EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Odell Beckham Jr. had a scarlet welt growing between his right eye and ear, the apparent result of his lost sideline fight with a kicking net. It resembled a boxers mouse, actually, making it a good time to give the New York Giants receiver a history lesson in the bittersweet science.Just because Jake LaMotta fought Sugar Ray Robinson six times doesnt mean the two belonged in the same ring. In other words, Josh Norman is a very good football player. But Josh Norman also has no chance to ever be as good a football player as Odell Beckham Jr.On Sunday afternoon in MetLife Stadium, Norman honored his chief responsibility by keeping his opponent out of the end zone and helping the?Washington Redskins?to a desperately needed 29-27 victory. Of course, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Beckham was so wide open that he could have moonwalked into the end zone for a 75-yard score had Eli Manning?only seen him on the left side with his arm up, signaling for the ball.Manning instead threw to Sterling Shepard, and Norman ended up committing a personal foul on the play, the only unsportsmanlike penalty called between the cornerback and receiver who combined for five last season in their Giants-Panthers steel-cage match. Beckhams most flagrant offense on this day came when he responded to a brutal Manning interception by angrily swinging his helmet into that kicking net, which punched back by hitting Beckhams face with its crossbar.I dont remember, Beckham said when asked how he got the resulting scratch.He didnt remember a lot of things as he addressed reporters at his locker, including his sideline tantrum, whether he indeed started crying during the tantrum, and whether he felt Norman deserved to be flagged when the Giants scored their first touchdown on Shane Vereens 1-yard run in the opening quarter. On that play, Beckham leaped deceptively as if going for a jump ball, inspiring a confused Norman to grab him in the air, carry him six steps and then drop him gently to the ground in front of an official, while raising his arms in I-didnt-do-anything form.The only meaningful thing Beckham claimed to remember was the warning officials gave him before the game.Yeah, they implemented a new rule this year, he said. Its basically the Odell Beckham Jr. rule. I had three personal fouls last year so ... today they came up before the game and said, If you do anything, were throwing you out of the game. And that was before the game. There was no, You get a warning. There was no any of that.So youve just got to be on your best behavior. Unfortunately, thats what its come to. Its not really football anymore as much as it is all the other things that play into it.But heres the one thing above all that Beckham needs to take away from this rematch with Norman: He cant ever look at these Giants-Redskins games to come as anything outside the norm of a divisional duel that could make or break a teams season. In 2007, the 0-2 Giants made a late and improbable goal-line stand at Washington to salvage their season and ultimately win the Super Bowl. Could the 2016 Redskins use Sua Cravens late and improbable interception of Manning to turn an 0-2 start into a season to remember? Hey, crazier NFL things have happened.So Beckham has to rise above the Norman rivalry for those team-centric reasons -- and for the simple fact that Norman isnt his caliber of athlete. At age 23, Beckham is already the most explosive offensive player the Giants have dressed in more than 90 years of competition. He has the talent to supplant Antonio Brown as the leagues top receiver and to join Jerry Rice and Randy Moss among the all-time greats.With 107 of his 121 receiving yards on Sunday coming at Normans expense, Beckham cleared 3,000 career receiving yards in his 30th game, something no receiver dead or alive had accomplished. He also reached 200 career receptions faster than anyone before him. Though he didnt score against Washington, Beckham is averaging .833 touchdowns per game; Rice averaged .660 and Moss .712 across the regular season and postseason. Meanwhile, Norman doesnt rate the same way historically. He has seven interceptions in 61 regular-season and postseason games, an average of one per 8.57 games. Darrelle Revis, the cornerback he replaced as the NFLs best, has averaged an interception every 4.42 regular-season and postseason games, and Deion Sanders, the presumed best corner ever, averaged a pick every 3.45 games.This is why Beckham was quoted in GQ over the summer as saying that Norman made a smart business move in taking the $75 million deal with Washington and booking twice-a-year matchups with the Giants. Beckham said he had made his own mistakes in bringing people to your level who dont deserve to be there. Theyre trying to bite off your so-called fame, make a name off you. Though Norman deserves more credit than that -- he was essentially fired by Carolina -- it is true that the corner has a lot more to gain from the continuation of this feud than the receiver who lost his cool near the bench this time, and not on the field.Giants rookie coach Ben McAdoo tried talking to his ranting (and crying?) receiver, and so did Manning.I was trying to figure out what was going on, why he was getting frustrated, the quarterback said. He was getting catches. He was making plays and we just need everybody to stay calm. We dont need to get rattled. We dont need to get fired up. You can get excited, celebrate with your teammates. But we just need to do a better job offensively, everybody, to stay calm and stay in our rhythm.For Manning, this is about as close to a public rebuke of a teammate as hell get. He watched Beckham slam his helmet into the ground after a loss to San Francisco two years ago, and he watched him melt down against Normans Panthers last season, a performance that did nothing to help former Giants coach Tom Coughlin keep his job. ESPN confirmed a report that Beckham was fined $36,000 for delivering a blind crackback block last week on the Saints Kenny Vaccaro.Clearly, Beckham is struggling to funnel his passion into positive thoughts and actions.If I was you, you, you, you, any of you, he said to reporters, and were playing pinball and your score is 36,000, I want 36,001. It doesnt matter who it is. I love to compete and I hate losing.Today, I think we did a great job in making it a lot about football, even though there were a lot of outside implications that went on that predetermined the matchup before it happened -- instead of letting us play football, which weve been doing all of our lives.Given the officials pregame lecture, Beckham said he was surprised he wasnt ejected when called for offensive pass interference on his teams final drive. As it turned out, after Beckham started making one-handed catches and sideline spin moves and stiff-arms that left Norman in his dust earlier in the fourth quarter, center Weston Richburg was the one Giant to get tossed for taunting, a foolish breakdown that did no favors for the line.Norman said the officials had also warned him not to make a mockery of the game, and despite his personal foul, he heeded those words. He met with the Giants receiver on the field afterward in a mutual (if temporary) show of respect.Were just two fierce competitors, thats all it is, Beckham said. We love football. We feel like this has turned into something that is not football.Truth is, Norman and Beckham are more responsible than the media for starting and extending this sideshow, and its on Beckham to stop it. Hes five years younger than Norman, more gifted than Norman and headed places Normans never going to reach.As he left the building Sunday evening wearing headphones and his boxers welt, Beckham should have remembered that a beautiful fighter never lets a lesser man trap him against the ropes. Cheap Paul George Shoes . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. Paul George Shoes Free Shipping . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. https://www.cheappaulgeorgeshoes.com/ . The Croatian served 21 aces and hit 42 winners against Sijsling, who double-faulted to give Cilic a 4-3 lead in the deciding set. "All the players, they know me and they were really happy to see me and they were really happy that this is over for me," Cilic said. Paul George Shoes Outlet . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. Paul George Shoes Deals .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore.South Africas Charl Schwartzel has joined compatriot Louis Oosthuizen in deciding to skip this years Olympics. Just days after Oosthuizen added his name to a lengthening list of golfers who have opted to give the Rio de Janeiro games a miss, world No 20 Schwartzel has followed suit.South African legend Gary Player, who will captain his countrys golfers at the Olympics, where golf is returning after a 112-year absence, revealed Schwartzels decision in a statement. I am sad and disappointed that several top players have withdrawn from the Olympic Games in Rio, he said. I was sorry to hear that Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel have withdrawn their names from consideration.I would have given anything to play in the Olympics. South Africa had a great team, but now obviously, it will not be as good. Gary Player is team captain for his country in Brazil this summer Oosthuizen confirmed his decision to skip Rio last week, saying he had pulled out after family and schedule issues.ddddddddddddellow major-winner Adam Scott of Australia also pulled out last week, citing an extremely busy playing schedule around the time of the Olympics.Scotts decision was greeted with a chorus of disapproval in his homeland, with Australian swimming great Dawn Fraser leading the catcalls. Well done, Adam, great to put your country on hold so that you can fulfil your own schedule, Fraser said.Player meanwhile said modern players should give back to golf by playing in the Olympics. Players today make so much and should be giving back, he said. The Olympics is one way they can do that since there is no prize money. Golf is one of the most popular sports in the world and our best players should be showcased on the biggest stage in sports.rcw/bc Also See: Garner: Im born to race Rio boost for Daley in Kazan Two killed in Rio accident McGinley annoyed by Rio snubs ' ' '