Michael Mitchell: Archive

This is why democracy doesn't work. Millions of people watched the New York Giants play the Carolina Panthers a few days ago and nearly every one of them judged wrongly the aggressor (and victor) of the physical battle between Giants' wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and Panthers' cornerback Josh Norman.

Both players took it too far, so far they were actually fighting each other during and after several plays, but Norman took it too far first. Anyone watching the game could see this, not just experts. A couple of other Panthers players managed to get a few shots in on Beckham even before Norman had the chance to guard him.

The first play they made contact on was a running play, which means it was Beckham's assignment to block Norman. In other words, Beckham was supposed to hit him and keep him occupied until the play was over. Beckham shoved Norman with his left hand on Norman's body and his right in Norman's face. It's illegal to block like that but most players do it if they think they can get away with it, especially players like Norman who are experts at getting in their opponent's head. Norman didn't like it, so he body slammed Beckham after the play. He crossed the line between football and fighting first.

Norman lost his cool, not Beckham. Norman went ballistic, not Beckham. The fact that Beckham returned the favor on the very next play, body slamming Norman to the turf harder than Norman had body slammed him, is on Norman, not Beckham. Norman initiated the fight, and then, by going further than Norman was willing to go, Beckham finished it.

This is the only way to defeat a bully, a violent aggressor, like Norman. Beckham defeated him multiple times in the same game. Beckham was so successful Norman was still crying about it the next day. Eli Manning even called him out on it!

Beckham didn't act the way he acted because he dropped a big pass, as Troy Aikman implied during the game. He didn't do it because his manhood was challenged, as Ray Lewis said. He didn't do it consistently, the whole game, because the Panthers insulted him with gay slurs before the game, as Michael Irving said. He didn't even do it because, as Chris Carter said, the Panthers threatened to end his career. He did it all in self-defense.

Beckham did what he had to do to survive that game, and several Panthers players forced him into it, not just Norman. Every article I read the next day mentioned Beckham's three penalties for unsportsmanlike behavior. Almost no one mentioned Norman had two himself and no one at all defined the full context and included the one Cortland Finnegan earned by fighting with Beckham after the whistle. It was Beckham versus the Panthers and Beckham fought back harder. The Panthers picked the wrong player to bully.

And if you don't believe they were trying to intimidate him, look no further than the press coverage after the game, when they were still doing it. Norman called him a "bitch" and a "ballerina" and Finnegan said Beckham's issues on the field must have been "female-related." These comments have nothing to do with football, but they are proof that Beckham won the battle that day, otherwise Panthers players wouldn't still be fighting after it was over. Beckham left it on the field, all of it. Norman and Finnegan -- the players who guarded him the most -- didn't, and they're afraid everyone knows it.

As for the helmet-to-helmet hit everyone went ballistic over, I don't think it was "head hunting" as Norman whined or even as malicious as it looked. Regardless, it was illegal, according to NFL rules, so he should have been ejected and he certainly deserved the one-game suspension he received. I just think what happened in that game is bigger than the game. Beckham's hit was illegal, but it was not immoral.

Odell Beckham Jr. is not a character in a video game. He's not merely a member of a team or organization, either. He's an individual, a human being with a life and career that was threatened, not only by words but also by actions, and he did what he had to do to protect himself and his values. We should admire him for his courage. Instead, we're vilifying him as a "dirty" football player.

I'm a Patriots fan of about ten years. Before Sunday's game I thought Beckham was overrated because I watched my Super Bowl saving cornerback Malcolm Butler hold him to only two catches. Other than the first play, which was an 87-yard touchdown reception, Butler shadowed him all day. They battled and talked shit to each other the whole time, with Butler celebrating after almost every play, and Beckham never crossed the line. But now, after watching him deal with the Panthers and the violent adversity they challenged him with, not only do I think he's a great player who's obviously going to get even better, I also think he's an heroic human being. He's got a new fan.

As for everyone else, shame on you (especially Troy Aikman) for judging this man wrongly based upon your emotional reaction to a single play. If we held a vote right now I'd wager 99% of those who voted would be against Beckham's actions. It's unbelievable.

This is why we're losing the "war on terror." We make no distinction between force used to initiate conflict versus force used to end it, so we can't justify our own use of force to destroy enemies who want to destroy us. And it's also why our Founders wisely gave us a constitutional republic form of government instead of an unlimited majority rule democracy. Popular opinion can be wrong.