ESPN: Odell Beckham says he is “not having fun anymore”

The Odell Beckham story took another turn Tuesday afternoon when Anita Marks of ESPN reported that the New York Giants’ star told her he is “not having fun anymore” playing football.

"Football is my sanctuary," Beckham told Marks. "It's where I go to escape. It's where I'm most happy. I'm not having fun anymore."

Beckham was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. After the game, he ranted about how “it’s all against me” and “I’m always in the wrong no matter what.”

Beckham, who had a career-low 23 receiving yards Monday night, also expressed frustration to Marks regarding the offense.

"What I'm communicating, we're not doing," he said. "I'm not getting the opportunities to contribute, and that's frustrating to me."

Beckham, of course, was the primary topic of coach Ben McAdoo’s day after game conference call with reporters on Tuesday afternoon. McAdoo was obviously not thrilled with the barrage of Beckham questions.

McAdoo clearly tried to deflect Beckham questions. When asked about his unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and post-game remarks, McAdoo offered a generic statement about the offense.

"Listen when we execute better and we spread the ball around and everyone gets their opportunities we're gonna have some fun,” he said. “But until we execute better, until we hang onto the football and until we eliminate the penalties from the play nobody's going to be having any fun."

Asked directly about Beckham’s comments to Marks about “not having fun anymore,” McAdoo again responded with a generic answer about the state of the offense.

"Listen when we execute better and we spread the ball around and everyone gets their opportunities we're gonna have some fun,” he said. “But until we execute better, until we hang onto the football and until we eliminate the penalties from the play nobody's going to be having any fun."

Here’s McAdoo on Beckham’s comments regarding not getting enough opportunities:

"He's a talented player who works hard in practice. It's important to him. His teammates are important to him. He wants to win, he wants to make an impact."

No one wants to believe that WFAN’s Mike Francesa is right when he says that we might be seeing “the absolute ruination of a great talent” if this continues. Problem is, Eli Manning is right that Beckham, who seems not to be willing to recognize it, “brought that on himself.”

Beckham is the one who has to fix the situation. Until he’s able to see that he’s only a victim of his own emotions, and that he is the one who has to get control of himself, you have to worry about the long-term impact on both his career and the future of the Giants.