Odell Beckham Jr. hasn’t played in an NFL game since Week 7. Nor will he appear in another game this season, as the three-time Pro Bowler is currently rehabbing from a torn ACL. Yet, the much-maligned wideout still manages to move the ticker when it comes to headlines.
Beckham recently joined the All Things Covered podcast to discuss a plethora of topics with hosts Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden, ranging from his injury rehab, to dealing with the spotlight, to the aftermath following “The Catch.” However, it was his somewhat harsh, yet fairly factual take detailing his time with the Giants that has turned heads.
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OBJ Takes Aim at Big Blue’s Inability to Build Around Eli Manning
Beckham touched on how early success in New York led him to believe that he would finish his career with the team that drafted him in 2014.
“I never thought I would play for another team besides the Giants,” Beckham said. “I never wanted to win a championship for anybody more than the Giants, bro. It was just such a legendary place. I was very proud to be a part of that organization.”
However, he noted that things began to change when he felt like the organization wasn’t supplying his then-quarterback, Eli Manning, with the proper pieces to succeed.
“I will tell you where I ran into trouble,” Beckham said. “I felt like they never put people around Eli. I know I got a lot of [expletive] when I talked bad on Eli and I never once said a bad thing. If anything, I just speak the truth. The only thing I can look back on and be like ‘Man, I regret saying that’ is saying he’s not the same player even though it’s the truth.”
“It bothered me because I felt like they never built around him and we were just drafting, but we were just drafting and not building an organization and a franchise. My frustrations grew because it was another 5-11 and 5-11 and we were just never good. Even the year we were 11-5, the defense was holding teams to 10 points a game and we were only good because of the defense. My frustrations grew and I felt like they weren’t growing and I had wanted more.”
Beckham continued, pointing to his hatred for losing and the organization’s inability to evolve.
“I ran into that problem when I felt they weren’t growing and evolving as an organization,” he said. “I wasn’t winning and I hated losing that bad. I was having great seasons, but I hated losing. I hated it, I hated it, and I feel like that’s where I ran into the problems.”
“That was was really it for me, bro,” he said. “I used to text Eli all the time, ‘Bro, you’re seventh on the list for greatest of all-time. Let’s [expletive] do it.’ I would come to work every day and giving them everything that I had and then I felt like when I was the one pushing.”
“I just felt like I was coming to an end of the road and I was pushing for something that wasn’t really tangible,” Beckham said. “That was where it all just kind of went haywire for me.”
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Beckham on Pat Shurmur: ‘I Felt Betrayed’
Beckham went on to touch on what may have been the final straw to break the camel’s back. The two-time second-team All-Pro highlighted what he felt to be betrayal at the hands of his former head coach in New York, Pat Shurmur.
“We got a new coach in there and you know, it felt like that’s a situation I could be honest about now because people have come out and now it’s like, ‘anonymous coaches,’ but we all know who it’s about now,” Beckham said of ex-Giants head coach Pat Shurmur. “I felt betrayed in a sense. This coach has tried to turn me against my brothers and my people. He was telling the young guys to stay away from me because I’m not a good person or role model.”
Since leaving New York Beckham has appeared in 23 games with the Cleveland Browns, catching 97 passes for 1,354 yards and totaling eight touchdowns. Beckham’s last double-digit touchdown campaign came back in 2016 with the Giants. No Giants pass-catcher has exceeded eight TD receptions in a single season since.
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Odell Beckham Unloads on Ex-Giants Coach: ‘I Felt Betrayed’