Odell Beckham Jr. fined $12,154 for criticizing officials

Odell Beckham Jr. unloaded on Terry McAulay’s officiating crew last Sunday after the New York Giants were defeated by the Pittsburgh Steelers. On Friday, the NFL made sure Beckham would unload a little from his wallet. He’ll be $12,154 lighter this holiday shopping season for what the league deemed verbal abuse/excessive profanity toward a game official.

Beckham believes he’s been treated unfairly by officials this season and it’s worth noting that the crew who worked the Steelers game is the same crew who worked Beckham’s grudge match against Josh Norman last season, when the Giants played the Carolina Panthers. OBJ doubled-down on his criticism earlier this week.

“Everyone knows what’s going on on the field. Everyone can see it. Stevie Wonder can see it. It just is what it is. You can’t do anything about it. ...Nothing is going to change. No calls are going to be made because of what I say now. You just have to keep playing. ... There’s really no point in talking about it. Nothing is going to change. You’re sitting there wasting breath.”

Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Beckham and the Giants need all of their focus to be on the 11-1 Dallas Cowboys this week as they fight for one of two NFC wild card spots. The Giants face a tough four-game stretch and won’t have Jason Pierre-Paul for the rest of the season. It will be interesting to see how officials handle OBJ going forward, starting with Dallas’ physical secondary.