The Carolina Panthers are vehemently denying that they ever threatened Odell Beckham Jr. with a baseball bat

Odell Beckham Jr. temporarily lost his mind in the New York Giants Week 15 loss to the Carolina Panthers.

On top of a bevy of fouls and drops, Beckham crossed the line when he appeared to initiate a head-to-head hit with Panthers cornerback Josh Norman.

Now, a recent report says Beckham may have been acting out of self-defense after the Panthers carried baseball bats on the sidelines as a means of intimidating Beckham before the game. 

The Giants, who didn't appear to mention any of this after the game on Sunday, have now doubled down on this report, saying that Beckham was physically threatened and called homophobic slurs before the game.

The Panthers, however, are holding firm that this never happened.

First, Panthers cornerback Bene Benwikere said that the Panthers always carry baseball bats before the game, and that it wasn't meant to threaten Beckham.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that this is part of a Panthers pregame ritual, meant to motivate the team:The Panthers' organization is also denying that anyone ever threatened Beckham:According to La Canfora, Drummond added that the bat is a "diversionary" tactic, and that it clearly worked.However, NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reported that Marcus Ball, a Panthers practice squad player, was holding a bat before the game, and that he and Beckham would eventually have to be separated.As many have pointed out on Twitter, carrying a bat has been used by teams at all levels of football, years before the Panthers started doing it this year.None of this, of course, excuses the actions of Beckham, who the NFL just announced has been suspended for one game. Reports say he will appeal the suspension.Beckham and the Giants haven't yet responded to the report, but it appears Batgate has taken over the NFL.

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