As it stands, there is a stark contrast between where Odell Beckham Jr. has been, what is expected of him and what he’s currently doing. The public perception of Beckham remains that of an elite wide receiver who made any and all catches, physically possible or otherwise, as a member of the New York Giants.
That perception is at odds with his recent track record as an oft-injured receiver for the Cleveland Browns, where his billing has been more of a tantalizing promise than a reality. Beckham is still rated highly thanks in large part to his early career, most notably his famous one-handed catch in a primetime game during his rookie year.
But that catch was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what Beckham has done and is capable of, as Jarvis Landry, his longtime teammate at both LSU and with the Browns, can attest.
“We talked about, the other day, when he made the one-handed catch out in New York and everybody’s like this is the greatest catch I’ve ever seen, but I’ve seen him do wilder things than that,” Landry told Cris Carter on the WR1 podcast. “So that’s just part of our history and part of the work we put in throughout this point.”
Dating back to their college days, Landry shared how he and Beckham have long motivated each other to be the best they could possibly be. The two subsequently became stars in the NFL and their paths once again converged when Beckham was traded to the Browns in 2019 prior to Landry’s second season in Cleveland.
“We just wanted to be great, we just wanted to make any and every play that came our way, and when we got to college we realized that, man, if we put the work in we can be as good as anybody, as great as anybody,” Landry said. “And I think that that was something that was extremely important in our development and getting on the JUGS, breaking into the facility, making sure we’re getting our catches in, challenging each other so that when situations came into the game it was easy, you know?”
Despite their place at the top of the Browns’ receiving corps, both Beckham and Landry have been afflicted by injuries early in the 2021 season. Beckham has missed the first two games as he continues to work back from a torn ACL that ended his 2020 season, while Landry suffered a knee injury of his own and has been placed on injured reserve.
