*New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has been suspended for one game after his illegal helmet-to-helmet hit on Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman and his antics throughout Sunday’s game, according to NFL Vice President of Football Communications Michael Signora.
Beckham and Norman spent most of Sunday’s game pushing and shoving after the whistle. Beckham ultimately was penalized three times for unnecessary roughness, making him just the third player in the past 15 years to be flagged three times for that foul in one game.
Also, it’s being reported that Beckham was extra heated for the game because a Panthers practice squad player had carried a black baseball bat onto the field in pregame warm-ups and was allegedly pointing it toward ODB as a taunt.
A league source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Beckham felt threatened, and it helped put him “in a certain state of mind.”
The source identified the practice squad player as Marcus Ball. Norman later grabbed the bat but didn’t engage in pregame words with Beckham and never motioned it toward the receiver, according to the source. An NFL Films camera captured images of Norman holding the bat.
The Panthers have carried bats onto the field during pregame warm-ups throughout the season. The bats are meant to symbolize home-run plays and “bringing the wood.”
Panthers cornerback Bene Benwikere, who was placed on injured reserve last week with a fractured leg, took to Twitter to say the Panthers had the bats to symbolize his presence. He said he was surprised to hear there’s an issue with the NFL.
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
And on top of that I believe Odell is an awesome player met him a few times but during the game in between the lines there was no bat
— Bené Benwikere (@BigPlayBene) December 21, 2015
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