Getty Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
Odell Beckham Jr. is passionate about the game of football — so much so that sometimes it bubbles to the surface and the Cleveland Browns star pass-catcher erupts when things aren’t going right.
There was the well-known kicking net incident and the Beckham’s fight with a fan — not the human type — on the sideline last season.
But the Cleveland Browns star thinks there’s a double standard when it comes to how he’s criticized. He sees New England Patriots QB Tom Brady act in similar ways, but instead of being called a diva, the QB is praised for his competitive streak. Beckham recently spoke on the issue in an interview with GQ’s Mark Anthony Green, saying that race might have something to do with it.
“Race plays into everything, whether we want to believe it or not. I remember posting a video of me and Tom Brady, and I hate to even bring him in this, but he’s passionate. He cares—he wouldn’t still be playing if he didn’t care for the game the way that he did today,” Beckham said. “He throws a cup, he yells at referees, he yells at his coach. It’s because he cares that bad. He wants to win that bad. Now, because he has won six Super Bowls they validate him and say, ‘He’s won six Super Bowls.’ I want to win the same way he wants to win. Whether I hit a kicking net or whether I do whatever. I want to win that bad. I care about winning more than anything.”
Beckham posted this video in 2017 demonstrating the similarities between he and Brady’s behavior and demeanor on the field.
Beckham didn’t do a ton of winning with the Giants, which he hopes to change with the Browns. The Giants made the playoffs just once during his five years with the team, which ended in a disappointing Wild Card round loss to the Packers.
Individually, Beckham put up some monster numbers, earning him the reputation as one of the NFL’s best. He’s hauled in 390 passes for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns in 59 games and wants to do even bigger things with the Browns this season.
Odell Beckham Values His Time on the Field
Beckham feels like he deals with more than most NFL stars. He said as much during his minicamp press conference,
“I feel like I could sit in a corner in a room full of people and not try and bother anybody and it would be like, ‘You too good to be out here with the rest of us?’ It’s just a tough situation for me to be in,” Beckham told reporters.
Beckham has already seen that in his first offseason with the Browns. After the blockbuster that brought him to town from New York, OBJ was criticized for missing the majority of optional offseason workouts. The wide receiver maintained that it was the plan all along and that he had let the team know of his offseason plans, basically saying that it was much ado about nothing. But when you’re Odell Beckham Jr., everything is a big deal — from his social media moves to his body language on the sideline at practice.
“I didn’t get into this to celebrate and score touchdowns. I didn’t get into this for followers for Instagram,” Beckham said. “It’s, like, you’ve built a monster, but now you’re upset at the one you built. Why are you mad at me? While I’m playing football, I’m not holding a camera on myself. Everything is about what you show the world. I get my free time 16 times a year, hopefully, plus a few games when we make the playoffs. I get 16 times to do this. There are 365 days in a year. You’re controlling my freedom. This is my joy, this is my time.”
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