Former New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who was traded to the Cleveland Browns this offseason, revealed in an interview with GQ that he felt disrespected by the Giants when he was traded to the Browns. Does this mean no more prime-time games for the Giants? The receiver added that things got so bad in New York that he contemplated stepping away from the game.
“My initial reaction was not disappointment. … I felt disrespected. Like, after everything I’ve done for them,” Odell Beckham Jr. said in the interview. “This is me being honest: This team has not been good for the last six years. Period. Even the year we went to the playoffs and everyone was talking about this and that. And we went there, and I didn’t have a great playoff game. Don’t get me wrong, I had a terrible game. But I left the game with seven targets, and I’m supposed to be your number one receiver. I left the game with seven targets. We lost. They scored 40 points. It’s just all bad.
Giants Prime-Time Games No More?
“I felt disrespected, because I felt like I was a main reason at keeping that brand alive. They were getting prime-time games, still, as a 5-and-11 team. Why? Because people want to see the show. You want to see me play. That’s just real rap. I’m not sitting here like, ‘It’s because of me.’ But let’s just be real. That’s why we’re still getting prime-time games. I felt disrespected they weren’t even man enough to even sit me down to my face and tell me what’s going on.”
Odell Beckham Jr. Still Disgruntled
Beckham was particularly upset with head coach Pat Shurmur and general manager Dave Gettleman, who said on multiple occasions that the Giants didn’t sign Beckham to a long-term deal just to trade him.
“But then to be called like that and then be texted by your coach and be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I heard the news.’ Yeah, you heard the news? It happened because of you. The reason I’m gone is because of you. It was just tough because of the way I initially felt. On the other side of it, I was excited about a new start because I had been … honestly, I had been praying to God the season before this season for a change.”
