Reports say Panthers taunted Odell Beckham with homophobic slurs

The New York Giants and/or Odell Beckham's representatives are working overtime to find someone to blame for Beckham's actions on Sunday that got him suspended for a game.

The latest reports, which were reported at almost the same time Monday afternoon by CBS, ESPN, the New York Daily News and other outlets, claim that Giants reviewed film and believe some unnamed Carolina Panthers directed homophobic slurs at Beckham before the game. The reports, which were all very similar, also said expletives were directed at Beckham and he was threatened physically.

There's no room for any slurs in the NFL, and the league will have to investigate these claims. If any Panthers are found to have been directing homophobic slurs toward Beckham, they should be punished as well. But it is interesting how hard the Giants and/or Beckham's people are working to turn public opinion in his favor.

Beckham has been criticized heavily since Sunday's game, and rightfully so. His actions were inexcusable, including a head shot on Panthers cornerback Josh Norman that played a big role in his one-game suspension. But since then we've heard that officials were to blame for not controlling the situation, or Giants coach Tom Coughlin is to blame for not benching Beckham. Then there was the goofy story that the Panthers were to blame for having a baseball bat on the field before the game, though they have had the bat on the field before other games in some motivation ritual. Then after that story simmered a while, the story of the homophobic slurs was leaked to multiple outlets. That's a serious allegation, and while there's blame to go around for how out of control things got Sunday, Beckham ultimately controls his own actions. He also has thrown a punch at a Buffalo Bills player earlier this year, and was upset with what he thought was targeting by the Jacksonville Jaguars this preseason.

The NFL will take the reports of homophobic slurs by the Panthers very seriously, and there will be punishments if the story is proven to be correct. Beckham's suspension wasn't the last thing we've heard about this.