Warrant issued for Beckham after video shows butt swat

NEW ORLEANS» A misdemeanor simple battery warrant has been issued for Cleveland Browns wide receiver and former LSU star Odell Beckham Jr., police in New Orleans said Thursday.

The warrant comes as video posted on social media appears to show Beckham swatting a security officer’s buttocks during LSU’s locker room victory celebration after Monday night’s college national championship game in the Superdome.

“We are aware of the incident and have been in touch with Odell and his representatives on the matter,”the Browns said in a statement. “They are cooperating with authorities to appropriately address the situation.’’

LSU players were seen smoking cigars — forbidden in the Superdome — in pictures from the Monday night celebration. Authorities reportedly warned them they could face arrest.

In a 27-second video available on Twitter, a security officer is seen standing over an LSU player sitting on a locker room bench. The officer appears to be searching around the bench and pointing to the floor. He can be heard talking about a “burn mark” just before Beckham approaches him from behind and appears to swat his backside.

The arrest warrant follows another postgame controversy involving Beckham.

LSU has acknowledged contacting officials from the NCAA and Southeastern Conference about Beckham apparently handing out cash to Tigers players on the field after the national championship game.

LSU athletics spokesman Michael Bonnette said initial information suggested that Beckham handed out “novelty bills” to players after LSU defeated Clemson on Monday night. However, further investigation showed that Beckham may have given away real money, Bonnette said earlier this week.

Temple put the clamps on Wichita

State.

Quinton Rose scored 19 points and the Owls used a strong defensive performance to upset No. 16 Wichita State 65-53 on Wednesday night.

Jake Forrester and Monty Scott each chipped in 11 points for the Owls (10-6, 2-3 American Athletic Conference), who snapped a three-game losing streak while defeating a ranked opponent for the 13th consecutive season.

“Coach always wants us to be aggressive and pressure the ball,” Scott said. “We do that against every team, but we knew today playing a ranked team we had to be more aggressive than usual.”

James Echenique scored 20 points and Jamarius Burton added 16 for the Shockers (15-2, 3-1), who had won nine straight.

The Owls, under first-year coach Aaron McKie, shut down the Shockers. They held Wichita State to a season-low in points while forcing them to shoot 30.2% (19-for-63) from the field and 14.3% (3-for-21) from 3-point range.

Rocky “Soulman” Johnson, a WWE Hall of Fame wrestler who became better known as the father of actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, has died. He was 75.

WWE issued a statement on Johnson’s death Wednesday night. Johnson and Tony Atlas became the first black world tag team champions in WWE history when they defeated The Wild Samoans on Dec. 10, 1983.

The statement didn’t provide details on the cause or location of Johnson’s death.

“A loss for every fan of @WWE, Rocky Johnson was a barrier-breaking performer. Our thoughts are with his family at this time,” WWE executive and wrestler Paul “Triple H” Levesque tweeted.

Johnson later helped train his son, who adopted the Rocky moniker from his father. Johnson came to his son’s aid after a match at WrestleMania in 1997. The Rock inducted his father into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008.