Odell Beckham Jr. isn't shy when it comes to his admiration for Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and all things New England Patriots.
The star Cleveland Browns wide receiver recently admitted catching passes from Brady was "always a dream of his" and talked about the immense respect he has for Belichick. Given those comments, along with how things are currently going for Beckham with the Browns, NBC Sports' Mike Florio wonders whether Beckham still wants to make that dream of playing in a Patriots uniform a reality.
“It reminded me a little bit of a postgame press conference from Randy Moss when he was playing for the Vikings the second time around,” Florio said Thursday. “They lost to the Patriots in Foxboro, Moss laid it on thick about the Patriots and the Vikings cut him the next day. Not that the Browns are going to do that, but if you watch and listen to the full 13 minutes and you pay attention to how many times it comes up, it’s very nonchalant by Beckham.
"Like, he doesn’t realize it could be a problem by being that lavish in your praise because you have a head coach, you have a quarterback who may be listening and saying, ‘Man, maybe he wants to play in New England.’ I came away from the 13 minutes thinking maybe this guy wants to play in New England.
". .. When he says, ‘I don’t know what it takes to be like them,’ that tells me he’s yet to experience anything that in his heart and in his mind reminds him of New England. I can’t imagine that there weren’t members of the Browns organization, whether it was coach Freddie Kitchens, quarterback Baker Mayfield, ownership, GM, whoever, who listened to those comments yesterday and said, ‘I don’t think this guy really wants to be here.'”
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New England Patriots
Florio goes on to note that while the Patriots trading for Beckham before the Oct. 29 deadline is improbable, "we've seen crazier things happen."
Obviously, none of this means Pats fans should look forward to Beckham donning a Pats uniform anytime soon, if ever. But one can dream, just as OBJ has.
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