If Odell Beckham’s career continues in much the same way it has started, he will become one of the best receivers the NFL has ever seen.
Combine that wunderkind talent with the fact that he’s playing for the New York Giants and you can see how the level of coverage he receives is unlike any other player at his position.
However, being phenomenally talented, intensely competitive and playing in the biggest media market in football does not equate to being a ‘distraction’, as Beckham’s coach, Ben McAdoo, claimed OBJ was earlier this week.
“He needs to control his emotions better and become less of a distraction to himself and to his teammates,” McAdoo said.
If anything is a distraction, it’s the head coach of a football team calling out a player in public on an issue that very clearly should have been dealt with in private.
What was the need for Ben McAdoo to make such a comment in a press conference? Why did he not go to Odell privately and say what needed to be said instead of publicly embarrassing him in front of the whole league?
This is Odell’s third year in the NFL. In his first two he earned two Pro Bowl appearances, a second-team All-Pro selection and the 2014 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in addition to breaking innumerable Giants and NFL records at the receiving position. Even in the last game against the Redskins he was making history by becoming the fastest player ever to reach 200 receptions.
Of course a player with that kind of talent is going to garner more media attention than anybody else.
Regarding his ’emotions’ – and especially in relation to someone like Josh Norman – I don’t see any problem whatsoever. I would much rather see someone fired up and competitive, even if they’re grappling with kicking nets, than sitting gormlessly on the sidelines like Eli Manning does most of the time.
When Norman and OBJ went to battle last season there were two opinions: the first was that their ‘performance’ had no place in football and that both were acting like ‘divas’, and the second was that it was good to finally see some intense competitiveness, no matter how physical they got with each other.
I fell firmly in the latter camp.
The problem with Norman isn’t OBJ, it’s Norman himself. A great article on the Washington Post website highlighted that in an ESPN the Magazine story Norman insulted six different people, ranging from OBJ and Demaryius Thomas to NFLPA director DeMaurice Smith and Roger Goodell. Clearly Norman has a problem with keeping his mouth shut and can’t garner enough attention with his play on the field, so he generates it by talking trash about everyone off the field.
OBJ was classy in his response when asked about Norman’s antics a month ago, refusing to comment and give Norman the childish satisfaction he would enjoy from a reaction. Josh Norman starts it and Odell Beckham finishes it, just like when OBJ burnt the self-proclaimed ‘best cornerback on earth’ with seven catches for 121 yards in the Giants 29-27 loss to the Redskins last week.
Marshawn Lynch and Terrell Owens got the same treatment from the media. Both were outspoken, flamboyant and always willing to be themselves, and they were subsequently slapped with the tag of ‘distraction’ throughout their careers. The similarity between all three of these players is they all possess immeasurable talent. That’s what this comes down to – everyone would rather criticise those with talent than raise them up. It’s tall poppy syndrome at work, and it’s disgusting.
Too many players are now just robots, saying the things they’re told to say and behaving the way they’ve been told to behave. It’s refreshing to see somebody display some personality on the field, some fire inside them and some sign that they’re still human.
If being yourself means being a distraction, then I hope Odell is the biggest distraction this league has ever seen.
Hey, supercoach? Choose your own ultimate NFL team and compete with other players for cash prizes in daily competitions on any match. If you’re after the best odds on the NFL, PlayUp is your best bet. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
The extraordinary episodes after his life as an American Football hero quite overshadowed the career of O.J. Simpson, who has died at the age…
The Kansas City Chiefs, steered brilliamtly at the end by star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, downed the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime to secure…
San Francisco 49ers will make their eighth appearance in the Super Bowl after a stellar season from a team stacked with real talent across the whole line-up.
The Chiefs are no longer strangers to playing matches in February. What was once a multi-generational 50-year drought has become an almost yearly tradition.
Daniel Faalele and Mitch Wishnowsky have kept their Super Bowl dreams alive, with Baltimore and San Francisco winning the divisional round playoff.
Six-time NFL champion Bill Belichick has agreed to part ways as the coach of the New England Patriots, bringing an end to his 24-year…
