Odell Beckham Jr. clarifies previous comments about Giants sending WR to Browns 'to die'

The former Giants wide receiver added that he embraced his new start

9/16/2019, 10:24 PM
Jun 4, 2019; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (13) stretches during minicamp at the Cleveland Browns training facility. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports / Ken Blaze
Jun 4, 2019; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (13) stretches during minicamp at the Cleveland Browns training facility. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports / Ken Blaze

Before the regular season began, Odell Beckham Jr. made headlines in late August when his wide-ranging interview with Sports Illustrated went viral.

The former Giants wide receiver told Ben Baskin of SI that New York sent him to the Browns "to die," setting off his latest disgruntled comments about his team from 2014-18.

Prior to Week 2's 8:15 p.m. kickoff against the New York Jets on ESPN, Beckham further explained those words in an interview aired during the Monday Night Football pregame show with Randy Moss.

 

"'We're sending him to Cleveland because Cleveland has the stigma of losing and it's gone through however many quarterbacks in four, five years, and this and that and all the bad things,'" Beckham said of what he believed the Giants thought when they sent him to the Browns on March 12.

Joined by Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry, who spent 2011-13 with Beckham, Beckham told Moss about how he had a tattoo done on his left leg that depicted a jungle.

Part of the story behind the tattoo, Beckham said, aligned with the adversity he has faced since his trade from the Giants to the Browns.

"So I was also telling somebody I had this jungle tattoo that I created throughout my whole leg and the kid the that's been through the whole jungle -- lions, tigers, elephants, everything -- it's just a straight up jungle," Beckham said. "And when I said they sent me here to die, they sent me to the jungle and thought that I wouldn't be able to survive -- that my career would end here."

Beckham played 59 games (56 starts) in five years with quarterback Eli Manning and the Giants, catching 390 passes for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns.

With quarterback Baker Mayfield and other weapons on his new offense, Beckham believes he can continue to ascend in his career, despite the Giants' belief that they buried him on the Browns.

"It wasn't like I'm upset they sent me here to die," Beckham said. "Like, no, they thought they sent me here to die. And it was something that it was personal on their end of why I was sent off."

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