The list of ridiculous Odell Beckham Jr. statements and actions continues to grow. The latest is his proclamation that he should be the NFL's highest-paid player regardless of position.
Hey, OBJ, have you ever heard of a position called quarterback?
There's a pattern here. This is a guy who is clearly more interested in being a celebrity than a great football player.
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I think it's great when players are confident, and during my NFL management career, I worked with a lot of star players who had big personalities. Guys like Vikings Hall of Famers Fran Tarkenton and Cris Carter talked a lot and were supremely confident, but they were team players and leaders.
Beckham goes beyond being self-assured to the persona of a cocky, obnoxious egomaniac. His pompous and spoiled act has to be wearing thin with the Giants execs and coaches. His teammates who are leaders, like Eli Manning and Landon Collins, have to roll their eyes and question Beckham's level of commitment.
Prior to the absurd comment about his pay, Beckham made news by skipping Giants OTAs to supposedly make a stand on his contract demands. Then there was his infamous South Beach excursion to party the week before his dreadful performance in January's playoff loss in Green Bay. For those who were keeping track — and that surely includes Giants brass, coach Ben McAdoo, Manning, the New York media and the Giants’ fan base — the tally was four catches for 28 yards, two drops and one Lambeau Field wall punch.
The selfish fighting with Josh Norman in a Giants-Panthers game a couple of years ago. The showing up on TV entertainment shows in an attempt to make himself more than just another NFL star.
If I'm Giants owner John Mara or general manager Jerry Reese, I'm thinking long and hard about paying Beckham top receiver money and giving him a long-term extension in the $18 million-per-year range (with an estimated $50 million guaranteed) until I see some behavioral change on and off the field.
Everyone knows Beckham is a supremely talented, three-time Pro Bowl player. He has recorded 288 catches, over 4,000 receiving yards and 35 touchdowns in his three-year career. It's a mild concern that his yards per catch dropped from 15.1 to 13.5 last year while his touchdown receptions also fell from 13 to 10, but his overall receptions number rose from 96 to 101.
As a former GM who currently consults for an NFL agent group, I'm concerned about Beckham’s focus and his diva-like behavior off the field. I also have a major concern that involves this question: Have we ever heard Beckham talk about the team or team goals, such as winning a Super Bowl?
I haven't. It's always me-me-me with him. Look at me. Listen to me.
Memo to OBJ: Football is a team sport.
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If I were Beckham’s agent, we would have a serious chat about the damage he is doing to his potential future salary with the Giants (and possibly other teams at some point when he wears out his welcome with Big Blue). I'd advise Beckham that owners and GMs want their star players to be team-focused leaders. I do not see that in Beckham, who is just 24, but age is no excuse. I've seen plenty of young guys take on leadership roles and show a lot more maturity.
It's unfortunate that poor behavior sometimes gets rewarded with more attention and even big endorsements. That's the case for Beckham, who received the biggest shoe deal ever for an NFL player with his 5-year, $25 million deal from Nike. The deal reinforced in his mind that he's doing the right things to boost his Q score for advertisers and gain the spotlight he craves.
Ultimately, Beckham has to ask the man in the mirror if he is doing everything he can to be the best player and best person he can be. When he decides to change his M.O., that's when I'll see a man who has finally matured and is no longer interested in being fodder for the New York tabloids.
Somebody needs to quote Hall of Fame Coach Tony Dungy's great line to Beckham: "Never do anything to put yourself or the organization in a bad light." And I'd add what I always told our players during my team president years when I spoke to them at the opening meeting of training camp: "Always act like a professional on and off the field."
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Oh, and about that highest-paid player in the game thing. Of course that will never happen in a quarterback-driven league, where the top 15-20 richest players are the guys under center. But Beckham might want to start by being the NFL's best wide receiver, which he currently is not. That distinction belongs to Julio Jones and/or Antonio Brown.
The last time we saw Jones, he was making a circus sideline catch in the Super Bowl after torching the Packers for 180 yards and two TDs in the NFC title game.
Compare that to Beckham's last game, also against Green Bay. It proves OBJ has a ways to go — on and off the field.
Jeff Diamond is the former president of the Titans and the former vice president/general manager of the Vikings. He was selected NFL Executive of the Year in 1998. Diamond is currently a business and sports consultant who also does broadcast and online media work. He is the former chairman and CEO of The Ingram Group. Follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffdiamondNFL.
