Odell Beckham’s recent meltdowns over the past two weeks have now led to questions about his maturity level and growth not only as a player but also as a person. The New York Giants wide receiver is certainly capable of the mercurial but he also has a side to him that is deeply discouraging. Episodes such as last year’s battle on the field with Josh Norman, then a member of the Carolina Panthers, certainly shed light on his unbridled emotions. Then too was Week 3 against Norman again, now a Washington cornerback, where Beckham again lost his cool. His top popped off again this past Monday night in a loss at the Minnesota Vikings. Answering questions in the Player’s Tribune, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman was asked about Beckham’s recent episodes and bouts of immaturity and how he as a cornerback could take advantage of this: “Honestly, it’s difficult. It’s really a case-by-case basis because if you go at a player like that, it can go one of two ways: He’ll either get more frustrated and get further off his game — which we’ve seen with Odell — or he could turn around and smoke a guy for 200 yards, and you just woke up a sleeping dragon. You’ve seen that with Odell, too. People talk about how he got into it with Josh Norman last season, but Odell caught the game-tying touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of that game after making a 40-yard catch a few plays earlier. So you can talk all you want and do all that extra stuff, but at the end of the day you still gotta line up and go at it.” In recent weeks, Beckham’s attitude has drawn commentary and criticism from around the sports world. His behavior is becoming a distraction as the Giants head into a Sunday game at the Green Bay Packers. On Monday night Beckham had four catches for 23 yards, a career low in receiving yardage.
Seahawks’ Richard Sherman says Giants’ Odell Beckham Jr. is a ‘sleeping dragon’
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