Berea, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Odell Beckham Jr. has never been a champion.
In any sport, at any level.
He came close, once, and it's a memory he hopes to erase in Cleveland.
“I've gotten to the championship game,” Beckham recalled Wednesday afternoon. “It was sixth grade basketball, we're playing Stuart Hall and they hit a buzzer beater and there was 1.8 seconds left and I caught it and threw up a half-court shot, the ref already thought it was over and I made it and I'm running around like I won a championship. It felt great and they called it off, they told me it was no good and I remember crying that entire night.
“I want to win. I want to be a champion.”
Beckham hopes he’ll be able to achieve that with the Browns, who own the league’s longest playoff drought, haven’t won the NFL’s top prize since 1964 and have never appeared in a Super Bowl let alone won one.
Sporting a brown hoodie with orange pullover, Beckham spoke for nearly 20 minutes Wednesday about getting to team up with his best friend Jarvis Landry again and his new best friend – quarterback Baker Mayfield – and the opportunity that is now before them.
“I’m almost giddy, I feel like a little kid with the excitement that I have,” Beckham said smiling.
“I’m beyond excited about the opportunity I have here to start over, a new team. Obviously, the goal is always going to be the same, to hang banners, that’s what you play this game. We know we got a lot of expectations. We got a lot of work to do and I think we’ll get there.”
In addition to acquiring Beckham, general manager John Dorsey landed Beckham’s teammate in New York – Pro Bowl defensive end Olivier Vernon and signed Pro Bowl defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson in March.
Combined with the top picks from the 2017 and 2018 NFL Drafts – Pro Bowl defensive end Myles Garrett and Mayfield – the Browns roster is stacked with talent that is expected to end a 16-year playoff drought and potentially a 30-year divisional championship drought.
“I do see a lot of potential with this team, and not even just because I’m here,” Beckham said. “I really feel it, and I feel something in the air, something special that Cleveland hasn’t had for a while. And I’m happy to be a part of that. I hope that I can help do whatever I need to do to push that that way.”
Other than an appearance on April 1 and May 14, Beckham hasn’t been around much since the trade drawing intense media criticism for skipping eight of the nine voluntary OTAs last month.
Wednesday Beckham explained why he chose to stay away.
“Everybody knows their body. I know my body better than anybody else,” Beckham said. “I know what it takes to get me in top physical condition, mental and all of those things. This is not my first rodeo. It is not my first go round. I just know what it takes to get there.”
Beckham is used to the scrutiny, which he admitted puzzles him at times, having come from the Giants.
“I feel like I could sit in a corner in a room full of people and not try and bother anybody and it would be like, you too good to be out here with the rest of us? It's just a tough situation for me to be in,” Beckham said. “Anything that I say I know is going to take off. I know there might be one line I said today that's going to be something tomorrow, so it's just something I've gotten used to, as hard as it is.”
With Landry, Antonio Callaway, Nick Chubb and eventually Kareem Hunt in the fold, how happy will Beckham be if his numbers go down if the ball gets spread around?
“This game is about winning,” Beckham said. “I know some of us get stuck up in numbers, but this game is about winning. I’d much rather be in the playoffs than go for 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns because to me, I’m supposed to do that anyway. So being at home and ending the season with that is never going to be good enough for me.
“I’m ready to get back to the playoffs and show what I can do.”
