Regardless of Circumstances, Odell Beckham Jr. Deserves His Suspension

New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. might have had good reason to be furious with Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman during their matchup Sunday.

The presumed All-Pro corner was taking shots at the star wideout from the get-go and was flagged for being unnecessarily rough in the third quarter. What's more, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported Monday that the Giants believe Beckham was physically threatened with a baseball bat and was taunted with homophobic slurs prior to the game.

ESPN's Adam Schefter issued a similar report, noting that Norman specifically is alleged to have swung a bat during warm-ups, while NFL Network's Deion Sanders told the Rich Eisen Show that Norman warned Beckham he'd "end his career."

Norman may in fact deserve to be disciplined for his behavior at MetLife Stadium. And while the Panthers have denied anything nefarious took place during pregame warm-ups, the NFL should thoroughly investigate by examining all of the footage available from that time period. Interviews should be conducted, and an exhaustive probe should be carried out.

And none of that should have any impact on the punishment levied against Beckham. On Monday, he was suspended one game "for multiple violations of safety-related playing rules," according to NFL.com's Marc Sessler.

Specifically, Beckham was flagged three separate times for unnecessary roughness. On another occasion, he dodged a penalty despite slugging Panthers cornerback Cortland Finnegan in the helmet. And most egregiously, he took about a 10-yard running start before striking Norman with a head shot at the conclusion of a third-quarter running play.

It's easy to understand why Beckham was so frenetic, especially if the reports regarding threats and slurs are accurate. But we don't live in an eye-for-an-eye society, and football isn't an eye-for-an-eye game.

If Beckham felt threatened or aggrieved, he could have reported that to his team as well as the game's officials. At the very least, that might have resulted in him gaining favor with referee Terry McAulay's crew, which could have prevented all of this from happening.

But by instead taking matters into his own hands and emotionally lashing out, Beckham cost his team dearly while putting fellow players in danger. It was reckless and irresponsible, and none of the supposed circumstances can erase that.

"At numerous times during yesterday's game against the Carolina Panthers," NFL vice president of football operations Merton Hanks wrote in a letter to Beckham released by the league, "your actions placed a fellow player at unnecessary risk, reflected poorly on both yourself and the National Football League, and clearly did not represent the high standards of sportsmanship expected of an NFL player."

Even if Beckham was threatened with a bat and berated with slurs, he still has to be penalized for his rogue and dangerous reaction. He ignored protocol and endangered his NFL kin, crossing a line that should never be breached.

We could spend hours debating whether Norman deserved to be roughed up—an argument that is merely theoretical since we lack proof that Norman or his teammates acted in an untoward manner prior to the game. But this is a structured league within a structured society. Beckham took football law into his own hands, and for that he'll have to pay.

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon