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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Odell Beckham said Friday that he had no regrets about saying in an UNINTERRUPTED video that he wants to be the NFL’s highest-paid player, or about the fact that the video became public the day New York Giants players reported for training camp.
Being The Highest-Paid Player
"It's just kind of goals and aspirations that I have ... it's really just something on my mind. There's a lot of goals that you want to accomplish, that's just one of them."
Is that realistic?
"It's not really up to me,” Beckham said.
About The Timing
Beckham said the release of the video as camp opened “doesn’t bother me at all.”
Pressed about potentially causing a distraction, Beckham was undeterred.
"Everything's a distraction that I do. Speaking, it doesn't really matter. Anything that goes on is going to be a distraction.
"Me speaking my mind to a question that I was asked to a company that I work with, it's a different story."
Several times Beckham referred media back to the UNINTERRUPTED video, and made sure to mention that he is a partner in the company.
Playing Innocent About Contracts
Not for the first time in recent months, Beckham claimed not to know how contract work in the NFL.
"I don't really know about contracts. I don't know how they're done, I don't know anything about that,” Beckham said. “That's up to Mr. Reese, Mr. Mara, the Giants, my agent. They all figure that out. I just come out here, stretch, run routes, play football. Try to be the best teammate I can be every day."
Believe that if you want, but it is impossible to think that Beckham is naive about the process considering the amount of money that will be at stake.
Playing The Martyr
Beckham played the “I’m not doing this for myself” card, saying he was hoping to be a ground breaker in getting better contracts for NFL players.
“This isn’t for Odell Beckham. This is for everybody in the league, people who deserve it,” Beckham said. “You sit there and you watch the NBA, it’s crazy. Being realistic, it’s crazy what they’re getting and there’s people in the NFL who deserve that. If I can I want to be on the forefront for it and help push the league, the game that way because I feel like the players deserve it.”
Again, believe that if you want. I have a hard time, though, picturing Beckham as some sort of pioneer taking on Giants’ ownership for the good of all the other players in the league.
Waiting For “God’s Timing”
Beckham said that whether he gets a new deal “today, tomorrow or 10 years from now” and that “I have to go out another year and prove myself, that's what I have to do. That's the position I'm in, that's all I can do is go out and play.”
"That's all I can do. Be the very best I can be. Just know that in due time, in God's timing it'll be there. I can't really worry about it. I can come out, work, get better every single day. Prove myself day to day on why I believe what I believe and I think what I think, and that's it."