Ray Lewis has spoken to Odell Beckham Jr in the wake of the Giants wide receiver’s meltdown on Sunday, and Beckham apparently is aware that he crossed the line.
On ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown, Lewis described Beckham as one of the most humble people he has ever met. Lewis said Odell called him and admitted he “messed up,” and the former Ravens linebacker agreed.
“Bro, you went too far,” Lewis says he told Beckham. “The consistency of what you’re doing, going after (Josh Norman) every play — no way. There’s many ways to get back at him. … (Beckham’s) thing is, I don’t ever want to hurt my team. I just want to fight for my team.”
Lewis was asked what set Beckham off, and he hinted that what the Giants said about Beckham being physically threatened and taunted before the game was accurate.
“He was really challenged from his manhood,” Lewis said. “A bunch of guys from the Carolina Panthers had said a bunch of different things — how they were gonna hurt him, talking about other stuff about who he is as a person.”
As we learned on Monday, Beckham claimed one or more Panthers players threatened him with a baseball bat that they use as a symbol for their team. While it’s unclear if that happened, videos show a Carolina practice squad player pointing it in the direction of the Giants as they took the field.
Lewis said what happened was “way deeper than just football,” and he took issue with none of Beckham’s teammates or coaches coming to his aid.
“I got a problem with nobody going to grab him,” Lewis said. “If you see somebody’s out of control like that … one time I was out of control myself like that, but Mike Singletary came and grabbed me as a man and said, ‘You’ve lost your mind, you have to calm down.'”
If you haven’t seen all the cheap shots Beckham threw against Norman and the Panthers, you can watch them here. His behavior was inexcusable regardless of what happened before the game, and a one-game suspension reflected that.
