Odell Beckham Jr.’s Baltimore Ravens introductory presser certainly had its sound bites.
Beckham, who signed a one-year, $15 million deal with the Ravens this week, claimed that Baltimore’s underdog mentality resonated with him throughout free agency. Beckham has been a free agent since tearing his ACL in Super Bowl LVI. While he flirted with many teams throughout last season, a deal never materialized until this past week.
“I was an underdog all my life,” Beckham claimed Thursday. “I wasn’t the number one receiver in my class. I was a four-star. I didn’t have it easy coming up until I got to New York and had success. I’ve been the underdog all my life. I’ve still been counted out. I’m still counted out. That kind of excites me.”
“I’ve been an underdog my whole life… I’m still counted out. That excites me.”
Doubt @obj at your own risk. 🤫 (via @Ravens) pic.twitter.com/MY09lTqSFG
— NFL (@NFL) April 13, 2023
Coming out of high school, Rivals considered Beckham to be the No. 6 wide receiver in his recruiting class and the No. 43 overall prospect nationally. He was also the third wide receiver taken in the 2014 NFL Draft, behind Sammy Watkins and Mike Evans, who both were selected in the top 10.
Needless to say, those in the sports world were confused by Beckham’s comments and made sure to roast him on social media:
“Talk to anyone who grew up playing sports in New Orleans around the time OBJ was coming up and they’ll tell stories as if they’re describing a mix of Jerry Rice, Michael Jordan and Lionel Messi,” tweeted PFF’s Brad Speilberger.
“Bro you literally came in a family of athletes, went to LSU and was a first round pick” said Carlos Baldwin on Twitter. “When were you the underdog?”
“Rivals had him as the #6 WR in America coming out of high school, he went to one of college football’s premiere programs on a full scholarship and was drafted 12th in the #NFLDraft. The underdog stuff must have happened before all that,” wrote Andrew Goldwasser.
“I feel like the most underrated trait in a successful professional athlete is to convince yourself you’re an underdog even when you’re clearly not,” said another Twitter user.
