Strongsville, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Perception isn’t always reality.
Odell Beckham Jr. plays the game of football with passion, but for years in New York that passion led to a multitude of controversies and the narrative about him as a teammate and player became negative.
Now that he’s come to terms with being traded in March to the Browns, the three-time Pro Bowl wideout sees tremendous opportunity for him in Cleveland as a person and as one of the league’s elite talents.
“I think it's just a breath of fresh air,” Beckham told Adam ‘The Bull’ in an exclusive interview with 92.3 The Fan Tuesday afternoon at his youth football camp held at Strongsville High School. “I know that I haven't been perfect in the past. I know I've done things wrong, but I felt that I could never escape that. I could never get past those moments. People only want to talk about the catch or the stuff with Josh Norman, and it’s like, how can a person ever grow if that’s all that’s ever brought back up and thrown in your face and how could we ever grow all together as a community, as a society?
“So, I felt that I could never escape it. I felt like I was defined by my hair which I now me and it’s not all of who I am, so it just feels good to be in a new place, a new start. Even though I still hear and feel things from my old past, in my heart and soul, I’m giving myself a fresh start whether anybody else does or not, I'm going to give myself a fresh start.”
For years Beckham has lived under the microscope playing in the league’s largest media market where his every move and word spoken – on and off the field – was criticized.
“I think because of all the other frustrations I had, it wasn’t necessarily it’s not getting the football, it was like, you wanna win that bad but you also feel like you can’t help your team win,” Beckham said.
Beckham is anxious to wipe the slate clean and put the haters in the rear view mirror.
“I’m gonna ignore them and shut them up with my play,” Beckham said. “There’s no point [paying them attention]. I don't understand this world. This place should be full of love and there's so much hate that goes around. They're just going to have to deal with it.”
Beckham’s love and passion for the game as well as desire to win was often misinterpreted as him being a Primadonna, malcontent or problem child, but he’s learned to control his emotions, and by doing that, changing the perception of him.
The trade to Cleveland turned the Browns into legitimate Super Bowl contenders. They've never had a player of his calliber or popularity.
Beckham knows all about the Browns’ struggles the last two decades – the 4-12, 5-11 carousel that preceded 1-15 and 0-16 – and what it would mean if he can help the franchise reach a level it’s never reached.
“I’m happy to be here, be a part of all of this. I really am,” Beckham said. “I really wanna give my all, my best to this city, to this team, this organization and that really is the most authentic, genuine thing I could say. I am happy to be here.”
A clean slate is Big for Beckham but having Baker Mayfield as his quarterback might be bigger.
“He’s got a lot of things to learn,” Beckham said, “but that’s exciting to be able to do this with him.”
Beckham sees a lot of himself in the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft who broke the NFL's rookie quarterback touchdown passes record in just 13 starts.
“I watch Baker, and that’s something I didn’t know coming over here, that it wasn’t just for me to get a fresh start,” Beckham said. “I really look at him and I have somebody who I'm going to be working with who I also have to help. I've been through a lot more than he has and I've had to deal with these things so I feel like I can help him in any kind of way with that. And I just think that it's going to be fun. Baker, I love seeing him dance. We're very similar so I couldn't be more excited with the opportunity I have, for real.”
Starting in the spring of 2018 Beckham to the Browns rumors swirled.
They got amplified when Beckham’s friend and former college teammate Jarvis Landry joked about trading for Beckham.
A year later, here we are.
“It’s just crazy because I remember the year before, I thought this was going to happen, and even the year before that I thought I was just being traded in general,” Beckham said. “I joked with Damarious [Randall that] he got banished to Wakanda because of the stigma that this place has and as I watched it develop and build, I'm like 'it's going to be something special because when you come from the bottom, the come up is so much better.’
“I remember in the middle of the season joking with him, ‘yeah, watch I'm going to be over there with you next year, don't even worry about it.’ It's kind of like it got spoken into existence.”
