Eli Manning has mostly kept quiet while Odell Beckham Jr. has bad-mouthed the New York Giants. On Thursday, the quarterback responded perfectly to his ex-teammate.
In an interview with GQ that was published on Monday, Beckham said he felt disrespected by the Giants trading him. Beckham also claimed to be the reason the team was in prime-time games last year despite their poor record.
“We were getting prime-time games, still, as a 5–11 team. Why? Because people want to see the show. You want to see me play. That’s just real rap. I’m not sitting here like, ‘It’s because of me.’ But let’s just be real,” Beckham said.
Forget that the Giants have won two Super Bowls since 2007, play in the largest media market in the country, have millions of fans, and are quarterbacked by a Manning. Beckham was still taking credit for being in prime-time.
Manning responded in an interview with former teammates Kurt Warner and Shaun O’Hara on NFL Network Thursday.
“I don’t think they bothered me,” Manning said of the comments. “You just kind of shake your head and laugh. … I won a few games before he was here.”
Not a bad comment from the mystery meat man.
Beckham claiming to be the reason the Giants had prime-time games tells you everything you need to know about him. He thinks he is the center of the universe and bigger than he is. Yes, he is an excellent player. Yes, he is popular and polarizing. No, he is not the reason the Giants get prime-time games. That franchise has been around since 1925. Their huge fan base and following that was established 67 years before Beckham was born is the biggest reason why they are in prime-time.
