Odell Beckham Jr. opens up in an interview with GQ and claims he “felt disrespected” when the New York Giants traded him in March.
In March, the New York Giants traded receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns in a shocker of a move. The Giants thus received a first-round pick (No. 17 overall), a third-round pick (No. 95 overall) and safety Jabrill Peppers in the deal.
Now in Cleveland, OBJ is still his flashy, entertaining self while at the same time trying to find new life with his new team. This week, an interview between Beckham and Mark Anthony Green of GQ was published, in which OBJ opened up about the trade.
“My initial reaction was not disappointment. … I felt disrespected,” Beckham said. “Like, after everything I’ve done for them. This is me being honest: This team has not been good for the last six years. Period. Even the year we went to the playoffs and everyone was talking about this and that. And we went there, and I didn’t have a great playoff game. Don’t get me wrong, I had a terrible game. But I left the game with seven targets, and I’m supposed to be your number one receiver. I left the game with seven targets. We lost. They scored 40 points. It’s just all bad.”
For what it’s worth, Beckham was targeted 11 times in that game, the most of any Giants receiver. Tavarres King, Will Tye, Sterling Shepard, and Victor Cruz all finished with more yards on fewer targets than Beckham.
Beckham doesn’t hold a grudge against Giants co-owner John Mara and says he still respects him. However, with head coach Pat Shurmur, it’s a different story.
“But then to be called like that and then be texted by your coach and be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I heard the news.’ Yeah, you heard the news? It happened because of you. The reason I’m gone is because of you. It was just tough because of the way I initially felt. On the other side of it, I was excited about a new start because I had been—honestly, I had been praying to God the season before this season for a change.”
Going into year six in the NFL, Beckham will now be playing with a quarterback other than Eli Manning for the first time in his career. Beckham will team up with Baker Mayfield as well as his best friend and former teammate at LSU, wide receiver Jarvis Landry.
The Browns have a ton of hype heading into the 2019 season, so only time will tell if they’ll eventually live up to it.
