Maybe BatGate isn’t a Gate at all. For Ron Rivera, it won't happen again.
The head coach of the undefeated Carolina Panthers declared Tuesday that his team wouldn’t be carrying a baseball bat into pregame anymore, in response to allegations that surfaced that such a prop was part of the taunting that sent Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. into a bizarre 60-minute Sunday afternoon rage.
Rivera went on to insist that his players didn’t taunt Beckham at all, stressing that the Panthers never hurled homophobic slurs at the receiver during warmups. He called the entire story that leaked Monday “someone’s attempt at spin control,” and added that he was “a little disappointed” at a day’s worth of assumptions.