Odell Beckham Jr. isn't sure what tomorrow brings -- honestly, none of us can be sure -- but he is certain about one thing: He's not discontent in Cleveland.
That's what Beckham wrote on Twitter Friday after his musings Thursday were spread as him potentially being unhappy with his new team and looking for a way out.
The results -- 5-7, a slim chance at best of making the playoffs, a frustrating season in which he's averaging a career low in receptions per game (4.75) -- are not what anyone envisioned when the superstar wideout was traded to Cleveland in March. Beckham was asked about what might happen in the offseason Thursday and gave a vague response, referring to the uncertainty of life.
This is what Beckham does from time to time when asked questions about his feelings. He's seen a lot, been through a thousand lives' worth of public scrutiny and knows that whatever he says will be taken and run with for online traffic and television eyeballs.
"They want to see me mad or throw a helmet or punch a cooler or hug a kicking net or hit the kicking net, they want to see those things," Beckham said Thursday, "but like I told you, it's on me and I've made that effort, that decision, that choice to just not allow that no matter what's going on."
Beckham has toned down his emotional outbursts significantly, refusing to enter a full meltdown in a season that has given him plenty of excuses to do so. But what's also true about when he speaks in such a vague manner is how much room he's giving others for interpretation. Speaking generally allows for misconstrusion. Instead of just giving lip service or PR-coached speak, his honest answers, however unrevelatory they might be, give those recording them a chance to present them in a variety of fashions.
That's how Beckham landed at Friday morning's tweet, in which he had to make clear that he isn't unhappy in Cleveland. Anyone watching Thursday's press conference could see it in his body language. After answering a question, Beckham turned to his teammates, standing off to the side of the gathering, to whom he referred as the "booka boys" (since training camp, some members of the Browns have taken to repetitively shouting "booka booka booka" after making a play or in celebration of a positive moment) and smiled while asking them if they wanted to participate. He's not a superstar alone in a dark place.
He is on a team that likely won't make the playoffs, though, which makes for the third straight season in which that is true for a squad featuring Beckham. Change could be ahead within the Browns' organization, but again, Beckham isn't focusing on that.
"For me, personally, this offseason, it's about work and getting to the very best of my abilities, no matter what," Beckham said. "I tell you all the time, 2020's going to be my year. I'm not really worried so much about what's going to happen in the future, but my mindset for next year is no matter what is going on, nothing is going to be in my way. That's just how I feel. That's the goal. Sit here, write it down now, people can talk about it, say whatever they want, but we'll see when it happens next year."
