Odell Beckham Jr has been suspended one game by the NFL for the multiple dirty plays he was responsible for against the Panthers last Sunday, and Giants head coach Tom Coughlin does not feel that the punishment fits the crime.
In his Wednesday press conference, Coughlin said it is unfair that Beckham is bearing most of the responsibility when he was clearly provoked.
WATCH: #Giants Coach Tom Coughlin's take on Odell Beckham Jr. suspension https://t.co/sNLoQT4cR6
— New York Giants (@Giants) December 23, 2015
“It’s not fair. It’s not justice. It’s not the way it was,” Coughlin said. “If you’re naive enough to think that way, then you better do some soul searching yourself. Beckham certainly was wrong and we said he was wrong from day one, but there were factors involved starting in pregame which are well documented and indicate there was an attempt to provoke him.
“He was provoked. He was out of control. He was wrong — there’s no doubt about it. … If you know the situation pregame with the baseball bat and if you know what occurred at the very beginning of the game you can understand that there was two sides to this and not just one.”
Coughlin, of course, was referring to at least one Panthers player carrying around a baseball bat and supposedly taunting Beckham. You can see a video of Beckham and the player getting into it here.
The Giants are reportedly “convinced” that Panthers players physically threatened Beckham and taunted him with homophobic slurs. Our guess is that stuff goes on every game — this proves that — and Beckham was simply unable to control his emotions. No amount of taunting excuses some of the cheap shots he threw during the game.
