Odell Beckham wouldn’t mind a little less attention
New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham makes a one-handed catch during the Giants Organized Team Activities at Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Monday, June 6, 2016. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
When Odell Beckham Jr. entered the NFL, he had one wish. He saw the attention that fellow first-round draft picks such as Mike Evans and Sammy Watkins were receiving and he wanted that for himself.
“I wanted to be talked about the way that they were talked about,” the Giants receiver said on Tuesday. “I was like, ‘Man, they never talk about me.’ I tell people now, be careful what you ask for.”
After an offseason that has seen Beckham pop up in tabloids for a variety of reasons from flirting with Khloe Kardashian to training at the house of the rapper Drake, Beckham said he wouldn’t mind some of his former anonymity.
“I used to crave that, I used to want to be talked about,” Beckham said. “People didn’t know what I was capable of. Now it’s like, they want to know everything. They want to know each and every detail. I really tell them just be careful what you ask for.”
Beckham said that he “hates” that his personal life is any distraction to the team or himself.
“Especially when a lot of the stuff is not so much true and there’s all kind of things they come up with,” he said.
Being one of the NFL’s premier receivers in the league’s biggest market brings that kind of baggage.
“People just need something to talk about sometimes,” he said. “I feel like it comes with the territory. I just have to get used to it.”
Not all star players have to deal with the attention, of course. Beckham need just look to his quarterback for an example of the somewhat quiet life.
“I’m 35, he’s 24, so that’s the reason why I’m staying out of Page Six,” Eli Manning said on Tuesday. “But I enjoy reading [about Beckham]. It gives me good material.”
Giant steps
Rookie running back Paul Perkins, the fifth-round pick from UCLA, made his first appearance in a full-team workout on Tuesday. Perkins was unable to participate in OTAs while finishing his degree. He graduated last week . . . Safety Mykkele Thompson, who missed all of last season with a torn Achilles, is sidelined for minicamp after suffering what Ben McAdoo called a “lower leg” injury last week. Linebacker J.T. Thomas is also out with a “lower leg” injury. McAdoo said both are expected back for the start of training camp . . . Rookie safety Darian Thompson played with the first team . . . Defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, coming off a torn pectoral muscle, said he is “full go” and expects to get more sacks this year playing alongside Damon Harrison . . . One of the changes to Giants practices under McAdoo is the addition of announcements that tell the players which practice period they are going to. The final one on Tuesday that called the players to gather around McAdoo was a recorded voice that sounded somewhat familiar. “That was Rachel [Schuckle] from the cafeteria, so shout out to Rachel,” McAdoo said. “We are going to use a variety of tactics there during practice to motivate.”
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.
