Alec Ogletree ready to battle Odell Beckham Jr. on friendlier terms
Alec Ogletree, then a linebacker for the Rams, got into a 2014 sideline altercation with Odell Beckham Jr. Credit: AP / Mark Zaleski
Alec Ogletree may be one of the newest Giants, but he does have a history with the team. It goes back to 2014, when he was a member of the Rams and got into a sideline altercation with Odell Beckham Jr. that turned into a melee during a late-season game.
Now that they’re teammates, you might think the two would bury that memory. Instead, it was one of the first things they brought up.
“He actually was one of the first guys to call me to welcome me to the team,” Ogletree said on a conference call on Thursday, a day after his trade to the Giants was finalized. “I didn’t know who it was, I was like: ‘Who is this?’ He actually sent me a video of that fight and he was like: ‘We’re gonna battle every day in practice!’ So it’s all good and I’m excited to be here.”
As for football, general manager Dave Gettleman called Ogletree “the quarterback of the defense.” That’s a role the inside linebacker intends to embrace. He’s also one of the first defensive pieces added to the new scheme being installed by defensive coordinator James Bettcher.
“Basically, it’ll be a lot of what I came from,” said Ogletree, who played a 3-4 system with the Rams. “He’s the type of guy who knows how to use his players and get guys to play. I’m just an extension of him. We’ll get on the same page and get to work together . . . Of course he’s been in the same division as me [in Arizona] and he’s one of those guys who had a great defense, and we’re definitely looking to bring that to New York.”
The Giants like Ogletree’s youth (he’s 26), production and leadership. So did the Rams, who signed him to an extension last offseason.
“I was definitely surprised,” Ogletree said of the trade, which was hammered out last week but became official at the start of the league year on Wednesday. “But it happened for a reason. I enjoyed the ride I had with the Rams and now I’m looking forward to my time with the Giants.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
More Giants
