New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. landed at number 8 on the Top 100 NFL Players list and some people are already giving him icon status.
Michael McDonald and Keisha Wilson, hosts, of What’s The 411Sports, are pondering the question, has Odell Beckham Jr. reached icon status?
According to Mike McDonald, not yet.
“Certainly he has a long way to go. He’s got the talent to be a Hall of Fame wide receiver. He’ got the game-changing ability. He’s not on Julio Jones, Antonio Brown’s level yet, but he’ll probably get there because he's younger than those guys, and he hasn’t had as many opportunities to play in the playoffs. But, with the NFL, for me, the guys who are the icons are the quarterbacks, those are the guys that have to lead their team. But, there's no question that Odell Beckham Jr. despite all the controversy which is mild controversy, it’s not like this guy is out there getting into fights, doing anything illegal or anything like that. All the controversy that surrounds him, it's all small stuff. It's like you shouldn't have gone to Miami to go party. It's not like it's major things. But he has certainly no question about it, the opportunity in front of him to be one of the most famous athletes in the world,” responded Mike McDonald.
“A lot of that has to do with the fact that he plays in New York, a lot of it has to do with the fact that he plays in this major market and a lot of it has to do with the personality that he has. People always point to the hair. It's not just the hair it's the fact that he is one of the few players in the NFL where at any given moment in the game he just has that breakaway speed where he can just pull away and just have a game game-changing touchdown. I think he absolutely has an opportunity, but to make a name for himself and be one of the greatest to ever play at his position, but icon status he has a long way to go until he gets to that point,” Mike continued.
Keisha Wilson is threading the needle on Odell Beckham and icon status a little differently.
“I think at this point he's had iconic moments. I think we all remember the catch and I think that catch against Dallas Cowboys will always be in the running for one of the best catches ever. So, there are other times when he has had iconic moments but like you said he has a long way to go and hopefully he will be injury-free to allow him to have a long career to cement his status as being an icon. He's got out of this world talent and I think we're still are scratching the surface. I think there's still more to come and it just going to get better and better, Keisha added.
He's definitely, while not an icon, he's definitely I think he's one of the faces of the NFL and I think that he has transcended football and I think you know he's becoming worldwide a phenomenon. He's very active on social media. I think he’s great at marketing himself. He went over to Germany and he had a picture, he had his phone, and he was on top of a car and there was a mass of people. As far as I know, the NFL doesn't have a big football presence in Germany, but they loved him. They knew him, they were shouting his name and so everywhere he goes, he has this magnetic personality. It's the hair, it’s the smile, it’s the outfit, it’s who he is, and that's bigger than NFL. I think even if he doesn't become an NFL icon, I think he'll be one of the biggest personalities that the game has seen in a long time, if ever.”
Cincinnati Bengal linebacker Vontaze Burfict will be suspended without pay for the first 3 games of the 2016 season.
The suspension comes on the heels of the AFC Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers where he delivered a hit on Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown knocking him out of the game and the next round of playoffs.
This isn’t the first time that Burfict has found himself on the wrong side of the NFL rulebook. Burfict was fined four times for violations in 2015.
Burfict has the right to appeal the decision.