Report: Odell Beckham thought Panthers threatened him with baseball bat
Odell Beckham Jr. crossed the line on several occasions with cheap shots and dirty plays during Sunday’s game against the Panthers. According to one report, Beckham was enraged before the game when he felt a Carolina player was threatening him with a baseball bat.
Jay Glazer of FOX Sports says Beckham and a Panthers player got into it during pregame warmups when the other player threatened Beckham.
Sources say Beckham and the other player got into it after a threat to end his day was made. Panthers say no threat was made
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) December 21, 2015
As it turns out, the bat is symbolic for the Panthers. Black and Blue Review notes that secondary coach Steve Wilks came up with the idea to use it as a symbol the night before Carolina played the Falcons. Apparently it was a “bringing the wood” type of thing, and cornerback Bene Benwikere carried it out of the tunnel before the Atlanta game.
I carried the bat out the tunnel against Atlanta and my teammates held it during warm ups that game to pic.twitter.com/SQTcIy8mrF
— Bené Benwikere (@BigPlayBene) December 21, 2015
Benwikere ended up breaking his leg against the Falcons, so the Panthers took the bat with them to New York.
Come on now 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???
— Bené Benwikere (@BigPlayBene) December 21, 2015
While we don’t know for sure if someone threatened Beckham with the bat, we do know the Panthers had it with them. Glazer shared a video on Instagram that shows Josh Norman carrying it around:
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that Panthers practice squad player Marcus Ball was carrying the bat around before Sunday’s game. Ball and Beckham got into a scuffle before kickoff and had to be separated. A video that was shared on the Giants Instagram account shows Ball carrying the bat in the background as the Giants were taking the field.
The entire feud between Beckham, Norman and the Panthers and Giants has already gotten out of hand. Even if someone taunted Beckham with the bat, it’s tough to excuse all of his dirty plays. You can see videos of all of them here.
In all likelihood, the Panthers will not be allowed to have the bat on the field before games or on the sideline during games going forward.