New York Giants: McAdoo & Reese Respond To Another Beckham Meltdown
By Curt Macysyn
Here’s what we know. The New York Giants lost to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday by a 38-13 score. The game took place on Wild Card weekend at a frigid Lambeau Field. Odell Beckham caught four passes for 28 receiving yards. In his biggest game as a professional, he came up small. What happened afterwards is apparently up for interpretation.
Related Story: New York Giants McAdoo Ignores Green Bay Weather Forecast
There was no smoking gun, but the New York Post reported on Jan. 8, 2017 that it was more likely than not that Odell Beckham punched a hole in the wall at iconic Lambeau Field. “No one saw Beckham do it, but a Lambeau groundscrew worker heard the wall being punched and immediately came out into the hallway, where only Beckham was standing in front of the hole in the sheetrock.”
At today’s season ending press conference both general manager Jerry Reese and head coach Ben McAdoo addressed what actually occurred with Odell Beckham after the game. The transcript posted on the team’s official website went like this:
McAdoo Q&A:
Q: Did you ask him if he [Odell Beckham Jr] punched the wall?
McAdoo: There’s a hole in the wall in the locker room in Lambeau and I take full responsibility for it. That’s not the way we want to be acting after ball games.
Q: Did he hurt himself or his hand at all?
McAdoo: I answered the question.
Q: What do you think you have to accomplish with him in the off season to help improve his behavior?
McAdoo: After an emotional football game, we need to make sure we put a lot of thought and energy in how we want to carry ourselves.
Q: You don’t condone punching walls?
McAdoo: I do not condone putting holes in the wall, no.
Q: When did you become aware of that?
McAdoo: Last night or early this morning.
Q: Did you talk to him about it?
McAdoo: He and I had a conversation, there have been conversations. But again, there’s a hole in the wall at Lambeau Field, we take full responsibility, I take full responsibility. It’s no way to carry yourself after a ball game. Let’s move on.
General manager Jerry Reese was not forthcoming either, and the fact that they do not come out and admit that Beckham did it, means he is not accountable, again.
Reese Q&A:
Q: What was your feeling about the trip to Miami, and the hole in the wall?
Reese: Yeah, I don’t think that had anything to do with it. The trip to Miami – you can always point to that if you want to, and they came out and had really good practices, but had a bad game. So I don’t think that had a lot of bearings on what happened in the game last night.
Q: And the hole in the wall?
Reese: We will address that when we get all the information, and we will definitely take full responsibility for it after we get all the information on what happened.
Q: What about holding (Odell) responsible?
Reese: Well, that is what I mean. If it comes down to him being responsible then we will definitely, one thousand percent hold him responsible for that.
Q: Did he hurt his hand at all? Punching the wall?
Reese: No, again, I am not going to say anything else about the wall. I just want to let you know that if he is responsible for it, we will hold him responsible for it.
Q: Is the team holding its own investigation?
Reese: Absolutely.
Q: Did you talk to him today?
Reese: I did talk to him.
Why in the world do McAdoo and Reese take responsibility for an action of a player? Yes, you win as a team and you lose as a team, but this one falls entirely on Beckham. If the Giants want to move forward in a responsible way, they will refrain from “we” and utilize “him” instead. At this point, there really is no excuse.
We will see if the Giants release the finding of their own investigation, but don’t hold your breath. Admitting fault has been the downfall of this team and this franchise for several years now. The wall at Lambeau will get repaired, but the reputation of the New York Football Giants continues to get tarnished.