New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. had a 2016 season that was filled with immature outbursts, and apparently he is aware that he has to address that going forward.
Giants punter Brad Wing, who played college ball with Beckham at LSU and is one of Odell’s closest friends on the team, was asked this week if Beckham is aware he needs to show more maturity.
“Absolutely. We’re both realists, where there’s smoke there’s fire,” Wing told Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “He’s always cared about what the youth think of him, the younger generation, and I know he always wants to be the best role model for them, and he understands things like that are not helping him in that way. He understands, he just has a lot of passion and me and him are both learning how to harness that in a positive direction.”
Beckham capped off his season with a miserable game against the Green Bay Packers. He caught just four passes for 28 yards and had three drops in the 38-13 loss. After the game, Beckham was so angry he punched a hole in a wall outside the visitors locker room at Lambeau Field. You can see a photo of the damage here.
Wing downplayed the act, which led to Giants GM Jerry Reese telling Beckham he needs to grow up.
“But you got to remember I was a part of the losing team as well,” Wing said. “I didn’t really give too much thought to it. It’s obviously frustrating, everybody has different ways they deal with frustration. I don’t know. It’s a dry sheet wall.”
Sure, it was just a dry sheet wall. But it was also just a kicking net that Beckham took his frustrations out on earlier in the year (video here), and that wasn’t a wise decision either. Still, Wing feels his friend is trending in the right direction.
“I really was proud of him this year how he handled the whole Josh Norman thing, kind of just put that straight to bed,” the punter added. “Rome wasn’t built in a day, you don’t go from a boy to a man overnight, and this league’s a very demanding league, and I have all the faith in the world anything he wants to improve on he can put his mind to it and get it done.”
No one is denying that Beckham is one of the most talented receivers in the game, but his act has grown tired with his fans, teammates and coaches. At some point, the production on the field isn’t worth the headaches. And when the production on the field stinks like it did in Green Bay, patience wears thin even quicker.
