'Resiliency Will Be My Story!' Odell Beckham Jr. Ready To Resume Career With Ravens
Odell Beckham Jr. has played in the spotlight for most of his career.
As one of the top athletes from the 2011 recruiting class before committing to LSU over schools like Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Tulane, to being the No. 12 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft by the high-profile New York Giants, he's lived in the spotlight.
Even now, Beckham Jr. is one of the most recognizable faces in the NFL. And he's excited to get back on the field with the Baltimore Ravens and take his rightful place among the game's top wideouts.
The spotlight isn't what defines Beckham Jr. He has other thoughts on how he wants to be remembered when his playing days are done.
"When it's all said and done, my story won't be so much about a catch or all the other things that people like to talk about and I think it'll be talked about resiliency. ... Put anybody through my situation and put the top guy against the lowest guy, I don't know who would be standing after all the things that I've been through.
"On a day-to-day basis, and especially after having surgery, and having both knees taped up ... and I have a five-day-old at that time and just trying to find my way back on the field again after you get to the pinnacle of your dream and it goes a way you would never expect. I definitely think resiliency will be the tale of my story at the end."
GM Eric DeCosta and coach John Harbaugh both meshed with OBJ quickly when they met him in Phoenix at the NFL Annual Meeting.
"Our fans are going to love watching Odell play football," DeCosta said. "He's 100 percent invested. That's one thing – as a scout – that we're always looking for is, 'Is this guy going to come in and be 100 percent invested in our program, and what we believe in and our culture?' I have to tell you, after two minutes in Arizona sitting across the table from Odell, I had no doubt in my mind that this was the right guy for the team."
Harbaugh was equally impressed.
"That's what struck me more than anything, was just his honesty," Harbaugh said. "He was very much an open book in terms of what he was thinking, what he wanted to do, where he was going. [He was] not trying to sell anything. … I just was struck by his straightforwardness and honesty."
And for OBJ?
He's ready to begin the next chapter of his career with the Ravens.
"I'm just excited," Beckham said. "I'm excited, but I'm also very determined and hungry, so through the smiles there's still this eye that, 'I really want this badly.' I'm ready to be great, ready to be excellent again. I'm just ready for that opportunity."
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