GATES MILLS, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – As he kicked off his youth football skills Pro Camp Sunday morning, Odell Beckham Jr. didn’t have much to say other than expressing his gratitude for the opportunity to spend time with them on the field.
It was time to play.
Beckham, who has recovered from a torn ACL that he has surgically repaired in early November, threw passes, taught routes and even challenged a few kids one on one.
The three-time Pro Bowler is anxious to get back to making jaw dropping catches and helping the Browns go all the way.
“Just finding ways where I can contribute, whatever it is,” Beckham said in an exclusive interview with 92.3 The Fan Sunday. “This year for me is not about how many catches or touchdowns or anything like that. It’s truly, I just want to win a championship.”
Beckham and the Browns are no longer underdogs. They won’t sneak up on anyone this year.
Coming off their best regular season and first playoff victory since 1994, the Browns are considered a legitimate Super Bowl contender, but talking about it is the easy part. Getting there is much harder.
“I think you block all of that out,” Beckham said. “I think for us this year is to just play, just play football, win games, do what we do and try to win a Super Bowl. That’s obviously the goal. I think it’s just eliminate all of the noise and pick up where they left off last year.”
The Browns are one of four NFL franchise to have never appeared in a Super Bowl. Their last NFL title came in 1964.
Beckham, inspired by the Milwaukee Bucks NBA championship run – the first title for the franchise in 50 years, hopes to help change that.
“It’s been a long time coming [for the Browns],” Beckham said. “Watching the [NBA] Finals this year you saw the Suns and Bucks – two organizations that hadn’t won championships [in a long time]. When I came here, that’s what I said I wanted to do.
“The first season wasn’t very good. The second season I get injured but the team has a very good year and gets to the playoffs and makes a run. Now it’s time just to put all the pieces together. I think we have a very, very solid team, added some key guys and I think everything is there. The chemistry looks there. Coach Stefanski’s great. Bake looks great, Jarvis, everybody. So, it’s like just putting it all together [now].”
Beckham worked tirelessly following surgery pushing himself to go harder and faster at every opportunity, while at the same time knowing when to pump the brakes as to not overextend himself and suffer a setback in his rehab.
“I’ve had a great team of guys who’ve kept me at pace,” Beckham said. They knew I wanted to push it. They knew I wanted to come back early.
They knew all of those things but it’s one of those things where you’ve got to run your own race.
“You can’t feel the pressure of ‘Oh I gotta get back out there’ and all of these things. I feel that’s led me down a path of destruction before, trying to come back too early, trying to show everybody you’re good and all of those things. To be able to out there at minicamp running around and people coming up to me like, ‘You look like nothing ever happened’ it’s just a testament to the team I’ve had around me and the hard work I’ve put in just to be able to get back out there on the field.”
Following Beckham’s injury, the Browns – and the offense – took off.
“I sat there and I didn’t necessarily get to enjoy it firsthand but sitting [and watching] from the side, it was pretty incredible to watch,” Beckham said. “Those are guys you gave blood, sweat and tears with and [I’m] just happy to be able to be out there this year with them.”
Beckham doesn’t want to play the number game, but for him, 1,000 yards is the bare minimum. He achieved it his first season in Cleveland, yet he wasn’t satisfied.
It wasn’t good enough. His bar is set much higher. But this year he’s taking a different approach to how he views his production.
“Obviously 1,000-yard seasons is what I would want every single year, for me that’s the minimum,” Beckham said. “I think it’s 63 yards each game to get a thousand yards, and I was playing with the hernia and tear and all of this and I was just like, ‘I know 1,000 yards is easy to get to’ but this [season] is about winning that Super Bowl, bringing it to Cleveland because there will be plenty of other years where you can get numbers and do all of these things, but what does it really mean if you’re losing? I just want to win.”
Listen to the complete conversation in the podcast below:
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram