It’s a hard-knock life, being a millionaire athlete, isn’t it?
His name is Odell Beckham Jr. He just signed a $95 MILLION dollar contract extension with the NY Giants that makes him the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL.
So, naturally, he’s whining.
That’s OK, kid, it doesn’t make a lick of sense to the grown-ups, either.
Here was his initial reaction to the signing:
The financial figures were not disclosed, but according to reports, Beckham can earn a maximum $95 million total, with $65 million guaranteed. He’ll average $20 million per year for the first three years.
“Honestly, I don’t even know how to explain it,” Beckham said. “I don’t know if it’s a relief, I don’t know — it’s a combination of everything. You’ve worked all your life to get to this point and it’s finally here.”
Source: CNN
You may be wondering… WHY is the guy who signed an almost NINE-figure contract suddenly unhappy? It turns out that being a gazillionaire pro-athlete makes you interesting to the public. Who knew?
That’s right, he’s famous.
And now he’s upset about it.
“I really feel like a zoo animal,” the New York Giants star receiver said in a conversation with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James on HBO’s “The Shop.” James is the executive producer of the show HBO describes as “unfiltered conversation and debate” set in a barbershop.
“You know, you used to take your kids to the zoo and we used to be like, ‘I want to see the lions or let’s go see the lions,’ ” Beckham continued. “And you go out there, and the lions are laid out. And it’s like, ‘why aren’t they doing lion stuff?’ Like I’ve got people who call out, ‘Odell! Dance!’ Like, I’m a show punk, a show monkey or something. Like I’m a puppet. …That doesn’t feel good.”
In the episode, James and Beckham discussed the difference between a white quarterback such as Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady denying a fan a photo vs. an African American athlete doing the same thing. James made the point that black athletes are perceived differently in the public eye and often cast as the bad guy more often.
Beckham concurred with a recent example: “I had it happen the other day. I didn’t want to take a picture. Like, I’m like I’m really in a rush, I’ve got to go. I get on Twitter, it’s like, oh, yeah, I’m a Giant season ticket-holder for thirty years. I’m like, ‘first of all, you’re twenty something.’ And then, it’s like, oh, he’s an (expletive), he didn’t want to take a picture.”
Source: USA Today
Boo-Frickity-hoo. It comes with the territory. If you don’t like the fame, you could always, quit football and learn a trade. And did he just call his own fans ‘racists’? How does that work, exactly?
Is he upset about dating supermodels, too? And does he think they’d give him the time of day if he carried a lunch bucket to work?
Or is he just upset about the attention from the fans who pay his salary by watching games and buying merch?
He’d better start appreciating them. Because without them… he’s just another guy playing catch.
Are you watching NFL football this year?
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