Beckham Jr., Landry develop plan to lead
BEREA — Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry have collaborated on a leadership plan for their first year together as Browns and even Indians manager Terry Francona might approve.
Beckham used a baseball analogy to explain how he and fellow receiver Landry, whom he met when he was 16 and played with at LSU, will try to push their teammates to work harder and take them to new heights.
“I know that they want me to go first in line,” Beckham said Wednesday. “Jarvis and I talked about, ‘I’ll lead from the back, you lead from the front.’ It’s like baseball. You’ve got the guy who’s batting ninth and people think, ‘Oh, he’s last...’ but to me, he’s really another leadoff hitter.”
Landry has been to four Pro Bowls to Beckham’s three, but has no problem with his close friend batting at the top of the order.
“Every guy leads a little bit differently,” Landry said Thursday, following the second practice of training camp. “You don’t think the leader is in the back of the line. But in most groups that are in packs the leader is in the back and he’s making sure that everybody is keeping the pace and when it’s time to go to war he steps up to the front and he is the first man out there to battle.
“It’s kinda that same mentality. You got one of us in the front, one in the back. That kind of responsibility is not something we try and hang over each other’s head. It’s something that we both embrace and know that guys look up to us in that way.”
Quarterback Baker Mayfield will share in those responsibilities, but he’s started just 13 games. Beckham and Landry, both 26, have established themselves in the league, with Beckham totaling 5,476 career receiving yards and 44 touchdowns, Landry 5,014 yards and 26 scores.
Because of the blockbuster March trade that brought in Beckham from the New York Giants, Landry knows the spotlight will be on Beckham.
“I want to win. And I think this organization is doing everything in their grasp to make sure that that happens and I’m just happy to be a part of it,” Landry said. “If people say I started or not, it’s not about that to me. To me it’s making sure that everybody in this building is doing what’s right by this organization to make sure we can win a championship.”
Beckham participated in the Browns’ mandatory minicamp, but Landry sat out with an undisclosed injury. In the wake of the trade, Beckham said the move had rocked his world. His lifelong dream of playing with Landry in the NFL didn’t become tangible until camp opened on Wednesday.
“He came into the huddle and he looks over to me and asks me, ‘Is it real for you yet?’ I’m like, ‘I can’t process it right now,’” Beckham said. “We go out there and we start making catches and I’m seeing him run routes and him making catches, and he comes back and he’s like, ‘It’s got to be real for you now.’ And I’m like, ‘I can feel it.’”
Landry had a similar moment when Beckham made two spectacular catches on the first day.
“When we stepped in the huddle, it’s like, ‘Damn.’ Then, he caught the pass on the sideline. He comes back, juggled the one on the sideline, gets his knees down, and it’s like, ‘This [stuff ] is real for me,’” Landry said. “It’s real now because with those types of plays, other guys around, myself included, understand that the level of play just went up that much more and we’ve got to pick it up. Especially a guy as elite as he is, you will stick out in some kind of way if you’re not doing your part when you get your opportunities.
“That’s kind of when the [stuff ] got real.”
There will likely be more moments in the huddle when Landry and Beckham revel in their reunion, but none may be as special as Wednesday’s.
“I laughed because I feel like a little kid, how much excitement I have to be back with this guy who changed my life forever,” Beckham said.
“This is one of the best men that I know in my entire life. Just to be reunited with him feels great.”