LOS ANGELES — Mattresses.
That is what Justin Pugh remembers when he thinks back on Odell Beckham Jr. and their shared time together with the Giants.
The spectacular athleticism? Sure. The dyed blonde hair? Of course. The one-of-a-kind catch that turned Odell Beckham Jr. into OBJ? Certainly. But it was a tractor trailer that pulled into the team facility one day, and what it revealed about a certain former teammate — a young, budding superstar — that Pugh thinks back on most of all as Beckham’s revitalization takes center stage with his impending appearance in Super Bowl 2022.
“The whole team got mattresses from Odell,” Pugh told The Post. “I think I might have got three mattresses from Odell. Literally he had an 18-wheeler truck pull up to the practice facility and he was like ‘Hey, anyone that needs a mattress go get it.’ It was a Casper mattress, in a box.
“There were backpacks, there was clothing. Literally everything you could think of he was connected to, he made sure everyone else got something. If you have the fame and that connection and people want to send you stuff to not only get yourself, to get it for the 80-plus guys in the locker room, that goes to show you what type of guy he is. That’s why I think so many of his teammates love him and appreciate him. He leveraged his likeness and his fame to help everybody out in the locker room and that was something I always appreciated about him.
“Those are some of the things that no one will know and I don’t think Odell needs anyone else to know. It was something he just enjoyed doing for the guys and that brotherhood is something that even to this day, when we see each other we still talk about, laugh about and enjoy.”
Pugh, an offensive lineman, was the Giants’ first-round draft pick in 2013, so he knew plenty about pressure and living up to great expectations. The next year, Beckham was the Giants’ first-round selection. They spent four years together. Pugh, like so many Giants players of that timespan, is thrilled that Beckham returned to health, wrangled his way to the Rams and will be lining up with Cooper Kupp and hauling in passes from Matthew Stafford on Sunday against the Bengals at SoFi Stadium.
It was often a push-pull existence for Beckham in his five years with the Giants, flowing hot and cold relations with the media, front office and at times the coaching staff. But by and large, his teammates got a big kick out of him. His career took a downturn after he fractured his ankle early in the 2017 season, and by the end of 2018 he was traded away, sent to the Browns. That did not work out, Beckham tore up his knee in 2020 and did not look like the same player. He forced his way out of Cleveland, was released and headed west, selecting the Rams and fulfilling a longstanding goal to play and live in Los Angeles.
Beckham, healthy and happy, is in the Super Bowl for the first time. At age 29, he and his partner, Lauren Wood, are expecting their first child. It is all looking up for the guy known as OBJ and those who helped break him into the NFL with the Giants could not be happier for him.
“Excited for him, man,” said Prince Amukamara, a cornerback taken by the Giants in the first round in 2011. “The thing with Odell is that he knew he still had a lot of ball left in him. I knew, most people knew. But, if we’re being real, his going from team to team and then the performance not being there, you kind of ask ‘Dang, is this it for Odell?’ And I’m sure Odell doesn’t want to just be known for ‘the catch,’ even though that’s not a bad thing to be known for. But to have ‘Super Bowl champion’ next to your name, it’s awesome. I’m sure excited for him.”
There is the Odell that captivated many of his teammates and the OBJ that went supernova. He was a revelation, averaging 96 receptions, 1,359 yards and 11.7 touchdowns in his first three seasons, immediately vaulting into the NFL’s star constellation. In his seventh game for the Giants, he made one of the most spectacular catches anyone has ever seen, reaching back and leaping for a one-handed grab while getting interfered with, tumbling on his back, keeping possession of the ball and rolling into the end zone against the Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football.” LeBron James tweeted “Man I just witnessed the greatest catch ever possibly by Odell Beckham Jr! WOW!!!!” That magnetized Beckham with another level of fame, attention he might not have been ready for at age 22. The jersey Beckham wore for the catch was put on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Mathias Kiwanuka, a defensive end taken by the Giants in the first round in 2006, was there when Beckham broke in as a rookie.
“He had physical ability and the desire to compete every day he was out there in practice, he wanted to show he was the best player,” Kiwanuka said. “It reminded me of a young Osi Umenyiora, somebody who is very confident in their abilities but also works on their craft and doesn’t really care or mind how they are perceived because they know who they are.
“All the extra stuff didn’t really matter because as a teammate you want to know, ‘is this guy gonna show up, is he gonna bring to the table all the things he says he’s gonna bring?’ And he brought it. He had that energy where people gravitated towards him.”
The controversies around Beckham, most of his own making, were media launch points. The altercation with Panthers cornerback Josh Norman that led to a one-game suspension. The “fight” with the kicking net and then the “makeup kiss” with the same net. The infamous “Boat Photo” in Miami before the playoff loss to the Packers, followed by punching the wall and leaving a hole outside the locker room at Lambeau Field. The dog urination touchdown celebration on all-fours against the Eagles. The viral video of Beckham in a Paris hotel with a model and what appeared to be white powder on the bed. Beckham not supporting Eli Manning during an ESPN interview.
Drama.
“Those are subjective, those are opinion-based,” Amukamara said. “You saw him doing the dog pee, that can be seen as dramatic, I see that as he’s having fun with the game.
“The Josh Norman thing, that’s just a pissing contest, it’s a barbarian sport. Even with him proposing to the net, that was kind of his brand, dancing. Being in New York, that’s always heightened because of the market. The Eli thing, I can’t even comment on that.
“That would be a good question for Odell: Do you regret any of your actions that you did in New York? Go down memory lane and see what he says.”
Amukamara was an established player when Beckham arrived and they spent two years together as teammates. There was a time when Amukamara was struggling on the field and the younger Beckham was there to offer support.
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“Hyping me up, gassing me up and it was great hearing that from him,” Amukamara said, “because that’s a guy that plays with a lot of confidence and so he just reminded me of who I was and how I got to where I was, and that was a big milestone in my season.’’
Beckham grew but did not discard anyone. Amukamara recalls waiting outside in Los Angeles, trying to get in to see the ESPY Awards and Beckham, of course already sauntering on the red carpet, spotted him and shouted “He’s with us” to get his teammate in. There were quieter moments, when Amukamara, who considers himself an excellent ping pong player, tried and failed several times to beat Beckham. The defensive backs often would head into Manhattan on Friday nights for group dinners. Amukamara once in a while attended the wide receiver outings with Beckham and Victor Cruz because “they would be around the stars and stuff like that.”
Beckham always made room.
“A guy with his type of celebrity, who’s internationally known, he’s always been the best at not big-timing people,” Amukamara said.
Pugh after four years became a free agent, wanted to stay with the Giants but ended up with a five-year, $45 million deal with the Cardinals. He has played the past four seasons in Arizona. He believes the mix of Beckham and the bright lights of the big city contributed to Beckham’s stardom, and accompanying difficulties.
“I’m telling you right now, there’s things that happened in our locker room in Arizona and we just don’t have the media coverage, no one sees it, it’s not as magnified,” Pugh said. “When you go in to New York you have 100 reporters a day standing at Odell’s locker, you remember the circus that was there and if you have that many people digging you’re gonna find something, something’s gonna get magnified, when he’s the star of the team and things aren’t going the right way. That’s the beauty and the beast of playing in the greatest city in the world.”
Come Sunday, his former Giants teammates will be watching.
“I think he’s one of the guys that’s misunderstood in this league … definitely cheering for him this Sunday,” Pugh said.
“The lesson is that not everybody who appears to be divisive or not a team player is actually that way,” Kiwanuka said. “When I played with him he was young and you could say some of the things he did were immature but he’s grown a lot. I applaud him for being headstrong and figuring out a way to get himself and his family in the best situation possible.”
Amukamara: “You see him go to L.A., it seems like [Rams head coach] Sean McVay loves him, it seems like the whole team loves him and he’s been welcomed. And he’s performing well. Then maybe whatever was there wasn’t really there, if that makes sense. Whatever bad notations anyone had, I think those are erased now because he’s flourishing with this quarterback, he’s flourishing with this team. Things are going good, right? Knowing Odell, I never thought he was the problem, at all.”
