the next guy
Superstar
http://nypost.com/2015/06/18/odell-beckham-leaves-in-hurry-after-complaining-about-teammates/
The Giants ended their final minicamp Thursday amid more signs that sudden fame might be going to Odell Beckham Jr.’s head.
After complaining to ESPN earlier in the week that ribbing from teammates about missing practice with a hamstring injury “bothers” him, Beckham blew off his only scheduled interview session with the media of the three-day camp.
While Eli Manning and Victor Cruz — two players with Super Bowl rings and a host of NFL accomplishments — spoke at length with reporters, teammates said Beckham bolted the facility to start his offseason as soon as he arrived in the locker room after practice.
So it was left to Beckham’s coaches and teammates to decipher what appeared to be hints of locker-room tension from the league’s reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year and newly crowned Madden video game cover subject.
Beckham prompted some raised eyebrows with the ESPN interview in which he described his growing irritation at gibes from teammates.
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Photo: Bill Kostroun
“For me, this is what I love doing, and this is what I feel like my purpose was to do,” Beckham said. “So it takes a lot of strength for me to be able to come here every day and not practice, have to hear the little remarks, the little jokes, this and that.
“And it’s not just about a hamstring — it’s so many other things that people talk about,” Beckham added. “So it’s hard to come here and try and focus on ‘What play is up right now?’ instead of thinking about how bad you want to be out there.”
The grief isn’t just coming from other wide receivers, either, and stems from more than just the hamstring, Beckham added.
“[It’s coming from] everybody,” he told ESPN. “Because of the hamstring last year and then the fame, it’s like, ‘Oh, you’re too big-time now,’ all that. So I mean, I just hear it and you want to blow it off, but after a while it gets old, and it kind of bothers you.”
Tom Coughlin, who watched Beckham shrug off a hamstring injury that sidelined him all last offseason, training camp and the first four games of the season to explode for 91 catches for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns, said the second-year pro needs to relax.
Coughlin, though, confirmed Beckham — with his blonde fauxhawk with a recently added splash of red in the middle of it — has been a verbal target in the Giants’ locker room.
“[I want him to react to it] just like he did last year,” Coughlin said of the digs. “Worry about things you can control and not about those you can’t. There was obviously some [verbal back-and-forth] in there. There may have been somebody serious, but most of it would have been well-intended shots just over the bow.
“His personality hasn’t let up any because of it,” Coughlin added. “I can guarantee you that.”
Cruz, whose comeback from knee surgery relegated him to the sidelines with Beckham this offseason, sounded surprised by Beckham’s claims that the teasing has been relentless.
“Everybody’s keeping it cool,” Cruz said Thursday. “Nobody’s messing with him too much, at least from what I’ve seen.”
Wide receivers coach Sean Ryan indicated Cruz wasn’t telling the whole story, though.
“Those guys get after each other every type of way possible,” Ryan said. “They make fun of each other about what they eat for breakfast. A comment gets made here or there, but it’s all done [in fun]. The atmosphere in that [receivers meeting] room is a good atmosphere, and they certainly have fun with each other. They’re a tight-knit group of guys, and that shows up. He can handle it.”
According to Ryan, Beckham has no room to complain when it comes to dishing out sarcasm.
“He gives it out as much as he takes it, let’s put it that way,” Ryan said.
The Giants ended their final minicamp Thursday amid more signs that sudden fame might be going to Odell Beckham Jr.’s head.
After complaining to ESPN earlier in the week that ribbing from teammates about missing practice with a hamstring injury “bothers” him, Beckham blew off his only scheduled interview session with the media of the three-day camp.
While Eli Manning and Victor Cruz — two players with Super Bowl rings and a host of NFL accomplishments — spoke at length with reporters, teammates said Beckham bolted the facility to start his offseason as soon as he arrived in the locker room after practice.
So it was left to Beckham’s coaches and teammates to decipher what appeared to be hints of locker-room tension from the league’s reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year and newly crowned Madden video game cover subject.
Beckham prompted some raised eyebrows with the ESPN interview in which he described his growing irritation at gibes from teammates.
Modal Trigger
Photo: Bill Kostroun
“For me, this is what I love doing, and this is what I feel like my purpose was to do,” Beckham said. “So it takes a lot of strength for me to be able to come here every day and not practice, have to hear the little remarks, the little jokes, this and that.
“And it’s not just about a hamstring — it’s so many other things that people talk about,” Beckham added. “So it’s hard to come here and try and focus on ‘What play is up right now?’ instead of thinking about how bad you want to be out there.”
The grief isn’t just coming from other wide receivers, either, and stems from more than just the hamstring, Beckham added.
“[It’s coming from] everybody,” he told ESPN. “Because of the hamstring last year and then the fame, it’s like, ‘Oh, you’re too big-time now,’ all that. So I mean, I just hear it and you want to blow it off, but after a while it gets old, and it kind of bothers you.”
Tom Coughlin, who watched Beckham shrug off a hamstring injury that sidelined him all last offseason, training camp and the first four games of the season to explode for 91 catches for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns, said the second-year pro needs to relax.
Coughlin, though, confirmed Beckham — with his blonde fauxhawk with a recently added splash of red in the middle of it — has been a verbal target in the Giants’ locker room.
“[I want him to react to it] just like he did last year,” Coughlin said of the digs. “Worry about things you can control and not about those you can’t. There was obviously some [verbal back-and-forth] in there. There may have been somebody serious, but most of it would have been well-intended shots just over the bow.
“His personality hasn’t let up any because of it,” Coughlin added. “I can guarantee you that.”
Cruz, whose comeback from knee surgery relegated him to the sidelines with Beckham this offseason, sounded surprised by Beckham’s claims that the teasing has been relentless.
“Everybody’s keeping it cool,” Cruz said Thursday. “Nobody’s messing with him too much, at least from what I’ve seen.”
Wide receivers coach Sean Ryan indicated Cruz wasn’t telling the whole story, though.
“Those guys get after each other every type of way possible,” Ryan said. “They make fun of each other about what they eat for breakfast. A comment gets made here or there, but it’s all done [in fun]. The atmosphere in that [receivers meeting] room is a good atmosphere, and they certainly have fun with each other. They’re a tight-knit group of guys, and that shows up. He can handle it.”
According to Ryan, Beckham has no room to complain when it comes to dishing out sarcasm.
“He gives it out as much as he takes it, let’s put it that way,” Ryan said.
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