Another side of Odell Beckham? NFL Network's Kimberly Jones shares touching story
Like anything else, the truth about Odell Beckham off the field probably isn’t what many of us perceive from the tabloid stories.
Beckham was traded from the New York Giants to the Cleveland Browns, a move that became official on Wednesday. Beckham’s time with the Giants was full of drama and back-page headlines. It’s safe to say that all had something to do with the Giants moving him just one year into his huge contract extension.
But NFL Network’s Kimberly Jones told a story about a different side of Beckham, after she had had a near-death experience.
Odell Beckham reached out to Kim Jones after health scare
On NFL Network, Jones told about returning to work on Dec. 31, 46 days after suffering an aortic dissection that threatened her life. She returned to interview some Jets players in the locker room, she said.
At 7 p.m. that night she got a text from Beckham, with a link to a video of her interviewing him after a Giants win a couple years earlier.
“He wrote, simply, ‘I’m so happy I will still get to see you in 2019,’” Jones said. “That is who, in my experience, Odell Beckham Jr. is. I understand he gets a bad rap. He’s emotional, so am I, and we’ve connected on that level. But I do think there’s a different side to him. I hope, in Cleveland, he becomes the person I know him to be, at least in terms of the public image.”
Is Beckham misunderstood as a teammate?
Jones wasn’t the only one to offer a positive opinion on Beckham after the trade. Former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, who now works in the media, said Beckham was a good teammate. He played two seasons with Beckham.
I hope ppl don’t think Odell is an actual distraction in the locker room because he proposed to a kicking net once. He’s loved in the locker room. Works his ass off. Keeps it loose in the locker room. Clearly an excellent playmaker. If he was traded for being a distraction. Yikes
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) March 13, 2019
How Beckham fits in with the Browns will be a story, though it won’t be the draining 24/7 type story it was in New York. Cleveland is a different market than New York. But maybe it won’t be the difficult transition some seem to think it will be.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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