New York Giants: We don’t want players to feel too free to be themselves

Are the Giants not allowing Odell Beckham to feel comfortable in his own skin?

Now that the New York Giants were able to walk away with a win the other day, it’s time to think about the issues that fans are concerned about related to Odell Beckham.

As last weekend’s 27-23 victory shows, Beckham is likely able to help the Giants win games they otherwise would lose. Yet, he is the target of the blame by coaches, staff, players and media.

It seems that there is an unofficial policy that states: “Odell, we want you to have fun in the NFL each season. But taking your helmet off after scoring a touchdown is starting to negatively affect the team. Enough of the dancing and leaping. It’s starting to get really annoying for everyone.”

The Giants need to allow players to be themselves, though, because that is a right that ever Americans have after all. You can vote, own a gun and march around the sidewalk protesting Donald Trump.

Yes, Odell sometimes may go too far. You might not want to see your wideouts cause your team to be penalized for excessive celebration when the team is almost about to blow the game.

Still, Beckham has the right to do whatever the heck he wants in the end zone because, he, like all of us, have a right to be exuberant when single-handedly coming back from behind and saving what many are calling  “more of the same” and another mediocre season.

Since last season’s debut, there are many schools of thought about Beckham this season. There was the Coughlin school which treated Beckham’s “antics” as bad as constantly interrupting one’s boss at work. Or worse.

Another school of thought of McAdoo is to say: “This is not something I am proud to see each week. Please, setup it.”  In a teleconference published on the official website, McAdoo will commonly throw the textbook at Beckham expecting different results every time.

"Q: Reaction to Odell penalty for taking his helmet off?A: He came up to me right after. We had a discussion about it. Can’t have it. He knows that. He went out and wanted to fire up the kickoff coverage and the defense. He knows we can’t have it."

Then there are fans that are excited to see the Giants celebrate in a bonkers way. Part of what makes it so entertaining to watch Beckham is that he does whatever one would want to do if he or she were in Beckham’s shoes.  It shows life and gives fans something to look forward to every week.

Eli Manning had flip-flopped on the issue and falls somewhere between McAdoo and public opinion. The New York Daily News published on October 19, 2016 Eli’s two cents.

"“No, I’m not tired of it,” he said of Beckham’s antics. “I thought ya’ll might get tired of it. That was my comment. Talking about you. I’m fine with it.“He’s doing a lot of good things. He’s playing the game the right way.“I want him to play well, I want him to make plays, I want him to have celebrations and dances, and I’m fine with that,” he added."

As far as Eli is concerned, as long as Beckham is able to run past the Rams secondary on Sunday, he doesn’t give the penalties and fines that have accrued much thought.

Here is a test for Beckham and the Giants: as long as Beckham can make contributions on offense, stay out of trouble near the line of scrimmage and not be the center of attention when he’s off the field, let Beckham be himself.  Would fans really want things to be the other way, where Beckham is benched after he causes the team to lose yardage after a touchdown? It’s hard to think so.

If you can run a slant route against a top ranked Ravens defense in the final minutes of a football game, as long as you are not stomping on an opponent’s leg or committing some other crime, you should be left alone to be yourself.