This afternoon the NFL decided to uphold their one-game suspension of Odell Beckham for his actions against Panthers’ cornerback Josh Norman in last weekend’s game against the Carolina Panthers.
Beckham had appealed the original decision, and after today’s verdict, he took to Twitter to express his thoughts and regret:
Odell Beckham Jr (@OBJ_3) December 23, 2015
Unfortunately for Giants’ fans, the League decided to stick to their decision, which follows the original thoughts of VP of Officials, Dean Blandino, during the actual game. “I think when you look at of the actions in their entirety it does warrant an ejection,” Blandino said. “Anytime a player is suspended for his actions, (it) would warrant an ejection. We don’t take disqualification lightly. It is a short season and the action really has to raise above and beyond the normal course and this certainly did.
“It’s certainly an accumulation of instances and not just on Beckham. There was some things on the other side, too, and I think both parties were involved. The officials, if you asked them, they would agree after looking at the tape that ejections were warranted.”
So now the Giants are without their star player in a must-win game against the Vikings on Sunday night. In light of his suspension, he issued the following apology on the Giants’ website today:
I owe some people an apology. I wasnt raised to act like I did the other day. I am not here to make excuses for my conduct. This isnt about anything that was said or done to me. This is about my behavior, and I am responsible for my behavior. People expect better from me, and I expect better from myself.
First of all, I apologize to the organization I represent, the Giants, and our ownership, John Mara and his family and Steve Tisch and his family. And Jerry Reese, who drafted me and gave me the opportunity to be a part of this organization.
I want to apologize to Giants fans. They want to be proud of us, and proud of players like me who represent their team. What happened the other day was embarrassing to them and embarrassing to me.
A lot of kids look up to me as a role model. That is a responsibility I accept and take seriously. Many of the parents of those kids have asked since Sunday what they should say to their children about my conduct. I dont have the perfect answer, but I think one thing they can say is how I handled myself the other day is an example of how not to conduct yourself. I displayed poor sportsmanship. And those parents can also say that when you act like that, there are consequences. And I hope to be an example of somebody who did something wrong and learned from it.
I owe Coach Coughlin, our coaches and my teammates an apology. They have had to answer for my actions, and thats not fair to them. How I conduct myself is my responsibility. I let my coaches and teammates down.
I am blessed and privileged to play the game I love, and I will do all I can to carry myself in a way that honors the game, the NFL, my team, my coaches, all my fans and my family moving forward.
