Time heals all wounds.
That’s how Odell Beckham Jr. sees it as he rejoined the New York Giants, the team that drafted him in 2014, this week at voluntary team organized activities (OTAs). The Giants worked out Beckham twice over the past month and inked him and fellow wideouts JuJu Smith-Schuster and Braxton Berrios to low-risk deals to round out the receiver room.
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Beckham sat out the 2025 season after playing nine games in 2024 for the Miami Dolphins; he was suspended six games for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs and was waived before the season ended.
“The way that I had to walk away, it was unsettling in my soul and my spirit,” Beckham told reporters. “It’s not who I am. I’ve never surrendered or quit or given up on myself or anything. And it just wasn’t sitting with me well. I have to do this. This is for myself, this is for my son, lead by example. I want him to be able to see who I am, not who I was, and just know that we never give up in our house. You go after what you believe in.”
Beckham has battled knee injuries for most of his career and missed the 2022 season following a year that ended with him catching a touchdown in the Super Bowl for the Los Angeles Rams. But the 33-year-old tore his ACL for a second time during that victory and returned in 2023 with the Baltimore Ravens, who were then coached by John Harbaugh, now leading the Giants and reunited with Beckham.
Harbaugh said he sees a healthier Beckham but that the 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year must show that he can stay healthy.
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“God has given me one more opportunity to play,” Beckham said. “Whatever I do with that, is that. I’m not saying this is my only year, I’m not saying I’ve got five more for you. I’m looking at it like this is my opportunity now, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
On multiple occasions, Beckham was asked about his unceremonious exit from New York in 2019, shortly after he signed a 5-year, $90 million extension with the team. The team fined him for openly criticizing quarterback Eli Manning during an ESPN interview. He was eventually traded to the Cleveland Browns and followed a similar playbook that led to his departure from Cleveland two years later, as his clashes with quarterback Baker Mayfield led to the Browns releasing him in the middle of the season prior to him joining the Rams.
Beckham maintained that he never wanted to leave the Giants, who made the playoffs once in his five seasons with the team. He simply hated losing, he said.
“All I ever wanted to do for this place was win,” he said.
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Beckham added: “I never wanted to leave here, I just wanted us to have a better team. I just wanted to be great. I care about it that much … if I regret anything, it would be not winning here.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Odell Beckham Jr. back with NY Giants after ugly 2019 exit, trade
