We may have a reason why that whole New York Giants-Carolina Panthers kerfuffle unfolded. On Sunday, the world watched as Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and Panthers cornerback Josh Norman squared off in a strange UFC match that left announcers wondering where the refs were and who was going to get ejected first and fans of both teams likely elated at the same time as they were perturbed by the actions of their favorite players.
On Monday, Fox Sports' Jay Glazer revealed the Panthers have a pregame ritual involving a bat - something they allegedly view as a symbol of their continues efforts to "chop wood" and keep working, no matter the circumstances - but that on this particular Sunday, the ritual got out of hand, leaving OBJ feeling threatened.
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
Panthers however use the bat to symbolize "bringing the wood" a motivational saying among a lot of teams. — Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) December 21, 2015
This may or may not have been the spark in a ridiculous level of personal fouls that never should have reached that level in the first place — Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) December 21, 2015
There should have been no bats, no helmet to helmets, no punches, no anything outside the box of a tough game — Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) December 21, 2015
Panthers often use bat as symbol. If a player threatened Beckham with it that's overboard. If it's just an excuse then that's overboard too
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) December 21, 2015
OBJ, of course, wound up with three unnecessary roughness penalties on the day.
CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora added to Glazer's Monday report, indicating that after reviewing tape of the field prior to the game, the Giants are "convinced" that Beckham was threatened physically.
Giants reviewed pregame incidents b/n Panthers players and Beckham. Are convinced he was threatened physically and called homophobic slurs — Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) December 21, 2015
Raise your hand if you saw this coming.
Now, raise it again if you think it's not a normal occurrence for NFL players to make verbal threats and/or threaten the well-being of their opponents on a week-to-week basis.
I'll wait.
In the end, this likely matters little and there's not much to be done on either side unless there's actual video of a Panthers player threatening Beckham's safety. Sure, there's video...
