The New England Patriots were extremely close to landing one of the NFL’s star receivers this season.
Odell Beckham Jr. was released from the Cleveland Browns after dealing with some internal complications. Beckham Jr. was looking for a new home and he found it with the Los Angeles Rams. Now, he’s one week away from his first Super Bowl and his contributions have helped the Rams get there.
While speaking to reporters during the virtual Super Bowl LVI media availability, Beckham Jr. admitted that he was “very” close to signing with the Patriots.
“Very,” Beckham Jr. said about how close he was to joining the Patriots. “Very, very very.”
He offered some details about his conversation with Bill Belichick.
“I don’t think I (told) him on the phone,” he said. “But I was (thinking), ‘You know, if this was three years ago, it would’ve been ideal, because Tom (Brady) is one of my favorites.’ I know I posted a video a long time (ago) of just the passion and the fire that Tom has, and there’s a bunch of clips cutting to me doing similar things. And mine gets misconstrued for something else, and his is something else, and it’s just like, actually I love football that much that I’ll punch a water cooler. Like, I care that much for this game.
” … And for a guy, a coach like Bill Belichick, who I’ve admired for years and I’ve seen, and, just, always was like, ‘Man, someday I’m gonna play for Bill Belichick.’ … For him to call me; to be able to just sit down on the phone and talk football — I mean, it’s like, what more could you ask for? So, I was very close (to joining Patriots). That’s one of the teams that was in there. But I just, I felt like (Los Angeles) was home, that this was right.”
Here's Odell Beckham Jr.'s full answer to @_AndrewCallahan's question about his interest in the Patriots and conversations with Bill Belichick back in November. pic.twitter.com/ELaUVEOWBo
— Dakota Randall (@DakRandallNESN) February 7, 2022
The 29-year-old is now one game away from being a potential Super Bowl winner — so, it’s hard to say he didn’t make the right choice.
