NEW YORK — New York Giants star receiver Odell Beckham was suspended for one game by the NFL Monday after his actions in a 38-35 loss to Carolina, including three personal fouls.
Beckham will miss next Sunday’s game at Minnesota, a pivotal contest in the Giants hopes of capturing a playoff spot by winning the NFC East division.
Beckham was whistled for a hat trick of unnecessary roughness calls in the loss to the undefeated Panthers, one of which saw him race across the field to deliver a helmet-to-helmet hit upon Carolina cornerback Josh Norman on a play in which neither was closely involved.
“Players like that don’t deserve to be in the game,” Norman said. “I mean, it’s ridiculous.”
The NFL listed the suspension as being for “multiple violations of safety-related playing rules” and NFL vice president of football operations Merton Hanks ruled Beckham put opponents at unnecessary risk of injury in a letter to the Giants receiver.
“At numerous times during Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers, your actions placed a fellow player at unnecessary risk ... and clearly did not represent the high standards of sportsmanship expected,” Hanks wrote.
Beckham, who is expected to appeal the punishment, has 91 catches for 1,396 yards and 13 touchdowns this season.
The Giants must beat the Vikings next week and Philadelphia to close the season and have Washington lose to Philadelphia and Dallas to have any chance at their first trip to the playoffs since 2011. Minnesota needs a victory to secure a playoff berth.
Woodson to retire
Raiders safety Charles Woodson will bring the curtain down on his spectacular 18-year career in the NFL at the end of the season, the 39-year-old said Monday.
Woodson, one of the best defenders ever to play the game, won the Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers in the 2010-11 season and was named to the Pro Bowl eight times.
The 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the Year spent the first eight years of his career with the Raiders before moving to Green Bay. He returned to the Raiders in 2013.
“Was it a tough decision? Kind of, but a couple of weeks ago it hit me that this would be it,” Woodson told reporters. “It was important for me to let Raider Nation know now.”
Woodson entered the NFL as a cornerback before converting to safety in the later stages of his career.
He was awarded the Heisman Trophy as the top college player while at Michigan in 1997.
Woodson is tied for the most career defensive touchdowns with 13 and is sixth on the all-time interceptions list with 65.
