WR Odell Beckham Jr.
June 13, 2017
Q: Was there ever a doubt in your mind that you would be here for mandatory minicamp?
A: No, there was no doubt in my mind.
Q: What do you make of the fact that we made a pretty big deal that you were not here for OTAs?
A: It is life. It comes with it.
Q: Are you unhappy with your current contract situation?
A: I leave that in the hands of the man above honestly. When that time comes, that time comes. Right now is really not the time to discuss it. Like I said, when it comes, it comes.
Q: Did it have anything to do with you not coming to OTAs?
A: You would probably have to ask the people who do the contracts and stuff like that. I wouldn’t be able to tell you.
Q: You were back on the field for the first time today. How was it working with the new teammates, namely, Brandon Marshall?
A: It is just great to be back out here. I have talked to [Brandon Marshall] pretty much throughout the whole offseason and just to get out here and see him work – he is a guy who has been doing this for a while now. We will be able to take from each other and we all hold each other accountable and I think it is going to be a lot of fun being able to work with a guy like that.
Q: What did you guys talk about in those conversations?
A: It is just kind of between me and him.
Q: I know it is still early, but given the training that you have done this offseason, where do you feel you are going to make the biggest leap in your game?
A: I guess we will have to wait and see. Right now you just take it a day at a time, try to get better each and every day and that is what I feel like I have been doing. One step at a time.
Q: How did it feel to be back out there working with Sterling [Shepard]?
A: It was great just to walk into the room. Seeing some new faces, but it is really a special bond when you get inside that room and the relationships that you build with each and every one of those guys, and to see young Shep it just put a smile on my face. He has such a bright future ahead of him and he puts that smile on your face. It reminds me of when I was young, it was my second year in the league, and you are just so happy to be here and to be happy to do what he is doing, so it is reassuring to see that from him.
Q: Can you just tell us in your own words why you chose to workout alone?
A: Really I was just taking the time to train, make sure that I get proper training and really growing and maturing yourself. You just have time to reflect on life and be able to learn new things, so it was a great process for me and I definitely enjoyed it.
Q: Can you share any revelations that you have learned about yourself?
A: No, not really. It is kind of more for me to keep growing and maturing within myself, so like I said, it is one day at a time and a one step process.
Q: What were your sessions with Chris Carter like and what kind of impact has he had on you?
A: Just a guy who has been through a lot. He has got a lot of life lessons to be able to share with you. He was a Hall of Famer and a phenomenal player, one of the best, so just being able to take from him, the little things and the nuances of the game and little slight techniques. He is kind of like a guy that has been in the corner for me. I didn’t get to workout with him every single day, it was just like once or twice, but anytime you can learn from a guy like that it is great.
Q: What do you have to play catch up on now that you are here a little bit late?
A: I wouldn’t even be able to tell you. I am just trying to get back in the playbook. There are a couple new things that we added. So just finding your way back in, easing your way back into it and it is really just great to be able to be out here and see guys like Evan [Engram] and Wayne [Gallman] and all these young guys who are coming and just being back with your team. That is really what you do it for, those 53 men on the roster and whoever else is in this building. Like I said, it is a special bond.
Q: How much have you thought about the way last year ended?
A: I have reflected on it a lot. It is just like, I feel like LeBron losing the finals – you are going to look back on it and see what you could have done better, how you could have handled the situation better or whatever the case may be. But it is all a part of life, it is a learning process and you just have to take it with a grain of salt and you have to grow from it and you have to learn. That is what I have been doing and that is what the time off was.
Q: You were blessed with the Nike deal. To what extent did that mitigate your patience for your football deal?
A: I mean like I said, when that time comes it is going to come. Patience is a virtue. Any quote that you want to look up about patience is just about being patient and having trust. Like I said, the time will come and when it comes it will be a great day.
Q: You said that we can ask the people upstairs who do the contracts. Can you explain that in the context that the time that you were away was voluntary, so why would we ask them about you being away at a time that was voluntary, just in terms of how much had to do with the extension not being done?
A: I don’t really know how to answer that question. Like I said, I come here to play football. I don’t write the contract, I don’t really design it or anything like that. Actually this is only my fourth year in the league. My agent knows ten times more about it than I do. I just come here to do what I have always done, which is to play football and be the very best that I can on the field. Like I said, the rest will take care of itself.
Q: Would you like it to be done before you enter this season? There are players like Tavon Austin, J.J. Watt, Kyle Long and Robert Quinn who have gotten deals with two years left.
A: I couldn’t really tell you. Like I said, when the time comes. Any contract questions are really not for me to discuss. I haven’t really talked with anybody about contracts, so it is not something that has been in the air. It kind of was a talk that was brought up amongst other people. It never was really in my discussion, so like I said, just take it a day a time and when it comes it will come.
Q: So we take that to mean that it doesn’t bother you when you say that it was in other people’s discussions?
A: You can discuss whatever you want.
Q: But should we take that, as it doesn’t bother you since you were saying it is in other people’s discussions?
A: Bother me as in?
Q: In terms of it not being done and in terms of it maybe having to do with you not being here or not?
A: I don’t know if it had to do with me not being here or not or what the case may be. Like I said, I don’t really decide when I get a contract or how that even works to be honest. I really couldn’t tell you because I haven’t had any experience in it. This is only my fourth year in the league and like I said, this is the first time I have ever experienced any of this.
Q: You retweeted somebody saying that you should get more money. What should we take from that?
A: Right, a retweet could really mean anything though. A retweet of a three minute conversation could have been the first 15 seconds, the last 15 seconds, it could have been the whole thing. It is kind of something that you take and try to look for more information than what really lies, but that’s a good question.
Q: You mentioned working with Evan Engram. What is it like working with a tight end that can line up on the line, and have you talked to him before coming here today?
A: Yeah, when he came out to the rookie premiere and I was out there training in L.A. I got to meet up with him. I took him out to eat and we just got to hang out for a couple days and we were just talking and he seems really excited about it. I was telling him how excited I am to have him here, a guy who – it reminds me of when the Saints had Jimmy Graham and they would line him up on the outside and create nightmare mismatches and Gronk [Rob Gronkowski] and put him on the outside. But he is a real hybrid. If you put him out there and you have a safety guard him that is going to be trouble, if you put him out there and you have a linebacker guard him that is going to be trouble and from what I have been hearing he has even tortured corners. So I am really looking forward to seeing him develop and how his game is going to evolve and just what he can bring to the table. I know he is a special talent; he came out of the SEC, so I already know he is a beast.
Q: There is no SEC bad blood?
A: No, never, never. We always, well not always, beat Ole Miss, but for the most part, we beat Ole Miss, so it was never really a rivalry. But I am excited about him being here and what he is going to bring to the table.
Q: What is your relationship with Jerry Reese like after he made statements about you needing to grow up in the offseason?
A: The same. Growth is something that is a lifetime. If you stop growing then you really aren’t progressing in life, so we all can grow as well each and every day.
Q: What was your reaction when John Mara said that he wants you to be a Giant for life?
A: I think we are on the same page there. Obviously this is one of the best organizations in the league and I would love to be here for the rest of my life.
Q: Do you feel that you are wiser?
A: I have got some grey hairs now, so I am starting to get up there. I have been trying to read a couple books. The Four Agreements is one book that I picked up. There is just four basic principles that are in there and one of them that you really had to learn was to use your words wisely and don’t take anything personal ever, and as you kind of get this guideline of this book it starts to help you grow and really mature into who you are as a person. Like I said, I have gotten a couple grey hairs and I feel as if I am a little bit wiser.
Q: Were you trying to make a point about your contract by missing OTAs?
A: I was just out in L.A. training.
Q: There was no motivation behind that?
A: I have seen the whole holdout and all of that stuff and I have never really seen that work, so that was never in my mind, to not go to OTAs to get a new contract. I don’t really think that that proves a point in my opinion. So I was really just out there really taking that time for myself to reflect on life and value what is really important and like I said, to grow and mature in life. You should be growing each and every year, each and every day you should be growing until the day that you leave this earth.
Q: Can you just describe the circumstances around missing Eli’s camp?
A: I had to get some teeth taken out and as you know I am not really a dentist.
Q: You aren’t a dentist?
A: No, I know I have some nice teeth, but teeth had to get pulled out and an infection, which leads to other things in your body and breaks your body down. The timing of it all was unfortunate, but I have been working with Eli since I was a sophomore in high school, so I don’t think that a day in camp really is going to make all that much of a difference. I wish that I could have been there, but life is all about timing and it just wasn’t the right time.
I think it was Pat Traina who's consistency awful.
It was clearly not a topic he was interested in talking at length about.
We agree on most things... this more than anything else.
T R A I D.
Lol, this is gross. Why are sports fans such shills for billionaire owner management.
Quote:
asking the contract questions?
I think it was Pat Traina who's consistency awful.
Sorry to burst your bubble Adam, but it wasn't me. (And I love you too.)
Quote:
asking the contract questions?
I think it was Pat Traina who's consistency awful.
And you would be wrong. It was Josina Anderson
Quote:
In comment 13498870 Keith said:
Quote:
asking the contract questions?
I think it was Pat Traina who's consistency awful.
And you would be wrong. It was Josina Anderson
That makes sense. She was peddling the same BS on NFL Live.
Bad call on that one
This should be sticky noted on BBI for the rest of the off-season.
+1 and +1