In how many ways can Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham, Jr. mirror each other over the course of a single year? While Brown was the one to instigate his, both were traded in 2019. Both subsequently were unhappy with the teams with whom they were traded in one form or another. Both had their worst seasons in a while. Both have now drawn the ire of the police within the past week.
And Beckham’s appears to have a bit more at issue behind it. While Brown literally filmed himself angrily jarring with police officers called to his home in a profanity-laced tirade, Beckham was captured on video slapping one on the butt in a clearly inappropriate manner.
This incident occurred following LSU’s championship win. Beckham, an alumnus, was everpresent at the event, including literally handing out $100 bills to players after the game following the win. He also had to be escorted out of the band section before clearly growing overly boisterous celebrating with the team in the locker room.
An officer working at the Superdome as a stadium security personnel was in the locker room advising players that they must put out their cigars, which was against the building policy, when Beckham came up from behind him with the inappropriate butt-slapping.
It’s about as dumb a thing you could decide to do in that situation, and frankly I can’t help but wonder if he was drunk at the time, especially in relation with the rest of his behavior. He appeared to be delirious with excitement over the win and straight up didn’t know how to act anymore.
And now the New Orleans police have issued a warrant for his arrest for simple battery. Following all of this, some have already begun to speculate whether or not LSU will have no choice but to disassociate themselves from one of their most high-profile alumni. While I’m totally on board with the concept of handing out money to players, it’s unfortunately something you simply cannot do because of the NCAA’s corrupt practices propping up an outdated conception of the ‘student-athlete’.
“We are aware of the incident and have been in touch with Odell and his representatives on the matter”, the Cleveland Browns said of the incident in a statement. “They are cooperating with the proper authorities to appropriately address the situation”.
The head coach and general manager who were in the building when Beckham was traded for are gone. There were already those who believed they might try to move him this offseason. After this latest nonsense, does that increase the likelihood that they explore the market and see what they might be able to get for him? They gave up first- and third-round picks and a starting safety for him less than a year ago.
