Both of these statements can be true: Odell Beckham was responsible in his actions and was clearly wrong, and the Carolina Panthers (specifically Josh Norman) played a big part in the ugliness of what happened Sunday.
New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin acknowledged the former, but wanted to tell people not to forget about the latter.
In his Wednesday press conference Coughlin strongly said that Beckham, while wrong for the various melees that happened with the Panthers during Sunday's game, wasn't the only one at fault. Coughlin brought up the Panthers having a baseball bat before the game, which has since been explained as something they did in other games as a motivational tactic. Coughlin didn't acknowledge reports that the Panthers used homophobic slurs toward Beckham. But he did say Beckham was provoked.
Beckham was suspended for one game.
"It's not fair, it's not justice, it's not the way it was," Coughlin said. "If you're naive enough to think that way, you better do some soul searching yourself. Beckham certainly was wrong, and we said he was wrong from day one. But there were factors involved, starting in pregame, which are well documented, which indicate there was an attempt to provoke him.
"He was provoked. He was out of control, he was wrong, there's no doubt about it. You'd like that didn't happen. But the fact of the matter is, if you know the situation pregame, the baseball bat, you know what occurred at the very beginning of the game, you understand there's two sides to this and not just one."
Coughlin said he would not discuss Beckham and the Panthers further.
Norman was fined $26,044 for his actions on Sunday, which included two personal fouls, USA Today's Jarrett Bell reported. Norman got two fines, one for a face mask against Beckham and another for striking an opponent in the head. Norman has also been blamed for escalating the issue by body-slamming Beckham early in the game.
Panthers coach Ron Rivera was wired for sound and seen on Showtime's "Inside the NFL" telling Coughlin "I'm sorry about my guys' behavior coach," via Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report. But in his press conference Tuesday he was also irked by having accusations made at his players who weren't named.
"I’ve seen some of the clips, but honestly they’re benign," Rivera said, according to the Charlotte Observer. "They’re going to say some thing or the other.
“People are going to interpret it. But the truth of the matter is, give me some concrete evidence so I can sit down and get this taken care of. If not, let’s move on to the next thing.”
Rivera is correct about that — if there is concrete evidence of homophobic slurs being used, that is a serious issue and should be handled by the Panthers and the NFL accordingly. Casually leaking that to the media without any names attached is dangerous, because something so serious shouldn't be used as a prop to win a PR battle.
When a game gets as out of control as Sunday's Panthers-Giants game does, both sides share the blame. Coughlin wanted to remind people that his star receiver wasn't the only one out of line on Sunday.
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