Odell Beckham Jr. broke out with the New York Giants as a rookie in 2014, quickly establishing himself as one of the most elite wide receivers in the game and becoming a superstar seemingly overnight.
However, things went downhill rapidly from there and the relationship between Beckham and the organization soured, with much of the displeasure being aired out in a public forum.
But just how bad did it get?
During a recent sit-down with Cam Newton, Todd Gurley and his former Giants teammate, Victor Cruz, Beckham admitted that he considered retirement in 2017 because he was “depressed” and faced a long rehab after fracturing his ankle.
“I said this in college, I said, ‘I fear the day that they make this game a business and not what I love,'” Beckham said. “And when I seen that for the first time after breaking my ankle, like I thought about not playing no more, like this is not really it for me because they’ve ruined the game of football for me a little bit.
“I struggled to deal with that. Depression, mental health issues, being in New York, not really liking it.”
Ultimately, Beckham said, it was his young fans (and an eventual trade to the Cleveland Browns) that helped him turn a corner.
“When I be on the sideline and that little kid is, ‘Do the whip, dance,’ like that [expletive] is what fueled me,” Beckham said. “That’s what fueled me.”
It was clear to all watching that Beckham wasn’t mentally in it with the Giants, which is something that was recently confirmed by a “prominent” but anonymous head coach, who said he watched OBJ quit on plays for years.
“I’ve been watching him quit on plays for years,” the coach told ESPN. “[A] mental roller coaster.”
Beckham seems much happier in Cleveland, but despite that, his early-career production has not yet returned.
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