depending on your tastes.
