Odell speaks
FINALLY TALKS TO PRESS
Odell Beckham Jr.’s presence at the Giants’ training camp podium Saturday was a small miracle in itself.
After breaking his left ankle last fall, after the infamous party- ing video from France surfaced in March, after the Giants discussed trading Beckham with the L.A. Rams in the spring, after the club dragged its feet the rest of the offseason on beginning negotiations on a contract extension — this day so often came close to never happening.
Beckham’s ability to get back here, healthy and seemingly happy, frankly says more than most words can.
“I literally watched my world feel like it turned upside down,” Beckham, 25, said Saturday morning of his ability to get back to such a positive place, both in his mind and in the OBJ-Giants relationship, after so much tumult and uncertainty. “I watched relationships close to me devour and things go wrong and things go sideways. It was a lot of pain I went through in the last 10 months.
“So (I’ve been) just taking it day by day,” he continued, “and trying my best to just make my mindset, ‘Every day I wake up I’m gonna be happy; I’m gonna do this right, I’m gonna do the very best that I can in whatever it is.’ Whatever it is that I was doing, just changed my mindset. And it’s helped me out a lot with everything. It’s helped me out a lot.”
Beckham, breaking a 304-day silence of not speaking with the New York media, also admitted he took the news personally of the GiantsRams trade talks — first reported by the Daily News — but grew through the experience.
“It’s sort of, I don’t know, noise, rumors, you never know,” Beckham said.
“And I used to say all the time, ‘Don’t take it personal and stuff.’ And I still — I took things personal. And I really have gotten that out of my heart to not take anything personal. And with doing that, it’s less things that I used to worry about out of the equation. So once you can really put that in your heart — don’t take it personal — and you can feel that, it’s a completely different story.”
He’s right. This is a completely different story than the one that was being written in the spring. And there are a lot of reasons why, primarily Beckham’s determination to evolve, to rehab vigorously, and to play nice with the Giants after they pushed him to the brink — including taking the risk of going back on the practice field without a new contract.
“(It’s) calculated,” Beckham said. “Calculated. You’re out there, you control your body, and we’re practicing, and these are your teammates, so we’re all working together. There’s no extra pushing and shoving and doing too much. So it’s all calculated, and I remember not being able to walk at all. So to be able to be back on the field doing what I love, it’s truly an amazing feeling.”
Remember, though, Beckham and the Giants aren’t out of the woods just yet.
There is no indication they are any closer today than they were last week on the terms of a Beckham contract extension. No one knows his and the Giants’ plans for playing him in the preseason, and if their plans align.
And his lone ominous answer Saturday was in response to the question of whether he had any deadline in mind, like the start of the regular season, when he’ll prefer that talks stop.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Beckham said.
Beckham, who said last year that he wanted to be the highest-paid player in the league, also said “of course” he still wants to be the NFL’s highest-paid receiver. But he understands his expectations must be within reason.
“Of course,” Beckham said. “I mean, who doesn’t want to get more money? Everybody does. So realistically, you’ve just got to be realistic with yourself. You see what happened over the offseason (with other player contracts). I can’t really worry about anybody else. Just let them figure it out and whenever it happens, it’ll happen.”
Beckham did say he is “optimistic” a deal will get done and “confident it’ll all work itself out.”
He didn’t want to take credit for getting negotiations started by not holding out from training camp, as Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack have done in Los Angeles and Oakland, though it certainly had an impact. Beckham said mostly he wanted to get back to playing football and that he doesn’t “believe” in holding out.
“After I see my ankle snap and it feels like your world turns upside down, life’s just different,” Beckham said. “Honestly, for real, I’m just happy to be back out there running around. I don’t believe in any of that (holdout) stuff. I feel like they’ll get it done when they get it done.
“I’ll let my agent and them figure it out. I’ll just come out here, try to get all the plays down, focus on being the best that I can be. So it’ll happen when it happens.”
Beckham also interestingly shared that maybe two months ago his ankle was still not fully there, but in the last month he’s been “getting back to as close to 100 (percent) as I can.”
“I had been feeling it as I was working out, and it’s kind of like over the last month I’ve taken a huge stride,” Beckham said. “I remember maybe two months ago it wasn’t as smooth and I wasn’t getting out of cuts, and you kind of get that frustration and just you want to get back to where you’re at. But now that I’m here, it’s been a lot of hard work put in, lot of doctors, lot of treatment, lot of rehab, lot of pain you went through.
“I don’t really feel it (anymore),” he added of the ankle. “I don’t think about it much. Or I try not to. It’s still always there. But I’m getting back to as close to 100 as I can for right now. It’s been a long process, I can say that.”
It’s been a long road back for Beckham from his lowest physical point early in the rehabilitation.
“I love football,” he said. “Football was always how I could let everything out, and just being able to be back out on the field. I remember waking up four in the morning and crawling upstairs to my bed and laughing to myself like, ‘This is gonna be a hell of ride for you to get back to where you’re at,’ And now I’m here and there’s still a lot more for me to do. So truly I’m just thankful that God is able to put me back out there.” His goals now? “The same every year,” Beckham said. “Be the best that I can be. Hang one of these banners up.”
A Super Bowl banner. High hopes. But why shoot any lower? This is Odell Beckham Jr., superstar receiver, defier of odds.