Did Lil Wayne Have A Role In Odell Beckham Jr’s Controversy

The 1–4 Giants take on the 2–3 Eagles tonight, giving us our first look at how New York will rebound from the Odell Beckham Jr.-related controversy that began Sunday morning. And I’ve got to say, I really don’t think the NFL media or fans have truly appreciated both the absurdity and hilarity of Lil Wayne’s role in this controversy.

The Giants had some fun with it earlier this week when the team blared a Wayne song during practice, and our video team at SI Now played around with it on Wednesday, but it seems not enough people have truly laughed about this entire episode. As a friend pointed out this week, NBA Twitter would have a field day, creating all kinds of memes. Instead, an NFL media that can take itself too seriously at times (yes, I’m raising my hand here, too) is taking itself too seriously now.

Tuesday morning, Lil Wayne released a six-minute-long video where he did some magnificent story telling. He welcomes the viewer by saying good morning (very important); recaps what those opposed to him, his music or his role beside Beckham have been saying; and launches into his own defense point-by-point. He’s backlit solely by a red neon sign, and though he’s holding something in his hand that is emitting smoke, not once does he take a puff from it during the video.

“You probably need to [listen to more Lil Wayne music] the way you’ve been playing. You probably need to bang some Carter V before a game. Just sayin’. Just take it into consideration.”

Any photo from tonight’s game showing headphones in Eli Manning’s ears should be meme’d in some way related to Tha Carter V.

“I got an uncle that was doing time that remembers seeing [the Manning family] at five in the morning every other morning on the schoolyard way before the students got there practicing.”

I don’t know how many correctional institutions in the New Orleans area are so close to a school that one could see multiple members of the Manning family nearby, but I’m not one to question Lil Wayne or his family members.

“I know a little bit about New York. I spent a little time on an island out there called Rikers Island.”

I mean… come on. You would belly-laugh if a comic said this at a stand-up show you paid for.

The Giants are 0–1 since the interview aired, losing on Sunday after Graham Gano kicked a 63-yard field goal as time expired. The Lil Wayne interview could either be the Boat Trip from the 2016 season or—as Beckham has noted—it could galvanize the locker room and turn the season around. Either way, we need to appreciate sports being a diversion here and hope that the MetLife Stadium DJ plays only Lil Wayne during pregame warmups.