Nearly five years removed from his trade to the Cleveland Browns, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is still upset with the New York Giants over that decision.
During a recent appearance on the Punch Line Podcast with Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, Beckham lamented the trade and insisted, as he’s done before, that the Giants were attempting to ruin his career.
“There’s a semi bit of me that feels like the Giants sent me off, I’ve said it before, sent me off to Cleveland to die,” Beckham said. “You can’t tell me this was the best trade package we could have got for you. . . No, your desire was to kind of (expletive) me over a little bit.”
General manager Dave Gettleman shipped Beckham and linebacker Olivier Vernon off to Cleveland in exchange for safety Jabrill Peppers, offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler, and first- and third-round picks in the 2019 NFL draft.
Since that day, Beckham has gone back and forth on his opinion of the Giants. In one breath, he claims they tried to destroy his career. In another, he says his time in East Rutherford was among the best of his life.
Ultimately, all this time later, Beckham insists he was just misunderstood as a young player.
“You feel like I made a fool of you or the organization and that was never truly my intention … I’m just that competitive,” Beckham said. “I wanted to win, I always wanted to win. I’m tired of being 6-10, we haven’t done anything to make changes.”
The problem for Beckham was that it manifested in odd ways — like fighting with Josh Norman or proposing to the kicking net a week after getting into a fight with it.
There are dozens of other examples and eventually, it just became too much for the Giants.
But if the Giants were intent on ruining Beckham’s career, they failed. While he never again produced as he did in New York — largely as the result of injury — the superstar wide receiver has gone on to win a Super Bowl and could be in line for another ring this year.
Still, his divorce from the Giants remains a sore spot for Beckham.
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