Odell Beckham Jr.’s recent diva-like behavior is a reminder that the NFL was once rife with the likes of Terrell Owens, Chad Ochocinco, Keyshawn Johnson and Randy Moss, a group whose attention-starved antics and combustible personalities often eclipsed the brilliance of their on-the-field performances.
Owens taking a Sharpie out of his sock to autograph the football and hand it to his financial advisor after scoring a touchdown on Monday Night Football. Owens doing sit-ups in his driveway as he held a press conference to criticize the Eagles and Donovan McNabb while working his way toward a release from the organization. Owens’ publicist saying TO had not in fact tried to commit suicide by overdosing on pills, as he had 25 million reasons (in dollars) to live.
Chad Johnson changing his surname to Ochocino in honor of his uniform number, 8-0. Johnson on the sideline wearing a yellow blazer with the words “Future H.O.F. 20??” on the back.
And so on and so forth.
Some of these antics were bold, entertaining and inspired (like Owens whipping out the Sharpie). A lot of them were loutish and worthy of disdain (like Moss squirting a water bottle at an official).
The era of the diva wide receiver had its moment, but ultimately gave way to the likes of Calvin Johnson and now Julio Jones -- players who mostly let their actions do the squawking. Jones doesn’t lose his cool and try to decapitate Josh Norman. He doesn’t get flagged for multiple unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that severely harm his team’s fortunes. He doesn’t cry on the sidelines and he doesn’t try to throw uppercuts to kicking nets. He doesn’t mug in pregame warmups by constantly displaying his God-given ability to make one-handed catches.
Jones doesn’t tick off his mild-mannered quarterback or have coaches telling the media that his antics might get him benched or even suspended by the team. He doesn’t need a talking to by his general manager in the locker room following another outburst. And he doesn’t whine that he’s not having fun anymore.
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Beckham does all that. What Beckham doesn’t do is what Jones has done this year -- score touchdowns, amass 300 yards receiving in a single game and be a leader on a winning team. I know that Beckham really wants to do those things, which partly explains why he was tearing up on the sidelines. But he needs to wise up quick or he’ll become like those aforementioned divas of yore -- who were all traded at the heights of their career, sometimes several times.
Talent only takes you so far. Temperament decides the rest. Beckham can say the right things and apologize, claim that he wants to be a role model to children, etc. But he needs to walk it.
It’s safe to say that Beckham is probably the most important player in this matchup with the Packers. The game will be nationally televised on NBC on Sunday night. All eyes are going to be on him. So that takes care of the first segment of Probable, Questionable, Doubtful and Out. Let’s look at the rest.
Questionable Player of the Game: Olivier Vernon.
The high-priced free agent signee has played extremely well through his first four games, ranking fifth among edge defenders according to Pro Football Focus. That productivity has yet to produce a sack, turnover or highlight reel play, and now Vernon is dealing with a wrist injury. Getting past left tackle David Bakhtiari (eighth among offensive tackles according to PFF) to make plays on Aaron Rodgers or Eddie Lacy is hard enough with two good mitts.
Doubtful Player of the Game: Ereck Flowers.
Believe it or not, Flowers is just a few slots behind Bakhtiari among all tackles, ranked 10th according to PFF — this despite leading all tackles in penalties this year with five. Flowers is gonna to be seeing a lot of Clay Matthews, who --despite his amusing new turn in the State Farm commercials -- is having a terrible season (91st among defensive ends). If he’s gonna hold Matthews, hopefully he gets a big handful of the dude’s long, flowing hair, if only to remind people that it’s stupid to give football players something to grab that’s attached to your head.
Out Player of the Game: Rashad Jennings.
According to the latest reports, Jennings’ thumb is feeling better and he has a decent chance to play. Please don’t. Tell the coaches you think the team’s best chance of maintaining a consistent ground game is to run the ball with Orleans Darkwa. If you can’t do that, can you please tell the team’s offensive architects to throw the ball down the freaking field? We don’t need to see anymore crying from Beckham.
