Odell Beckham Jr. – October 3, 2024
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Thursday, October 3, 2024
WR Odell Beckham Jr.
(General Manager Chris Grier had told us in late August that you wanted to start the season on the active roster. Was there a benefit in waiting? Does the knee feel better?) – “I think a lot of people don’t know exactly what I was going through. Just like everybody in here, we’re all humans. We all go through life. And ending the season, there was a lot going on in my life, personal life, businesses, all of that, that just kind of had me in a place where football wasn’t exactly the priority. I have a son, he’s two years old and I didn’t get much time to spend with him. I feel like he’s growing up fast and I’m not having that much time, so football exactly wasn’t the first and foremost thing on my mind. Then I had to have a small cleanup of the knee and just kind of going through that free agency process – my agent and I went back and forth whether we do it right after the season or we wait until free agency happens and I just feel like I waited too late, didn’t know what was going on. Deep down inside my plan along time ago the way that the free agency went, I was probably going to join a team during the season. So I had more time, there wasn’t going to be the pressure to be back for training camp and all that. So just talking with Mike (McDaniel), just figuring out where I wanted to go and the conversations I had with him along with some other brothers that I have down here, he was one of the main reasons I came here. We kind of had an understanding of probably not going to be ready. He ensured me that that was fine, just try and get back as fast as you can. And a lot of people don’t know what the PUP list is or what it actually entails. You see a lot of people, ‘Oh, are you even going to play football?’ This is just me from the bottom – I could be anywhere in the world right now. I chose to be here, to play football in the NFL. I could be overseas anywhere. I could be doing whatever I want, I’ve done enough in my life to where I’ve warranted that for myself. So I chose to be here. I hate the feeling of walking around this building, and you’re hurt, and PUP list means I can’t practice with the team. So I can’t practice with the team, be on the field, I can’t play the first four games – it’s a rule, it’s very simple. So it’s just something that I kind of had to follow. Not what I wanted to do, but for me it was a selfless act because if I’m not on the PUP list, I’m taking up a roster spot, which means I’m taking someone else’s job and I’m not doing anything. It’s not really a good feeling to have, so it was what’s best for this team and organization and that’s something that – it was an easy decision for us.”
(Were you itching to get back all this time?) – “Yeah, I’ll be honest – like I said, I don’t want to be walking around this building, waking up 7:00, 6:45 a.m. to just come in here from 7:00 to 5:00 o’clock. Like I said, there’s a lot of things I could be doing with my life. So football is still something that I love to do, it just was an unfortunate situation that I was in. I was kind of behind the eight ball, not really knowing if this was what I wanted to do or anything like that, but being able to be back in the building, to be back on the field, it was a lot of hard work. People don’t know what I’ve gone through with this knee because I don’t come out and make excuses for myself. I just put my cleats on, continue to work. I think at the end of the day, when my career is all said and done, I wanted to be the best receiver and all these things, but I think my story is going to be more about resiliency and just showing kids if it’s something you want, you always got to fight for it. You always can find your way back, so that’s really just kind of what it’s been for me.”
(How is it being back out there with your teammates, full pads and everything? How exciting was it to kind of be in that groove of things and just, that’s it?) – “I mean it was very exciting for me. It was very – I don’t know the right word, but just humbling or whatever it was to be back out there. I felt very grateful because I remember what it was like when I felt like I couldn’t walk during the offseason – I sure couldn’t run, couldn’t work out. Just being able to be back out there, be back out there with these guys who put in so much work, it’s what I’ve been waiting on. I didn’t sign over here to walk – cafeteria has great food and all that, but I didn’t sign over here to come walk around in this building. (laughter) I wanted to be a part of something special. Duke Riley and Jalen Ramsey are brothers of mine and they told me how special this place was and to come over here and see that, that’s what I came here for. I came here to play football, so for all the people who are listening and don’t understand that, that’s what I came here to do.”
(How explosive did you feel in today’s practice?) – “I felt pretty good. The old guy can still run a little bit, so I felt good. I think I feel obviously a bit out of football shape in a sense, but just like everything else, it comes with repetition and just being able to get out there and run around. I don’t think the people understand how much joy that is, to be able to not even stretch and I can go out there and just take off running. It’s been a long journey with me and things I’ve had to encounter in my career, so just being able to get out there felt great.”
(How challenging is it to just watch the last four weeks through the struggles the offense has had? And how much of a difference do you think you can make?) – “I’m a part of this, so it doesn’t feel good. To me, it feels even worse – I would have rather us been 4-0 right now, and then I’d feel like ‘Oh, I can’t wait to get in,’ instead of where we’re at and feeling like I should have been out there battling with them win, lose or draw. That’s the hardest part of sitting out and not being able to help. So like I said, I’m just excited to get back out there. Whenever that is, just coming up with a game plan, ease me back into it and then it’s just play ball. It’s a long season, no need to get down. If you’ve played as long as I’ve played, you know how these seasons can go however which way you want.”
(General Manager Chris Grier said he had to fight you to put you on PUP to start this season. Did you feel ready to go from Week 1?) – “I don’t know if you can just say ready, but I was ready to have my training camp at that time. Like it’s harder to then be on PUP meaning I can’t practice with the team. I’m having to do work here and then leave and go do work with trainers and Gold Feet and all that. I would have rather been able to compete and battle and all of those things. I miss that part of earning your brothers’, your teammates’ respect – that’s what I came here to do. That’s one of the major things that I can see myself wanting to prove.”
(Are you expecting to play Sunday?) – “I don’t know, you got to ask Coach (Mike McDaniel).”
(Just on the timing of it, just to make sure we have it accurate, was the surgery March, April? What month was it?) – “It was sometime in the offseason.”
(Given the situation where the team is record wise and you’re saying, ‘Oh, you wish we could have been 4-0,’ do you think there is added pressure with you coming back? Do you think it’s something that for yourself?) – “I think at this point in my life, pressure is why I got into this game. It was never for the attention, because something about knowing that it’s time to perform and then showing up and performing, truly. It wasn’t for cameras and Instagram followers and endorsements, like all that is something I didn’t really know about, you know what I mean? It was for the pressure. So for me, I’ll take on the pressure, but I don’t feel there’s a need – I don’t feel there’s extra pressure on me. I feel it’s the same for everybody in this building like we got to get going. We got to start making plays. Defense has been playing great, offense it’s our time. Like we got to take over. There’s a reason I came to this offense. It’s because I’ve seen what they did all last year. Two games away from being the one seed. I was over there in Baltimore when we, not we, lost to Tennessee last year. I remember what it was like. So it’s a bunch of great things. It’s no time to panic, but it’s definitely time to have a sense of urgency.”
(Are you able to ignore the people who said “Oh, he’s just here for a paycheck,” or did that bother you personally?) – “Respectfully, it sounds messed up so it’s going to be a bad quote, but I’m not getting paid a crazy amount of dollars. I could be making money if I had more time elsewhere outside of this building. A lot of my contract is incentives-based so that means I have to reach certain numbers to be able to get that money. So for me, respectfully, I don’t really care for opinion. I care for my son. I care for my close family. I’ve grown so far past that because at the end of the day, you could be the most perfect person in the world, say the most perfect quotes and all that, there’s still somebody out there who’s going to hate on you. So it’s not point in getting yourself caught up over that. I’ve said the quote – Purell hand sanitizer cleans 99.9 percent of germs. There’s always still going to be that little something, you know what I mean? (laughter) So there’s just no point in worrying about someone’s opinion and all that, like I’ll never see some of y’all in my life again. You have an account with zero posts and 89 followers and whatever. Congrats, enjoy your life, I’m going to enjoy mine. I’m so far past someone’s opinion of me; I know who I am. I always say, I know where I live so I never need to address anything.”
(How did it feel with QB Tyler Huntley out there, the connection?) – “That’s my dude. We were in Baltimore all year actually. It’s funny because he threw me my first touchdown over in Baltimore. So we were always in meetings, whenever Chef would be in town I would bring him lunch – him and Lamar (Jackson) lunch. Like this is somebody I went through a whole year with and training camp and all that, we’re very close. So just to see him get his opportunity – it’s always unfortunate the way the opportunities happen like that, but just to see him have an opportunity and to be more comfortable. This is not – I don’t think people understand, if there’s any position someone can sign to and come to a team and play and ball out, quarterback is by far the hardest. And this one of the most complex offenses that is in the league so I think he did a very good job. I think that everyone around him has to help him out, and like I said, there’s just got to be a sense of urgency. It doesn’t need to be time to panic or anything, but definitely a sense of urgency.”
(How much interaction have you had with QB Tua Tagovailoa? It’s kind of been like you on PUP and now he’s out so?) – “We’ve been kicking it every day. We go over there and go over the plays and just got an opportunity to even just sit down and just talk life, things outside of football. This is a part of our life, and yeah, we put everything into it, but there’s a lot of life. He’s got kids, he’s got family. Everyone’s got family for the most part, so just being able to talk life with him, talk ball, it’s been great. He’s a great human and you don’t get to say that about just everybody, so he’s a great human. I enjoyed that time that I had to kick it with him and we’re all wanting him to get back and healthy.”
(Obviously, we hear how much you hang out with QB Tua Tagovailoa off the field, but what is that chemistry building process been like as you try to balance with acclimating to the offense while also just rehabbing and getting healthy?) – “It’s hard. Again like I said, I’m not one to complain or put my business out there because I just think people are not going to care, but I’ve been through a lot in my career. Started when my ankle shattered in 2017 and my doc was like, ‘You know, a lot of people don’t ever come back from this,’ to sports hernia surgery to tearing my ACL to not playing with an ACL the whole year, tearing it in the Super Bowl – I’ve been through a lot. So it was hard to balance, OK I need to do this work, take care of the knee, not overdrive it but then also need to get in this. So it’s just been a balancing act. Like everything else it’s a process, but I’ve been enjoying it, the ups and the downs, the hard part of life and I’m still here.”
(Just bonding with WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle, kind of building that camaraderie, too, how important has that been? How great has that been for you just kind of getting out there with them?) – “Yeah, for sure. I mean, we’ve been able to kick it. It’s not like because I’m on PUP I can’t see them, but our time zones, we’re on different time zones – I’m overseas and they’re in America. They’re going out to practice, I’m doing all of my work. So we’re just – the crossing each other was really mainly in early on settings because I can’t go out onto the field. This is my two-and-a-half hours to get everything in, so I’m a very time-efficient person and made sure I wanted to use up all that time. But being able to be with those guys, I just have never seen anything like ‘10’ (Tyreek Hill) and (Jaylen) Waddle is obviously special, but these two guys are tremendous. I think they were top five in the league last year or whatever it is. It’s just a special talent so just being able to – Coach (McDaniel) and I talked – like I came here to be able to help them out, take some of the load off of them and then just being able to let them do their thing at the same time. So like I said, it’s not about panicking; it’s about a sense of urgency and it’s time for us to come out and get a win.”
