New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. went up to make a catch and from behind him, a safety dove into his knee.

In no universe could that be considered safe, and plenty of people will say Cleveland Browns safety Briean Boddy-Calhoun‘s hit was dirty. It was legal, because there’s no rule against the type of hit Boddy-Calhoun put on Beckham, but there was an immediate debate on whether it was cheap or not. Luckily for the Giants, Beckham seemed to be OK, as he was walking around on the sideline in the second half.

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While Beckham was off in the locker room area in pain, reporters at the game said Giants safety Landon Collins had some words with Boddy-Calhoun over the hit. He didn’t back down after the game.

“He could have made a play on the ball, he could have hit him high. He chose a different route,” Collins said, according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “I can’t respect him.”

Somewhat surprisingly, Giants coach Ben McAdoo said he had no problem with it.

“It’s football” Ben McAdoo said. “You can’t hit a guy high. You can’t hit a guy low. You try to hit him in the middle … it’s a tough play for a DB.”

Collins wasn’t the only one who thought it was a cheap shot. Detroit Lions tight end Eric Ebron questioned the hit:

Former Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chad Johnson tweeted, “That was dirty big bruh you know that, those low hits to the knee end careers.” Former Houston Texans running back Arian Foster thought it was dirty:

And Los Angeles Rams receiver Sammy Watkins wanted to see that type of hit banned:

The counterargument is that Boddy-Calhoun didn’t have much choice, as McAdoo alluded to. He was lunging at one of the best receivers in the NFL as he made a catch, and at some point his only option was to hit Beckham low or not hit him at all.

The good news is that it appears Beckham wasn’t seriously injured. Whether the hit was clean or not, it was clearly dangerous.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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