Beckhamfifinds ‘acceptance’ on, offff fifield
CLEVELAND — Odell Beckham Jr. felt the tug on his jersey and watched helplessly as Baker Mayfield’s potential touchdown pass to him thudded to the turf.
No flflag for pass interference.
No fifight either.
“I think a younger me would have been more upset,” the Browns star receiver said. “And now just realizing, it is like life; you just kind of rollwith the punches.”
Meet the new OBJ. Or at least a self-improvedversion.
One of the NFL’s most from Beckham, polarizing players, Beckham said he has grown as a person. He’s learning not to allow outside inflfluences to affffffffffffect him and he’s become morewillingtodefer to teammates instead of worrying about his statistics. “Acceptance,” he said. Beckham touched on his personal development— and other topics, including voting for the fifirst time andBreonnaTaylor’s killing— during a Zoom call with reporters Thursday as the Browns dug deeper into preparations for today’s home game against Washington.
Beckham and his teammates are coming off a bounce-back win last week against Cincinnati. He caught a 43-yardTDpass andwould have hada secondonewhen he got behind Bengals cornerback William Jackson, who yanked on Beckham’s jerseyandslowedhimdown.
Beckhamsaid he reacted by talking to the offifficial. In yearspast, hemayhavedone something difffffffffffferent — like knock over a kicking net on the sideline or confront a coach — actions he demonstrated while in New York with the Giants.
“I told him on the fifield, I was like, ‘Man, I havemade mistakes in my career, but we have tomove past that,’” Beckham said with a smile.
Beckham posted his outrage on Twitter about Taylor’s case, saying he was “heartbroken” but not surprised that a grand jury in Kentucky failed to bring homicide charges against the offifficers who opened fifire on Taylor when they burst intotheBlackwoman’sapartmentwhile serving a search warrant.
“It isdisheartening,” Beckhamsaid. “You justwant justice and it does not seemlike that is going to happen.”