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Panthers head coach says the team won't bring baseball bats onto the field anymore because the NFL is 'the No Fun League for a reason'

Dec 23, 2015, 01:07 IST

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The Carolina Panthers are ending their practice of bringing baseball bats onto the field, according to head coach Ron Rivera.

While speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Rivera said the Panthers will end the practice, following a report that said Panthers players threatened Odell Beckham Jr. with the bat while calling him homophobic slurs before the Week 15 game.

The Panthers have denied ever threatening or using slurs against Beckham, claiming they've been bringing a bat onto the field all season as part of a motivational tactic. Rivera doesn't sound thrilled with ending the practice:

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Since the report, numerous photos and videos have shown Panthers players holding the bat, with one video showing a Panthers player confronting Beckham while holding the bat.
Twitter/NYGDaily

However, photos throughout the season also show Panthers players bringing the bat onto the field - a practice that teams at all levels have used before the Panthers. Panthers cornerback Bene Benwikere tweeted this photo when the report came out:The Giants alleged that the pregame threats and trash-talk got to Beckham's head, leading to an out-of-control performance that saw him commit a dirty head-to-head hit to cornerback Josh Norman. Beckham was suspended one game for the hit, but is appealing the suspension.

Rivera also said that he talked to Marcus Ball, a practice squad player who was carrying the bat, about the incident, but Ball said he never directed any slurs to Beckham. Rivera did say if other actions took place, he wanted to know about them because that behavior wouldn't be tolerated.

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