Jamie Horowitz’s vision for FS1 has come to fruition. And that’s not a compliment.
A day after Ray Lewis made headlines by saying on FS1’s afternoon programming, well, something about Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr., Lewis appeared on one of the FS1 morning shows to say more of the same about Beckham.
On Undisputed, Lewis filibustered for more than six minutes about his efforts to mentor a wide swath of misguided young people. Maybe 20 seconds of nearly 400 referred to Beckham, with the message being simply that Lewis is hurt. Yes, he’s hurt. He’s hurt because Beckham isn’t willing to listen to everything Lewis has to say, and to do whatever Lewis may be telling him to do.
Watch the clip (after all, that’s what they want). And then try to make sense of it. I’ll bet you can’t.
It only makes sense if this is the premise: It’s all about Ray. And Ray continues to be hurt because, apparently, Beckham won’t let Ray make Beckham’s story about Ray, by moving into Ray’s basement for six months or doing whatever Ray thinks Beckham needs to do to undisrupt his foundation, a foundation that Beckham claims is fine.
Before Ray’s monologue, daywalking Nosferatu Skip Bayless threw together an entire word salad bar aimed at linking Beckham to Johnny Manziel. Maybe others know more about Beckham than we do, but there’s a huge difference between Beckham and Manziel, starting with the fact that Manziel has been arrested for domestic violence and has dealt with addiction issues that resulted more than three years ago in more than 10 weeks in rehab, and more than two years ago a public plea from his father that Manziel’s life hangs in the balance. Then there’s the fact that Manziel never did much of anything in the NFL, and Beckham has performed consistently at a very high level, until the moment his leg snapped last season.
But, hey, it’s good for business to generally vilify Beckham without evidence, and to keep painting him blindly with a broad brush of shame that he doesn’t deserve. Because debate must be embraced even when there’s nothing to really debate, other than the question of why in the hell is there even a debate?
As FOX deepens its relationship with the NFL, demonizing one of its stars with absolutely no proof that he has sprouted a pair of horns seems odd, gratuitous, and counterproductive. But, hey, keep watching FS1 to see whatever nonsense Ray Lewis or anyone else will be spewing about a kid who’s simply trying to get paid without taking any further physical risks, and who has the audacity to periodically enjoy the celebrity that comes from being one of the best players in pro football.