Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is one of the best in the NFL. A true superstar at the position and in the game in general.
And at age 27, the receiver might just be entering his prime. There is clearly tons of great football left to be played ahead of him.
However, Beckham nearly retired in 2017 when he was with the New York Giants. And according to Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com, the wide receiver explains why.
“Beckham broke his ankle early while he was still a member of the Giants during the 2017 season and said that the injury combined with the “depression” he felt from outside critics to create thoughts of walking away from the game.
“I said this in college, I said, ‘I fear the day that they make this game a business and not what I love,'” Odell Beckham Jr. said. “And when I seen that for the first time after breaking my ankle, like I thought about not playing no more, like this is not really it for me because they’ve ruined the game of football for me a little bit.””
So it's actually pretty simple. Odell Beckham Jr. suffered a tough injury. He broke his ankle, and that's not always the easiest thing to come back from.
And the wide receiver was already feeling a little off. The critics that followed his every move seemed to be getting to him. And that makes sense too, as Beckham could not blow his nose without 50 people jumping down his throat.
So the injury kept Beckham out for a while. And with all the negativity he was facing, he seems like he considered just ending his career there. Then he would not have to deal with the tough road back and all the criticism that would come his way.
Beckham decided to keep going though and has posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons since returning from that injury.
Cleveland is probably very happy that he did not retire.
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