CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was upset after the altercation with Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey that resulted in a host of offsetting penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct, but not for the reasons one might think.
On the receiving end of a choke from Humphrey, Beckham Jr. was upset that he left a piece of jewelry on the field during the third quarter of the Browns’ 40-25 win over the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
“It’s hot out there. We’re just competing,” Beckham Jr. said in the locker room following the win. “I’m just upset that I lost my earring.”
On first-and-20 from the Baltimore 48-yard line with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter, quarterback Baker Mayfield completed a 19-yard pass to running back Dontrell Hilliard, but as the ball carrier headed up the field, a melee ensued between several Browns and Ravens players.
The most egregious part of the incident occurred when Beckham Jr. appeared throw a punch and Humphrey wrestled him down to the field, but the Ravens defender was far from finished. With Beckham Jr. flat against the ground, Humphrey appeared to choke him for several seconds.
It was only after wide receiver Jarvis Landry pulled Humphrey off of Beckham Jr. that the incident simmered down, but not before Mayfield confronted a couple Ravens players and more personal foul unnecessary roughness penalties were called.
Following the game, referee Shawn Hochuli addressed the incident with a pool reporter from The Baltimore Sun.
“The answer is we didn’t see anything on the field that rose to the level of a disqualifying foul,” Hochuli said after refusing to say what he did see on the play. “When New York looked at it, they didn’t see anything either that rose to the level of a disqualifying foul.”
That answer did not fly with Browns coach Freddie Kitchens, who was not going to wait to submit a tape of the incident to the league and wanted an immediate explanation from senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron of why a choke was allowed in an NFL game.
“I saw what you saw,” Kitchens said to ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio. “He was getting choked on the ground. They get away with that because it’s Odell. I’m going to be on the phone with Al when I get on the bus.”
Humphrey seemed to dismiss the seriousness of the altercation when addressing the media following the game, seemingly blaming Beckham Jr. for the entirety of the incident and “did not think” Cleveland’s receiver apologized for his actions.
“It’s not really the brand of football I want to represent,” Humphrey said. “The whistle blew. It has to be over with.
“I definitely told the refs he should’ve been ejected. It is what it is. Emotions flare.”