Mara: OBJ must own up and mature
John Mara appealed to Odell Beckham Jr.’s ego and legacy when he scolded him for his dog-peeing touchdown celebration in a Sept. 26 meeting at the Giants facility.
“I showed him the picture in the paper and asked him is that what he wants his legacy to be? Is this what he wants people to say about him?” Mara said in a Monday interview on ESPN’s The Michael Kay Show, per NJ.com.
Mara also said Beckham was “very remorseful to me” about his vulgar celebration, even though Beckham was unapologetic shortly after their meeting when he met the media.
Mara had to take the matter into his own hands after coach Ben McAdoo did not condemn Beckham’s behavior or discipline him with playing time. The Tuesday after Beckham’s heinous act in Philadelphia, Mara released a statement that he was “very unhappy with Odell’s behavior” and that the Giants “intend to deal with it internally.”
He said a suspension easily could have been justified.
“He knows that we were not happy with him. I think you could certainly make the argument that he could have been sat down at some point,” Mara told ESPN, per NJ.com. “He got hurt two or three weeks after that, but I think you could certainly make that argument. That’s not an unfair statement. But what he did was completely unacceptable and he knows that and I told him that in no uncertain terms.”
Mara reminded, though, that Beckham is “fantastic” with Make-A-Wish Foundation children who visit the Giants regularly and that “there’s a different side to him” that “gives me some hope that he’s going to continue to mature … and be a big part of this franchise.”
Mara said of Beckham in his Monday press conference after firing GM Jerry Reese and McAdoo that “I certainly expect him to be a part of this team in the future.” But Mara added “that will be a discussion also with the incoming general manager and the incoming head coach and we’ll make whatever decision we think is appropriate going forward.”
Beckham is entering the fifth and final year of his rookie contract, with a healing broken ankle and impending negotiations on an extension looming for the next Giant GM.