Odell Beckham Jr Reveals Frustrations with Giants
Former Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr, traded by the team in 2018 to the Cleveland Browns, said that the Giants failed to build the team around the now-retired Eli Manning, and it “bothered me” to see what was happening.
“I will tell you where I ran into trouble,” Beckham said during an appearance on the All Things Covered podcast with Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden.
“I felt like they never put people around Eli. I know I got a lot of [stuff] 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."
Beckham, who tore his ACL on October 27 and is on injured reserve, will miss his chance to face the Giants in a couple of weeks when the Browns visit MetLife Stadium. But in the interview, he confessed that he never wanted to leave the organization and that he desperately wanted to win a championship with the Giants.
He added that his frustrations with the team came about their approach to roster building.
“It bothered me because they never built around him and we were just drafting, but we were just drafting and not building an organization and a franchise,” he said.
“My frustration 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 also reflected on how he was perceived in the locker room during his final year with the team.
“It just felt like I was coming to the end of a road and I was pushing for something that wasn’t tangible. And that was where it all went haywire,” Beckham said.
"You know, we got a new coach in there, and I feel like that’s a situation I can be honest about now because people have come out, and it’s like anonymous coaches, but we really know who it was," he said.
"I felt betrayed in a sense--like this coach tried to turn me against my brothers and my people and was telling the young guys to stay away because I’m not a good person or not a good teammate or role model or this or that.”
Beckham, who was traded to the Browns for Jabrill Peppers and two draft picks in a blockbuster deal, said he never saw it coming and never envisioned himself playing anywhere else than for the Giants, and that the trade left him with “a bad scar” in his mouth.
“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. It was just such a legendary place. I was very proud to be a part of that organization.”
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