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Baltimore Ravens star Odell Beckham Jr. got a bit reflective as he approaches what could be a pivotal season in his NFL career.
The 30-year-old offered a thoughtful response when asked by NBC Sports’ Peter King what he might have changed about his run so far if given the opportunity:
“If I could go back, would I like to have a career where the first three years of my career could have been repeated? Yeah, of course. I’d be sitting here, 30 years old, with 100 touchdowns and 14,000 yards. I wish I could’ve never been injured, never shattered my ankle or came back too early from a high ankle sprain. But those are things I now have to live with. I can’t live in regret for the rest of my life.”
Through his first three years with the New York Giants, Beckham was on pace to put himself among the greatest pass-catchers ever. He had 288 receptions for 4,122 yards and 35 touchdowns.
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Five years ago today, <a href=”https://twitter.com/obj?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@obj</a> broke the internet. (Nov. 23, 2014) <a href=”https://t.co/XwtdekPHin”>pic.twitter.com/XwtdekPHin</a>
But Beckham hasn’t been the same since his injury-plagued 2017 campaign. He suffered a left ankle sprain in the preseason and then fractured the same ankle after returning to the field in the regular season.
Then came OBJ’s underwhelming stint in Northeast Ohio after the Giants traded him to the Cleveland Browns in 2019. He and Baker Mayfield were rarely on the same page, and a torn ACL in 2020 was a massive setback in his quest to be an elite wideout again.
Beckham has nevertheless enjoyed the kind of career many of his peers would savor. He became a major star almost immediately upon entering the league, is a three-time Pro Bowler, and lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021. That’s quite the list of personal accomplishments.
There’s still time for Beckham to enjoy a bit of a late renaissance as well.
“I feel like I’m walking that fine line of gratitude and happy to be healthy and playing football … but also I still wanna be great,” he told King.
