Odell Beckham Jr. is back with the team that drafted him, the New York Giants, vowing to complete some “unfinished business” he left behind during his first stint with Big Blue (2014-2018).
Beckham has a long list of wrongs he’d like to right with the Giants. First off, he’d like to be a part of a winning tradition here. In his five years with the Giants, the team posted a record of 31-49 and 0-1 in the postseason.
The Giants qualified for the playoffs in just one of the five seasons Beckham wore the blue. That was 2016 when the team finished 11-5 but was blown out by the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round, 38-13. Beckham, in particular, had a poor game, reeling in just four of his 11 targets for a mere 28 yards.
It was revealed afterward that Beckham and some of his fellow Giants receivers took a boat trip to Miami six days before the Green Bay game. If you can recall, the news of the trip didn’t go over very well.
Then-Giants general manager Jerry Reese and most of the media made OBJ the face of the debacle and had this to say about Beckham.
“This is what I see: I see a guy who needs to think about some of the things that he does,” said Reese at the time, “Everybody knows that he is a gifted player, but there are some things that he has done that he needs to look at himself in the mirror and be honest with himself about, and I think he will do that. We will help him with that, but he has to help himself, and we believe he will do that. He is a smart guy, but sometimes he doesn’t do smart things.”
2017 ended up being a lost season for Beckham due to injury, and after Dave Gettleman took over as general manager in 2018, the writing was on the wall. He was traded to Cleveland the next season.
Beckham left behind a legacy of both great achievement and disappointment. Like Jeremy Shockey before him, he was sent packing because his immaturity forced the Giants’ hand. Now, he is back. A much older, much wiser man with still something to give to his old team, who may need him more than everyone thinks.
OBJ can further his Giants’ legacy both by helping them in the standings as well as adding to the impressive stat line he left behind.
According to a recent release from the Giants, Beckham is “second in franchise history in receiving yards (5,476) and fourth in both receptions (390) and touchdown catches (44). His 92.8 receiving yards per game is the highest average by any Giants player with a minimum of 50 games played. The next closest is Homer Jones (1964-69) with 66.4.”
In addition, an independent committee ranked Beckham No. 37 on the franchise’s all-time top 100 players list in celebration of the Giants’ 100th season two years ago.
There are some milestones Beckham can reach this season, which would even further cement his place in Giants’ lore.
With six receptions, he can pass Joe Morrison (395) and move into third place on the Giants’ all-time list. Four touchdown catches would move him into third place all-time, past Morrison with 48, and tie him with Kyle Rote for the second-most by a Giant.
But it might be in the locker room and in the huddle where OBJ makes his biggest contribution.
“Odell is right now he’s in such a good place in terms of, you know, his humility,” head coach John Harbaugh said earlier this spring. “He wants to be part of a team. He wants to contribute. He wants to help the young guys. That’s what he’s talking about doing. He still thinks he has some juice, and he looked good in the workout. You still got to be able to play. It’s not going to be the old Odell. It’s going to be a different version, the 2.0 Odell, I guess you would say.”
And Harbaugh would know. The two have history. Beckham played for him in Baltimore in 2023. Harbaugh has seen what a player of Beckham’s magnitude, although diminished, can bring to a team.
If anything, Beckham will help alleviate any pressure on the young core of stars the Giants have compiled here the past few years. Attracting attention is his superpower. He will draw the focus of the media and critics like moths to a flame, allowing the rest of the team to operate in some semblance of sanity.
Imagine that. OBJ is bringing sanity to the Giants.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Odell Beckham Jr. returning to New York Giants in a leadership role
Reporting by John Fennelly, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
