What do you want Odell Beckham Jr. to not have goals in life?
The outrage this week over Beckham Jr.’s comments on ‘Uninterrupted’ that the wide receiver is hoping to become the highest paid player in the NFL are comical. He did not create a distraction for his teammates. In fact, the only distraction that was created was by those who wasted their time and energy criticizing the receiver on television, radio and in print.
He did not demand to be the highest paid receiver or player in the NFL. In fact, he never said that he has earned the right to be the highest paid player in the NFL. All he said was that he hoped to become the highest paid player in the NFL.
Do you know what chum is? Chumming the water is used by fisherman all across the world. It is the practice of luring various animals, usually fish, such as sharks, by throwing bait consisting of fish parts, bone and blood, which attract fish based on their keen sense of smell.
Beckham Jr. is chumming the waters here and everyone that is biting on this nonsense is reacting just the way Beckham Jr. wants people to. So be shocked, and angry, and bothered. Show whatever emotion you want to show, but just make sure to keep reacting because that is what OBJ wants.
So write an open letter to Beckham Jr. if you should so please and help sell those newspapers. After all, Beckham Jr. does sell, and if you are in the business of covering the Giants you should like the very fact that Beckham Jr. gives you so much material to work with. Does he need to mature? You bet he does! And most importantly he needs to mature on the field and needs to stay focused on his job at hand and be the best play-making wide receiver in the NFL.
On Friday, Giants co-owner John Mara said of Beckham, “He deserves to get paid. We’re going to pay him. It’s just a question of when we enter into the contract. And I don’t have a timetable on it right now. I just don’t feel like there’s any need to rush into it, but he’s going to end up getting paid at some point.” Beckham Jr. is under contract for two more seasons and is due to make $1.8 million dollars during the 2017 season. Mara understands Beckham Jr.’s importance and knows he is going to have to pay him down the line as long as he continues to play at an elite level.
Is he the best wide receiver and the most productive play maker in the NFL? No, he is not, but what he does do is generate the most buzz to go along with a play-making ability that is downright special. He does have the potential to be the best, but he is not there yet. There is a tangible reason that Nike gave Odell Beckham Jr. an endorsement deal that could be worth $48 million dollars over the next 8 years. The reason he got that deal is because Odell Beckham Jr.’s brand sells. I know for some it might be difficult to admit but Beckham Jr. is good for the NFL and for the Giants. The Nike deal is the richest contract ever given to an NFL player. The reason that is the case is because everyone wants to know what OBJ is up to next and you might root against him or for him, it does not matter and that is not even the discussion. You watch him and react to him and that is now part of the game.
He gets the attention for the personality that he is and generated that interest after his brilliant play on the field. Is he the perfect player? No, but nobody is perfect and are there things on the field that he needs to clean up? At 24-years-old, there is no question about that. But he is a ‘special’ player and he is going to do it his way. If he sinks or swims it will be based on how he wants to do it. Maybe we should appreciate the personality a little bit more instead of trying to destroy it.
So, as Odell Beckham Jr. enjoys the richest endorsement deal ever given to an NFL player by Nike, why is it so crazy to say that you want to be the highest paid player? Isn’t it good to have goals in life? It sure is even after all the outrage this past week.
