When I would throw the football around with C, G or DLG, all three of them have at one time or another asked me to throw them an "Odell." What is an Odell, you ask? It is a pass that makes the receiver contort and catch the ball over his head while falling backward. It is a pass that I have had to throw so many times that my arm hurts. Hey I get it. Odell Beckham Jr. made one of the most famous catches in football history and ever since that catch has become bigger than the game. I am reading that after Tom Brady, the biggest selling jersey in the Boston area is Beckham's Number 13.
With that as a back drop, I can imagine a cornerback like Josh Norman, viewed as one of the cornerbacks in the game, taking umbrage at Beckham's notoriety. His thought process is that someone like Beckham, who is as brash as his skill should dictate, will not be a factor in the game. One way to a take a receiver out of his game is to physically dominate him and mentally take him out of his game. It takes a certain type to be WR in the NFL, and one of the stereo types is that they are soft and diva like - right Dez and TO? Further, team's philosophies are often dominated on a game-to-game basis by the belief that you don't let a team's best player beat you. Eli Manning is shaking his head at that thought somewhere - why aren't they trying to take me out?
On one of the first plays of the game, Norman immediately started with the physical confrontation to take Beckham out of his game. Couple that with the "where there's smoke, there's fire" belief that the Panthers were taunting Beckham before the game even started and you had the makings of a diva-like split from reality. It has happened to Britney Spears, Whitney Houston and to Mariah Carey. If the stress becomes too much, the diva loses his or her shit. And that's what happened here.
Beckham, frustrated by his play and by the dominating defense, snapped. Punches were thrown and Beckham speared Norman in a blatant escape from reality. He wanted to hurt Norman and that was his response. Should Beckham be suspended? Yes. Should he have been thrown out of the game? Yes. But can you blame him? No. When you are a diva, when you have kids emulating you day after day, you start to believe that no one can touch you. But Beckham is not talking to his cleaning staff or his producer. He is taking this attitude out on the field with tough guys who don't mind hurting colleagues to gain an edge. Guys with egos the size of New York. I'm just surprised it didn't happen earlier.
Ultimately, everything will be alright. Beckham will apologize (or not) and we will all go on until the next controversy comes along. Meanwhile, I will ice my arm getting ready to throw some more passes over my kids' heads.
Incidentally, C on our way home from basketball practice tonight, out of the blue tells me "Josh Norman is jerk. He should get suspended. Beckham didn't do anything!"
All divas have their fans...
photo courtesy of bleacherreport.com
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