Odell Beckham Jr.'s postgame rant about what he considered poor officiating in Sunday's 24-14 loss to the Steelers was met with a surprising and counterintuitive response from Giants coach Ben McAdoo.
Rather than chide Beckham for arguing about a pass interference call that went against him and several calls Beckham said should have been made against the Steelers _ a reaction many fans might expect or even want from the coach _ McAdoo had Beckham's back on the complaints.
Good for the coach.
And about that smile Beckham flashed on the sideline after a touchdown catch by his close friend, the Steelers' Antonio Brown? McAdoo was unwilling to engage in the silly second-guessing and criticism of Beckham.
Again, good for the coach.
There have been plenty of moments this season when Beckham has acted childishly on the field and on the sideline, and I haven't hesitated to criticize him. Whether it was flinging his helmet into the kicking net and having the net hit him in the face, or getting down on one knee and proposing to the net in a "Hey, look at me" moment after a touchdown, or jawing with Josh Norman or Xavier Rhodes, the scorn for Beckham was deserved.
And while I take issue with his ill-advised suggestion to ask that the NFL no longer assign referee Terry McAulay and his crew to Giants games _ that's just silly and it's never going to happen _ Beckham is within his rights to question the fairness of some calls and no-calls from the Steelers game. He shouldn't have been called for interference against cornerback Ross Cockrell on a "go" route down the left sideline in the first quarter, and there were a handful of plays in the second half when Beckham was interfered with and didn't get the calls.
And the smile after Brown's touchdown. Oh, please. The two are great friends and train together in the offseason. Does Beckham really need to show fake outrage after watching his friend make a great play? Stop.
"The reaction that I saw from the TV copy to me was, 'Hey, (Brown) made his play and now let's go make ours,' " McAdoo said.
Beckham explained after the game that it was "not like I'm sitting there rooting for him against our team, oh man, tear it up. No, I don't want us to lose, but at the end of the day, I love Antonio. I love the way he plays. I love everything about him. I do admire when he does his thing. That's true."
So enough with the overreaction. Better to concentrate more on the fact that McAdoo had Beckham's back on the officiating calls. When asked if he sensed Beckham is targeted more by officials, McAdoo said he "thought there were a few times (Sunday) that he may have been interfered with, but that is part of the process. We are going to send it into New York and to the officials and let them take a look at it and get some feedback from it and some clarification."
McAdoo has made no secret of his distaste for some of Beckham's theatrics earlier in the season, and properly called him out when his fits of temper led to penalties. But stars sometimes need to be treated differently than other players, and in this case, McAdoo's coming to Beckham's defense makes sense and is a meaningful show of support that the receiver ought to appreciate.
While McAdoo expressed sympathy with Beckham's plight, quarterback Eli Manning had a different take on the situation. He suggested during his Monday appearance on WFAN that Beckham "has to be careful of that. With officials, you want to kill them with kindness. ... He's got to learn how to warm up to those guys so he can get some calls."
That's sound advice, and Beckham can do himself some favors by dialing back his emotions where possible. But there's nothing wrong with being like a basketball coach who argues about a foul in the first quarter to get the right call in the fourth. And you never saw Tom Coughlin or Bill Parcells trying to kill the officials with kindness, and things turned out pretty well for those guys.
At least Beckham has stated his case, and his coach stands by that frustration. Nothing wrong with that.
