Beckham Jr.: I obviously don't want to play hurt all my career
By Jason Rowan
Odell Beckham Jr. cannot help but dwell upon his wonky hamstring. A lot.
After seeing his rookie campaign — in which he ultimately became a budding superstar — delayed by a hamstring injury and then feeling the disappointment of having to deal with the same injury again this offseason, the New York Giants wide receiver admitted that he is concerned that he will be forced to deal with it in perpetuity.
“I obviously would not want to play hurt all my career,” he admitted, via a report from Zach Braziller of the New York Post.
The dynamic wideout saw his coming-out party in his rookie season start late due to a bad hamstring, missing all of training camp and sitting out the first four games. He nevertheless caught an impressive 91 balls for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns, a phenomenal campaign that earned him AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and landed him on the cover of “Madden 16.”
Still, a right hamstring injury caused Beckham to miss the Giants’ Organized Team Activities. He insists he’s on the mend and that he’s trying to not dwell upon it too much as he prepares for the 2015 season.
“It feels a lot better, actually,” he said. “I would rather be healthy than anything else. I just don’t want to go through that, what I had to go through last year, and not just for myself, for this team.”
Beckham stressed he envisions a great career ahead of him, beginning with next season, saying in a post on his personal website that he’s “got big goals and visions for 2015,” adding he aims “to finish the year off with a Super Bowl victory and to give me that peace of mind.”
Beckham caused himself some grief while enduring his latest hamstring setback by taking offense to how his teammates gave him grief over the recurring nature of the injury. He did, though, insist that his relationship with his teammates is fine and he has “no problem” with any of them. It certainly appears the second-year wideout is doing his best to figure out how to balance being a superstar off the field and learning how to keep being one on it.
More from Sportress of Blogitude:
