Odell Beckham Jr. revealed what really went down on the night the infamous Giants boat photo was taken in 2017, and explained why it makes him mad when people joke about it still.
The Ravens receiver — who was the 12th overall pick by the Giants in 2014, and spent five seasons with New York — explained what led to the Miami trip, where he and his former Giants teammates, including Victor Cruz and Sterling Shepard, were photographed on a yacht following their season-ending win over the Washington Redskins (now the Washington Commanders).
The Giants were on their way to the playoffs after that Dec. 31 victory, and Beckham said he and his teammates just wanted to let off a little steam to celebrate the new year before their wild-card matchup with the Packers, which turned out to be a disastrous 38-13 defeat.
“All of the boys are on a high,” Beckham said during an appearance on the latest installment of the “Punch Line” podcast, hosted by his teammate Marlon Humphrey. “It’s New Year’s that night. You’re gonna go celebrate, whether you’re going out in New York or Miami. We decided we were gonna fly down there, have a good little night, hop back on the plane and get out of there, no problem.
“… The night happens. We’re calling the pilots, something is going on, the flight’s going to be delayed until 6 a.m. now.
“… So we end up going to an afterparty where there was Trey Songz there, Justin Bieber. We were just kicking it… chilling. This was a house that was on the water. A boat ends up coming out there out there… I’m like, ‘… We’ll go out there and then come back in.’”
Beckham went on to explain that he hadn’t packed anything for the night, and ended up borrowing Cruz’s Timberland boots.
“If you look at the picture now that I tell you the story, you could tell that no one on that boat thought that his picture would be posted before going to the playoffs,” he said.
“The sun is beaming on you, your shirt’s off. We’re on no sleep, we’re tired, we’re ready to go home, We’ve been ready to go home. We already had our night, we did what we needed to do.
“… It’s an unforeseen thing that was going on… There is no way I thought this picture would ever be taken, posted, nor did I want to take the picture. I also feel like a picture can illustrate a moment, a lot of words, but it could not illustrate what was actually going on at the time.”
Beckham wouldn’t reveal the name of the person who posted the photo.
“Looking back in hindsight, was it the best decision to even enjoy yourself on New Year’s or have a night out? No.”
“When the picture came out the energy — I’m a huge energy person… everybody around me, even in my own self, I felt like we had lost.
“I had the best week in practice, I didn’t let it bother me, tried to dance it off… but deep down inside something had felt wrong. The attention had been shifted from the New York Giants vs. the Green Bay Packers to this boat story.
“My biggest regret about all of that is that incident allowed that to happen. Not that I went and had a good time on New Year’s. It’s that I put myself in a situation where this story could be used to create a distraction from what’s really going on.”
Beckham recalled his confidence “being shot” heading into the game against an “in his prime” Aaron Rodgers with the temperature at minus-3 degrees in Green Bay in January.
“My biggest regret is that I allowed that to happen,” he said. “The confidence had been shot… The energy had been shifted … it was an energy that I couldn’t overcome. I couldn’t pray it away, I couldn’t wish it away.
“Going into the stadium, even practicing all week before, I could feel that it was done. The confidence had bee shot. If there was confidence the energy had been shifted.
“If we would’ve won, yeah it would’ve been iconic, but to me it was an energy I couldn’t overcome myself. I couldn’t pray it away, I couldn’t wish it away. It was heavy.”
AP
Beckham also shut down recent rumors that he had planned to rent out a massive yacht called “The Spirit of Baltimore” for the Ravens’ offensive players before the playoffs.
“Bulls–t,” Beckham said. “It makes me mad. Those plans were never had. It’s like the joke lives on. That joke is weak and played out.
“I’ve become a father since then, I’ve won a whole Super Bowl [with the Rams], I’ve become three different people, three evolutions of myself since that time. It’s like reminding someone of their past, like, ‘Oh you can never change.’”
Beckham’s life has changed since his stint with the Giants, during which he made his famous one-handed catch on “Sunday Night Football.”
Following two seasons with Cleveland, Beckham was traded to the Rams and won a Super Bowl in 2022.
Days after he won his first championship, Beckham and his now ex-girlfriend Lauren Wood welcomed their son Zydn on Feb. 17.
The three-time Pro Bowl wideout signed a one-year contract with the Ravens last April.
The Ravens (13-4) host the Houston Texans (11-7) in the divisional round on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
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