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The New York Giants will have to deal with their share of adversity this offseason.
After a hugely disappointing, and embarrassing, 2017 season, they earned that adversity. However, where there is adversity, there is also opportunity, if you know where to look.
Part of the adversity facing the Giants is the dilemma regarding Odell Beckham Jr. Beckham will be getting a very rich second contract — that part is beyond dispute after he exploded on the scene and rewrote NFL record books in his rookie contract.
He might even be getting that contract this offseason. However, the Giants have to be concerned about his ability to control his incredible passion, to make decisions in the heat of the moment that won’t hurt the team, and to be a leader.
They, perhaps, got their first glimpse of Odell the leader on Monday morning when he publicly sought to help teammate Eli Apple, who has been at the heart of his own storm in 2017. Beckham offered advice to Apple, as well as calling the young cornerback, as well as himself, out for not living up to expectations in the lost year.
Brooooo I kno it feels good to tell these ppl off , trust me I would love nothin more than to do the same. But don’t waste ur time on these ppl, half the ppl don’t even have real accounts. Stop bro, ur better than that. U weren’t... and I wasn’t... good enough this year.
— Odell Beckham Jr (@OBJ_3) January 8, 2018
Beckham continued by tweeting:
@EliApple13 stopppp wasting ur energy on these ppl. Please bro.
Just hear me out... it’s really not worth it. Please bro, this what they want.... back to the drawin board . Let’s get it !
Love brudda ! Let’s get up this off season !
Part of the Giants issues have been blamed on Beckham, or perhaps more accurately, on neither Tom Coughlin nor Ben McAdoo holding Beckham to the same standard as other players. That they obviously treat their star player with kid gloves made it difficult to discipline other players.
Beckham has always been a hard worker who is driven to strive for greatness. But it is promising to see him reaching out to a teammate and trying to hold him to help him and hold him to high standard, and keep him out of trouble on social media. The Giants need their best, most talented player to be one of their locker room leaders.