The Many, Often Infuriating, Sides of Odell Beckham on Display in Giants Loss

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Odell Beckham: brilliant, historic, smart, talented.

Odell Beckham: immature, ill-tempered, petty.

Both of these portraits of Beckham are true. And both were on display in a neat, beautiful, ugly package against Washington on Sunday that showed as good as Beckham is, he has a lot of growing up to do.

The good Beckham was the player who put the Giants on his back late in the game, finishing with seven catches for 121 yards. It wasn't enough, as Washington beat them, 29-27, at MetLife Stadium, but it was still impressive to see. When he is on, no one in football is better. Not Antonio Brown. Not Julio Jones. Not Jordy Nelson. No one.

The much-discussed matchup between Washington cornerback Josh Norman and Beckham wasn't even close to the most interesting part of the game. Their duel didn't compare to simply watching Beckham play.

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How good has Beckham been? On Sunday, he became the fastest player in history to record 200 catches and 3,000 receiving yards, doing it in just 30 games. While the rules make it easier for receivers today than it was in the eras of Jerry Rice or even the earlier parts of Randy Moss' career, Beckham's milestone is still impressive. It took Rice 47 games to reach the same marks.

He is already one of the best pure receiving talents the sport has ever seen.

Then, as the Giants melted down, we saw Beckham do the same. For all of his great skills, he is still a baby, and if he's not careful, his temper and immaturity will hurt both his career and the Giants.

Take Sunday, for example. Giants offensive lineman Weston Richburg became the first player ejected under the two-personal-foul rule. While Richburg rightfully took the blame for his ejection, he also admitted he believed the officials were tense about the Beckham-Norman hype.

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"I think [the] matchup last year with the two individuals was kind of a problem," Richburg said, "so I think [the game officials] were kind of trying to cut down on that."

("That" being the extracurricular nonsense between Beckham and Norman that marred the matchup between the two players last season in Week 15.)

Beckham then fell into a maelstrom of his own in the fourth quarter, after Eli Manning threw a red-zone interception. Quickly spinning out of control, Beckham began screaming while walking up and down the sideline. He then threw his helmet at a field-goal-kicking net. In a moment dripping with karma, the net withstood the assault, bent upwards quickly toward Beckham and smacked him in the face.

Beckham is in danger of becoming this generation's Terrell Owens.

When asked if game officials spoke to him before the contest, Beckham opened the door to a fine from the NFL, as he went after the game's officials.

"They implemented a new rule this year," he said. "It's basically the Odell Beckham Jr. Rule. I had three personal fouls last year, so they said if you come out and get one personal foul and another one for the same thing. ... Today, they came up before the game and said, 'If you do anything, we're throwing you out of the game.' That was before the game.

"There was no 'You get a warning.' There was not any of that. You just have to be on your best behavior. Unfortunately, that's what it's come to. It's not really football anymore as much as it is all the other things that play into it."

Except, at times, Beckham doesn't play football. He plays dirty football.

Fox's Jay Glazer reported the NFL fined Beckham $36,000 for an illegal hit on Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro and warned him that another such penalty could lead to a suspension. The video of the hit shows Beckham hitting Vaccaro in the back when he wasn't looking.

If you're going to cheap-shot someone, at least face them when you do it.

The hit on Vaccaro was similar to the cheap stuff Beckham did against Norman last season. There's a pattern with Beckham—a clear, discernible one—that goes back throughout his young NFL career.

Remember, one of the first teams to complain about Beckham were the Bills, who said Beckham threw a punch during a Giants win in Buffalo last October and acted like a "prima donna." Not long after that came Beckham-Norman I (Beckham was suspended one game for a helmet-to-helmet hit). Then came his cheap shot against Vaccaro last week. In other words, Beckham isn't learning.

Beckham isn't a terrible guy or a coach-killer. He's not selfish. He's well-liked by his teammates, but on Sundays, he morphs into the receiving version of Ndamukong Suh. At times, he simply can't control himself.

As great as Beckham is, his volatility will become an ever-increasing problem. It's bound to. He's one temper tantrum away from a likely multigame suspension.

In the Giants locker room, Beckham didn't say much beyond his criticism of the officials.

What happened on the sideline with that meltdown, he was asked.

"I don't remember," he said.

Were you in tears at any point?

"I don't remember," he said.

How'd you get the scratch on your face?

"I don't remember," he said.

Was he surprised a penalty wasn't called after Norman, early in the game, literally picked him up and carried him several yards?

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"I don't remember," he said.

Are you saying you don't remember because you still have an adrenaline rush going?

"Yes, I don't remember," he said.

So, there's that.

Part of the problem is that the Giants have enabled his bratty behavior. His talent has served as a shield for it. Teammates have tried to tell Beckham to keep his emotions in check, but it hasn't worked. Still, Beckham is a grown-up man. He should be able to keep his own behavior under control.

Toward the end of the game, Beckham appeared to cry on the sideline. He was emotional. He's always emotional. That can be a great thing, but as we've seen with Beckham, it can also be a destructive thing.

It's Beckham's choice to decide. Right now, that's a risk that grows by the week for the Giants.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @mikefreemanNFL.