Beckham unapologetic after meeting with Mara
EAST RUTHERFORD » Odell Beckham Jr. says he is sorry that yet another one of his side antics negatively affected the Giants on Sunday, but he will not apologize for the nature of his penalized touchdown celebration, nor clarify why he did it.
On Wednesday, the Giants’ star receiver met privately with co-owner and team president John Mara, who on Tuesday wrote in an email to The New York Post that he was “very unhappy” with Beckham’s behavior.
After scoring the first of his two touchdowns in the Giants’ 27-24 loss to the Eagles, Beckham mimicked a dog peeing by lifting his right leg in the corner of the end zone. The officials penalized the Giants 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Beckham said he feels he embarrassed himself more so than the team.
“Only thing is just causing the penalty for the team. That’s really it,” Beckham said. “I don’t even know if they knew to call the flag or not because the look of confusion on their face was, ‘Do we throw the flag or not?’ And then, it was kind of just like, they threw the flag. So, only regret is costing us 15 yards, having to cover a long kickoff.”
Asked if he will celebrate differently in the future, Beckham nodded his head yes. But he would not go as far as to say the gesture was out of line.
“I don’t think any of us know the rules on what you can do celebrating,” Beckham said. “They put in a new celebration thing to kind of make it seem as if players can celebrate and then you celebrate and you only have 40 seconds. So, if you celebrate for 20, you’ve got 20 seconds to run on and kick (the extra point), so I don’t really know. I don’t really know how it works, but I do know going forward I have a lot better celebration.”
Asked if the celebration was improvised, Beckham began deferring to this Sunday’s upcoming game at the Buccaneers. He would not clarify his intent nor if his act was indeed in response to President Donald Trump, as Beckham insinuated Monday on Twitter.
“We’re talking about Tampa, if that’s cool with you,” Beckham said, becoming testy.
After the game Sunday, Beckham gave no indication that his celebration had anything to do with Trump, simply saying, “I’m a dog, so I acted like a dog.”
Head coach Ben McAdoo said the Giants “have a plan” if an unsportsmanlike celebration happens again with Beckham, adding that the incident is being handled internally.
“It’s a poor reflection on me, on the program and on the organization,” McAdoo said. “Whether it was or it wasn’t a penalty, it’s still not something that we’re condoning.”
Beckham, now in his fourth season, has a history of off-field baggage that comes with his immense talent. Only time will tell if the aftermath of this incident will finally be different.
“We should be focused on the way he plays the game,” McAdoo said. “He made two of the finest plays you’ll ever see in pro football since I’ve been in the league. Those are getting overshadowed. It’s unfortunate.”