The S.S. Beckham won’t sink before arriving in Green Bay
HERE is Eli Manning’s message for Giants fans worried Odell Beckham Jr.’s focus is not where it should be days after his celebrity Miami Beach Bieber Boat Bash and days before his first playoff game Sunday in Green Bay:
“Odell’s always ready to play,” Manning told The Post as he walked in the rain on his 36th birthday from the fieldhouse to Quest Diagnostics Center headquarters. “He always has a great week of practice, I know he’s gonna be the same this week, he’s gonna be running full-speed everything and focus and know what’s at hand.
“I expect to see him have a big game this week.”
These are the games that define legends. And Beckham’s goal from the day he became a Giant was to be legendary.
“It’s go time,” Beckham told ESPN.
He loves to dance, he loves to mingle with celebrities. But more than anything, he loves football. And more than anything, he burns to win a Super Bowl. He may march to the beat of a different drummer, but his essence is making beautiful music in his Giants 13 jersey, and nothing will interfere with that.
The word from every Giant: Get ready for GO-dell Beckham Jr.
“A lot’s said about players and what they do in the playoffs,” Manning told The Post. “It’s his first opportunity, I know he’s excited for it, and wants to go out there and play well.”
Punter Brad Wing knows Beckham better than any Giant. They were roommates at LSU.
“He’s definitely focused,” Wing said. “We’re going into the playoffs, it’s something he’s wanted to do for his entire life, is to compete for a Super Bowl. I would tell the fans not to worry, it’s not like his focus is elsewhere, he knows the task at hand is a big one. It was an off day, you know? He was just doing with his own time what he pleases, and when it’s time to be here and when it’s time for football, he’s doing that, he’s always done that. So I don’t see any issue.”
Wing was asked what he is expecting Sunday at Lambeau Field from his buddy. “Everything I expect every other Sunday,” Wing said. “I expect him to be a dominant force, I expect him to play with a lot of passion and a lot of energy. It’s kind of what you get every day out of him. I think he’ll be up ready to go.
“It’s the most important game of his life.
“Same for all of us. We need this one to get to where we want to go, so I think you’ll see a very high-energy Odell.”
In other words, they are all expecting Beckham to throw a wild party beginning Sunday at 4:40. Without Bieber.
“I’ve been around Odell for three years,” Rashad Jennings told The Post. “I was with him when he first walked in the door, and didn’t know left from right … injured [hamstring] … trying to figure out how to take care of his body. I’ve seen [what] little kid version of him would be in the league.
“And, to see him now — and you can rest assured, the kid is gonna be ready to play. One hundred percent. He loves this game. He’s a winner. He wants to win.
“He will not put himself in a situation where he’s not gonna be able to perform on the field. “At all. At all.” Beckham, because of the magnitude of his star, opens himself up to criticism, more so than fellow jet-setters Victor Cruz, Sterling Shepard and Roger Lewis, should he drop the ball.
“It does, but everything opens up to criticism,” Jennings said. “You look at the opposite though — when they go out there and play well, what are people gonna say? ‘Everybody should go to Miami now?’ No. So people are always looking to fit blocks somewhere to, ‘This is why this, this is.’
“They came in bright-eyed, ready to go, excited for the playoffs. Nobody’s worried about anything.”
Defensive captain Jonathan Casillas is much more concerned with Aaron Rodgers than Beckham.
“Odell’s focus is to catch the ball, and make plays for us to win the game,” Casillas told The Post. “And that’s not gonna change just because they went to Miami and took a little trip. The guy’s a pro, he was with one of the best players in the league in Victor Cruz, so I put my trust in him for sure.”
Center Weston Richburg was selected in the second round of the Beckham draft in 2014. “He’s a great competitor, he’s gonna go out and give it his all,” Richburg said. “You win you move on, you lose you’re out. It’s really now or never for us.” It’s now for GO-dell Beckham Jr. Said Paul Perkins: “I expect him to be Odell Beckham.”