Speaker 1: Welcome into Ravens Press pass. Odell Beckham Junior was in
Speaker 1: the building today and officially signed his new contract with
Speaker 1: the Ravens. Odell also met with the media today alongside
Speaker 1: coach Harball and Eric da Costa as the team introduced
Speaker 1: the newest raven Now, before we jump into Odell's introductory
Speaker 1: press conference, Mink and myself will be giving our takeaways
Speaker 1: from today's press conference on a new episode of the
Speaker 1: Last so be sure to check out the Ravens Lounge
Speaker 1: feeds soon for that episode that's going to be dropping. So,
Speaker 1: without any further ado, here's Odell Beckham Junior with Coach
Speaker 1: Harball and Eric da Costa. Thanks for coming out today.
Speaker 1: It's exciting for us and a great opportunity for us
Speaker 1: to announce Odell Beckham as our latest addition to the team.
Speaker 1: Welcome to his family's beautiful family, who had a chance
Speaker 1: to spend some time with them last night, and his son,
Speaker 1: who I'm already I want to represent in about twenty
Speaker 1: years because he's gonna be a heck of an athlete.
Speaker 1: But it was really a whirlwind for us. This has
Speaker 1: been something that's been really percolating over the last year.
Speaker 1: We've had conversations with Odell's agent, Zeke, who's here today,
Speaker 1: and you know, this has been something that we've been
Speaker 1: focused on for really going back to probably last October.
Speaker 1: We've had conversations to try and possibly potentially get something
Speaker 1: worked out. And it's a great it's a great feeling
Speaker 1: for us. You know, we had a chance to attend
Speaker 1: Odell's workout last month in Arizona. We also had the
Speaker 1: chance to spend some time with him in Arizona during
Speaker 1: the owners meetings several weeks ago. Great meeting, and you know,
Speaker 1: we went into it knowing we were the underdogs, and
Speaker 1: sometimes it's a great story. Sometimes the underdog wins. And
Speaker 1: we're thrilled to have him here today and we're thrilled
Speaker 1: for what this means for our football team. That was
Speaker 1: an exciting across. By the way, he's exciting. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: He wants to be on the ground running around right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's uh, he was trying to get on that table
Speaker 1: last night. He was like really excellent quickness, agility, short
Speaker 1: area burst. Couple times he's ready, questions good, Um. You
Speaker 1: know I've talked to Themarrow while he was out there,
Speaker 1: and I know that's a better discussion for these two
Speaker 1: as far as how that get handled. UM. But the
Speaker 1: goal was, you know, to come here and and have
Speaker 1: that possibility to play with him, And I'm excited about
Speaker 1: that opportunity as far as the team, and I just
Speaker 1: ready to bring leadership, ready to bring I've been out
Speaker 1: for a long time. I had to sit there and
Speaker 1: watch everyone else play. UM. I'm just excited to get
Speaker 1: back on the field, you know. And it's good to
Speaker 1: be where you wanted. UM. And you know, like we said,
Speaker 1: we've had communications since last October and UM, you know,
Speaker 1: you guys showed me that you wanted me to be
Speaker 1: here and then I was going to be a very
Speaker 1: big piece to this organization. So I'm definitely excited about that.
Speaker 1: Before you signed, you didn't get any assurances from Lamar
Speaker 1: that you got from a Pew point together this year,
Speaker 1: didn't get any assurances for anything. You know, life's uncertain. UM,
Speaker 1: I think that you know, we don't we don't know
Speaker 1: what's gonna happen tomorrow, the next day. You know, we
Speaker 1: only know what's happened in the past. So to me,
Speaker 1: it just was excited about the possibility of that, you know,
Speaker 1: my thoughts would be that he would be here. I
Speaker 1: know that, you know, these two want them to be here,
Speaker 1: um and you know, at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: that's that's going to be up to them. In your career,
Speaker 1: you've always see the natural fit in the big city
Speaker 1: in New York, in LA, you're a star personality. All
Speaker 1: poor doesn't necessarily fit that profile. So well, I wasn't Cleveland,
Speaker 1: so I mean, not the biggest of cities, you know.
Speaker 1: For me, it was great to be in you know,
Speaker 1: New York early in my career, and then I went
Speaker 1: to Cleveland, I didn't have much success. And then I
Speaker 1: went to LA and I had success. But like at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, the common denator, common denominator
Speaker 1: between all that was I cared about football. I cared
Speaker 1: about being great. I cared about you know. I mean,
Speaker 1: I worked my entire life since I was I don't
Speaker 1: want to say his age, but since I was four
Speaker 1: years old. Look at my mom and I was telling
Speaker 1: that I'm practicing for Sunday. So to me, it's always
Speaker 1: been about football. You know, the big cities are great.
Speaker 1: They gave me extra opportunities off the field, but at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, I didn't care what was
Speaker 1: going on as long as I was catching touchdowns and
Speaker 1: having that hard work kind of payoff. He went on, Yeah,
Speaker 1: we had a great relationship in Cleveland, to be honest,
Speaker 1: And it's like there just wasn't you know, when certain
Speaker 1: situations just aren't for people. It's not anyone's fault or
Speaker 1: anything that happens. It's just life. Life goes that way,
Speaker 1: and things, you know, don't work out the way that
Speaker 1: you want to. So we had great rapport there, UM,
Speaker 1: great communication. I remember him and I are trying to, like,
Speaker 1: you know, really figure out what's going on and uh,
Speaker 1: bring everyone together. So I have nothing but love for him.
Speaker 1: I got to watch what he did at Georgia, watched
Speaker 1: the success he had, UM, and you know, just excited
Speaker 1: about the opportunity that's in front of me, and you know,
Speaker 1: just kind of watching that offense and seeing what was done,
Speaker 1: I just know that it should be a lot of fun. Well.
Speaker 1: I have not talked to Lamar since the signing. UM,
Speaker 1: there's been interaction along the way. UM, you know Lamar's
Speaker 1: and our plans. We love Lamar, our feelings about Lamar.
Speaker 1: I have not changed one bit since the end of
Speaker 1: the season. Uh, we're hopeful still that we'll get a
Speaker 1: long term deal done. Um. He's the right player for
Speaker 1: this team to lead us to where we want to be.
Speaker 1: I think the locker room knows that, the organization knows that.
Speaker 1: I think the fan base knows that. So it's ongoing. UM,
Speaker 1: But I can't think of a situation where we wouldn't
Speaker 1: think that our best team is with Lamar Jackson on
Speaker 1: the team. In September, I mentioned that footballisions about that decision,
Speaker 1: and I want to play with Umarum definitely. You know that.
Speaker 1: Obviously it's obviously you know fit in the room. UM.
Speaker 1: But I've been around I was in the ANFC North,
Speaker 1: I've been around Baltimore and got whooped by on plenty
Speaker 1: of times. I know what kind of team they are.
Speaker 1: One of my favorite things that you were talking about
Speaker 1: was that that underdog story. And you know, I was
Speaker 1: an underdog all my life. I wasn't the number one
Speaker 1: receiver in my class. I wasn't in the fourth I
Speaker 1: was a fourth star. You know, I did have it
Speaker 1: easy coming up until I got to New York and
Speaker 1: then I had some success. So I've been the underdog
Speaker 1: all my life. I've still been counted out. I'm still
Speaker 1: counted out and that kind of excites me. And you know,
Speaker 1: this is a team that has, you know, great talent
Speaker 1: all across the board, offensive line, running backs, receiver, room,
Speaker 1: defense is great. It's just it just it boiled down to,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm in a place in my life where
Speaker 1: it means a lot more to be wanted than you know,
Speaker 1: someone would love to have you, because a lot of
Speaker 1: places would love to have you, but where you really wanted,
Speaker 1: you could then pour your heart into that even more,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. It's just it's just a
Speaker 1: lot easier from where I'm at, just the type of
Speaker 1: person I am. And that was this situation. You know,
Speaker 1: it wasn't about so much money, It wasn't about anything.
Speaker 1: It was that they showed that they wanted me to
Speaker 1: be here and that they see me as a piece
Speaker 1: to come here and help them win. And you know,
Speaker 1: I got one ring, you know, and it was a
Speaker 1: bitter sweet, bitter sweet champagne. And I remember, you know,
Speaker 1: having you know, talks with God, and he was just like,
Speaker 1: I know, it wasn't exactly what you wanted to know,
Speaker 1: its bitter sweet. He was like, next time that you
Speaker 1: get to taste that champagne, it'll be the best thing
Speaker 1: you ever tasted. So to me, it's all about getting
Speaker 1: these rings. It's all about being great, excellent every single
Speaker 1: day and winning championships. What are something to think to
Speaker 1: show you love and show you how much they wanted
Speaker 1: to here. It's the conversations for one, you know, Um
Speaker 1: Steve reached out and there there was that conversation. You know,
Speaker 1: I remember texting my agent like, I think I want
Speaker 1: to be a raven. Like he had me fired up
Speaker 1: just about the opportunity, about the team. And I don't
Speaker 1: know how else. I don't know how to say it,
Speaker 1: but it was just to show you we want you here.
Speaker 1: It's the only way I could break it down to you.
Speaker 1: I can't give you like a specific example of what
Speaker 1: it was. It just was the love that was showing.
Speaker 1: I'm a person who was all about love, showing love,
Speaker 1: you get love, and they showed me a lot of
Speaker 1: of And now it's my duty to give that back,
Speaker 1: you know, And that's something that's going to be very
Speaker 1: easy for me because I know that I was wanted
Speaker 1: here the Super Bowl, Um, you were coming back from
Speaker 1: the second all I mean, where are you with that
Speaker 1: process or are you feeling healthier than you have in
Speaker 1: a long time? And I was like, well, I'm feeling great.
Speaker 1: And I guess I don't know if it's the second
Speaker 1: AHL because the whole that whole season, I was playing,
Speaker 1: you know, without it, UM and it was a crazy thing.
Speaker 1: I signed with the La Rams and UM. I remember
Speaker 1: El Trish comes down there and he's he's like, I
Speaker 1: just got to inform you that you don't have AHL.
Speaker 1: You know, we could redo your surgery right now. And
Speaker 1: this was week nine of the season and I had
Speaker 1: been I just told him. I was like, I've been
Speaker 1: through way too much to come here and sign. There
Speaker 1: was way too much talk on my name, you know,
Speaker 1: the past year, Like I came here to help win
Speaker 1: the championship UM, and I told him I'd die on
Speaker 1: the sword and that was just you know, the kind
Speaker 1: of reference that I used. Uh, you know, I just
Speaker 1: cared that much about about playing. So I feel great now.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm still in my process of getting ready
Speaker 1: for September, you know, because we don't play tomorrow, we
Speaker 1: don't play a week from now, a month from now,
Speaker 1: like we're playing September. So it's about getting ready for that,
Speaker 1: being in the best physical shape that I can be, mentally, emotionally, spiritually,
Speaker 1: all that, Um, and I had to sit back and
Speaker 1: watch everybody have fun last year and through backflips and
Speaker 1: end zone and hit the gritty and just everybody got
Speaker 1: to have fun. And I was just you know, looking
Speaker 1: at the chops. Um, you know, wanting to be back
Speaker 1: out there. Football isn't who I am, but it's a
Speaker 1: big part of me because I could have played a
Speaker 1: bunch of other sports and I sacrificed a lot to
Speaker 1: play this one. So um, you know, my most important
Speaker 1: thing and focus this year is only about this year,
Speaker 1: and that's the only thing that's out of my mind,
Speaker 1: not looking to the year after it, not looking to
Speaker 1: the past years. It's about this year and what I
Speaker 1: can do and what I could bring this team. A
Speaker 1: lot of saying about the count given Odale. We know
Speaker 1: who's missed the last year and done a lot in
Speaker 1: this league, but a lot of people have acquitted year
Speaker 1: in the game. What gives you the confidence there? The work?
Speaker 1: You asked me, I didn't, Yeah, okay, yeah, no, listen,
Speaker 1: we evaluate the players. This is a player that we've
Speaker 1: played against many times and um, you know that's what
Speaker 1: we do for a living. Um, we talked to people,
Speaker 1: we evaluate the player. UM, we have a lot of
Speaker 1: information and where we are as a team right now.
Speaker 1: This was the guy that we felt could help take
Speaker 1: us to the next level. Um. We saw him his
Speaker 1: last game that he played in quite honestly, he was
Speaker 1: probably the best player on the field. We've had lots
Speaker 1: of players come back from this type of injury and
Speaker 1: flourish over time. And uh, we've, like I said, we've
Speaker 1: we've played huge games against this guy. Remember the game. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, it's a tough game for John and I
Speaker 1: but in New York and uh, I don't know how
Speaker 1: many yards you had, but it's probably about it was
Speaker 1: about it was. It was a lot of yards. And
Speaker 1: our players have a lot of respect for this guy.
Speaker 1: Our fans are gonna love watching Odell play football. He's
Speaker 1: one hundred percent invested. That's one thing, like as a
Speaker 1: scout that we're always looking for is is this guy
Speaker 1: going to come in and be one hundred percent invested
Speaker 1: in our program and what we believe in in our culture.
Speaker 1: And I gotta tell you, like, after two minutes and
Speaker 1: near a zona, sitting across the table from Model. I
Speaker 1: had no doubt in my mind that this was the
Speaker 1: right guy for the team helping me. Adele, how do
Speaker 1: you feel like you can bring your experience in your
Speaker 1: leadership and what has your conversation's been like with sing
Speaker 1: your your time so far? Um, you know one quote
Speaker 1: I had always lived by, as you know, you're only
Speaker 1: as good as your last game, and um, it could
Speaker 1: be up for debate, but you know, I think I
Speaker 1: was will on the way to be in MVP in
Speaker 1: that game. And it's just the type of mentality that
Speaker 1: I have. It's in my heart, Um, since I was
Speaker 1: a kid, Like, I'm not worried about coming back from
Speaker 1: this because I came back from it before and I'm
Speaker 1: now I'm way past the mental part of Uh, Am
Speaker 1: I going to be our right and all of those. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know football is different. When you get out there,
Speaker 1: you're getting hit. You're gonna have to get used to
Speaker 1: that anyways. But just as far as the teammates, you know,
Speaker 1: reaching out and just being able to be that guy.
Speaker 1: I know it's a bunch of younger receivers in the room,
Speaker 1: but I remember when I was the younger receiver. It
Speaker 1: still was kind of a I was still kind of
Speaker 1: the veteran in the room even when I was the
Speaker 1: younger guy. So now I'll be able to teach, you know,
Speaker 1: plenty of things I've learned. I'm also one of the
Speaker 1: people who I can always learn from anyone. I can
Speaker 1: learn from someone way younger than me, way older than me,
Speaker 1: and I think if you're not can learn from him too.
Speaker 1: So if you're not in a place where where you
Speaker 1: can learn and pass on the knowledge, then you know
Speaker 1: you're probably in the wrong place. And I'm just excited
Speaker 1: about given what you went through to come back and
Speaker 1: what you said about having to sit out the last
Speaker 1: year was an emotional process for you when you fully
Speaker 1: read to this deal and has it's been an emotional
Speaker 1: a couple of days for you. I think I'm still
Speaker 1: trying to process the emotions, you know, like it all
Speaker 1: happened so fast. It was very when the when the
Speaker 1: surgery first happened to you know, two to three months
Speaker 1: after that, it was very hard on me. Um, it
Speaker 1: was some some dark days that you know, I had
Speaker 1: to really climb myself out of u and now, you know,
Speaker 1: being here at the Black and Purple on or the
Speaker 1: all black over there and just you know that part's
Speaker 1: all behind me and I have a vision, I have
Speaker 1: a future of something that I'm looking forward to. Um,
Speaker 1: I'm just excited, you know, I'm excited, But I'm also
Speaker 1: like very determined and hungry. So I don't know, if
Speaker 1: you know through the smiles, there's still like this that
Speaker 1: that I that I really want this badly, Like I'm
Speaker 1: ready to be great, ready to be excellent again. Um,
Speaker 1: I'm just ready for the opportunity. At one point, ye um,
Speaker 1: I talked to him, I'm gonna I'm gonna have to
Speaker 1: give him a few headbuts and we're gonna have to
Speaker 1: We're gonna have to We're gonna have to hug it,
Speaker 1: hug it out, and then you know it's we're on
Speaker 1: the same team and our goal. I know that for sure,
Speaker 1: it's gonna sharpen each other each and every day. I'm
Speaker 1: excited about being able to work for somebody like that.
Speaker 1: This is you know, one of the great corners in
Speaker 1: the league, all Pro Pro Bowl corner. Um. But definitely
Speaker 1: get the battle it out and you know, you know,
Speaker 1: talk a little to each other and then you know
Speaker 1: that's it because we're on the same squad um, and
Speaker 1: I know that I've already communicated with them to communicate
Speaker 1: with them that I think we're both excited about this opportunity. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, at the end of the day, you don't
Speaker 1: never have I don't. I don't have beef with anybody.
Speaker 1: I don't have any you know, bad blood, nothing like that.
Speaker 1: Life's way too short for that. I've got, you know,
Speaker 1: things going on in my life that are that are
Speaker 1: very important. So it's um, I think we're both excited
Speaker 1: about it physically kind of turn and then wiser where
Speaker 1: we were physically when I turned the corner. I couldn't
Speaker 1: give you an exact day, but there was there was
Speaker 1: definitely a time period where it was a lot harder
Speaker 1: for me. And now, you know, after being a year removed,
Speaker 1: I think going into that thirteen months, fourteen months out
Speaker 1: of your surgery, you start to really turn the corner.
Speaker 1: And I look at it, We're in early mid April,
Speaker 1: you got to May, June, July, August. It's five months
Speaker 1: until you know we're on the field and rolling. And
Speaker 1: for me, that's plenty of time. I got plenty of confidence.
Speaker 1: It's just time to get to work and I'm excited
Speaker 1: about that. And now, like I said, it's very hard
Speaker 1: for a man to have no vision and feel as
Speaker 1: if you have no purpose, then you have no direction.
Speaker 1: There's nowhere really to go. And that was kind of
Speaker 1: you know, the path that I was on, and this
Speaker 1: gave me that structure. They gave me that excitement again.
Speaker 1: You know, I've been waiting for a long time to
Speaker 1: get back on the field, so I couldn't give you
Speaker 1: an exact day, but where you were injury, what you said,
Speaker 1: I don't know how to exactly answer that, but I
Speaker 1: guess we'll see in September. But I'm excited about it. Um. Yeah, Well,
Speaker 1: like I said, why I tweeted, I say, we're gonna see.
Speaker 1: You know, you've had many players coming in for freeating physics,
Speaker 1: graft physics. Was there anything particular? I know, you know
Speaker 1: Dell across the pass before. It's like you don't know
Speaker 1: each other, But it is there anything particular you were
Speaker 1: hoping to learn or that you learned a batt O'Dell
Speaker 1: when you met with him in Phoenix? What was that
Speaker 1: whole kind of experience Like, yeah, not really just Phoenix,
Speaker 1: probably the whole process going back to November last year, December.
Speaker 1: We had a few conversations throughout those kind of conversations,
Speaker 1: especially where Odell was at and we were fighting to
Speaker 1: try to to you know, make a season, and he
Speaker 1: was fighting to get his way back. I think he
Speaker 1: kind of wanted to maybe think about playing at that
Speaker 1: point in time, and we had some really honest conversations.
Speaker 1: That's what struck me more than anything. Was just as honest,
Speaker 1: you know, it was he was very much an open
Speaker 1: book in terms of what he was thinking, what he
Speaker 1: wanted to do, where he was going, really not trying
Speaker 1: to sell anything or talk about anything other than this
Speaker 1: is really where I'm at, this is what I'm thinking,
Speaker 1: asking where we were at, just those conversations and kind
Speaker 1: of culminating Phoenix when we had a chance to be
Speaker 1: face to face and uh, just kind of connecting that way.
Speaker 1: But it was really easy and normal, natural, and I
Speaker 1: just was struck by his straightforwardness and honesty. Did you
Speaker 1: have any concern when designing was signed here giving the
Speaker 1: uncertainty mad position? I mean, if you look at the
Speaker 1: other situations I was going into the everything was uncertain,
Speaker 1: you know, and like I said, life's uncertain. Um obviously
Speaker 1: I would assume that it's going to work out. You know.
Speaker 1: I have that that faith and that hope and Lamar
Speaker 1: I know if you're watching, you know, and I would
Speaker 1: love to love to get to work with you. I'll
Speaker 1: talk to these guys over here, and you know, hopefully
Speaker 1: that gets done. You know. I think when you when
Speaker 1: you think about the Ravens, you definitely think about Lamore
Speaker 1: and I know that that's something. You know, I was
Speaker 1: excited about that possibility, and um, life's life's not certain,
Speaker 1: you know. Just to keep it short, you know, the
Speaker 1: camp when I get on the field, um, you know,
Speaker 1: that'll be a you know, discussion with the training room, coaches, everybody.
Speaker 1: Like I said, I think I've been in this situation
Speaker 1: before where this is made more important by this side
Speaker 1: of the room than you know, your teammates. If you're
Speaker 1: if you had OTAs and you were a great guy
Speaker 1: and you get out onto the field during the season
Speaker 1: and you don't perform, I don't think your teammates are
Speaker 1: gonna be like, well, he was at OTAs and he
Speaker 1: was you know, he was there. It's more about that
Speaker 1: guy that's gonna come short for you on Sundays and
Speaker 1: be able to produce and um, you know, but there's
Speaker 1: also being in a new group group and being able
Speaker 1: to bond with those guys. I get the balance. So
Speaker 1: it's something that will sit down and figure out. But
Speaker 1: I always always, deep down the side, I thought that
Speaker 1: it was made more of a thing over that way
Speaker 1: than it really is with the guys that you you know,
Speaker 1: share blood, sweat and tears with and you're with more
Speaker 1: hours than your family. So, um, yeah, John putting together
Speaker 1: a team, I'm playing it now with the years, it's
Speaker 1: more as much arts science once the art of bringing
Speaker 1: in a major personality star its rate him into a
Speaker 1: team where he is part of the team, not just
Speaker 1: the the guy that other guys know. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: it's probably just simpler than that. Just it's football then,
Speaker 1: you know, Del, I don't care who you are in
Speaker 1: this league. You've been part of the teams your whole life.
Speaker 1: You've been in locker rooms, you've been around guys. It's
Speaker 1: just part of being part of a team. It's like
Speaker 1: the practice schedule and everything is just paced in terms
Speaker 1: of what puts us in the best position where we
Speaker 1: need to play the games in September, you know, So
Speaker 1: him getting with the guys in the locker Room's gonna
Speaker 1: be easy, that's gonna be normal, it's gonna be meeting rooms,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be football, just keeping about football, keep it
Speaker 1: about a bunch of guys trying to be the best
Speaker 1: they can be. And uh, you know, we're fine. We
Speaker 1: got we got good guys. We got a really strong
Speaker 1: group of people and it's a good person So I'm
Speaker 1: excited to see it. I can't wait to get in
Speaker 1: the middle of it, you know, get on the grass
Speaker 1: and just be watching these guys operate together. That's what's
Speaker 1: fun for our coach. If you're listening to Raven's Press Pass,
Speaker 1: if you're currently getting this episode of Raven's Press Pass
Speaker 1: in the Lounge Feed, make sure you do not forget
Speaker 1: to subscribe, rate, and review if you haven't done so already.
Speaker 1: Now let's get you back to the rest of Obi
Speaker 1: J's introductory press conference. Eric I knew you said day
Speaker 1: kevintall to more since the signing, but more of sit
Speaker 1: the question to treat it back on the march. Have
Speaker 1: you spoken to the more since that point and what
Speaker 1: was the conversation like it and do you feel that
Speaker 1: lamar One speak, Yeah, well we have, we have communicated
Speaker 1: since that date. It would probably be not smart on
Speaker 1: my part to talk about those details because you know,
Speaker 1: Lamar and I have decided together that we were going
Speaker 1: to discuss that stuff personally. In saying that, Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: as I said, we only think of Lamar as the
Speaker 1: quarterback of this team, and uh, we're hopeful to get
Speaker 1: a deal done. Um it's been, as as you all know,
Speaker 1: a very long process. But uh, a lot of times,
Speaker 1: the best things in life take a long time. And uh,
Speaker 1: I go back to this guy right here, It took
Speaker 1: a long time to get him here. We started last
Speaker 1: year and uh and we finally got him and so
Speaker 1: you know, UH, these things take time. They take a
Speaker 1: lot of work, and they take a lot of patience.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, we'll continue to work to do
Speaker 1: what we can to feel the very best possible team
Speaker 1: come September, uh, to win a championship, which is our
Speaker 1: ultimate goal, to share its fire absolutely. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: he seemed excited it. I think I don't know if
Speaker 1: he called me, I called him or whatever, but he
Speaker 1: was just like you know, obviously trust but he just
Speaker 1: was excited about it, like excited about the opportunity of
Speaker 1: the possibility, and like I could sit up here and
Speaker 1: tell you I've been in the middle of it. I've
Speaker 1: been in the contract negotiation. I've been in the side
Speaker 1: where you've worked your entire life for one first to
Speaker 1: get to the NFL. Then the second most important thing
Speaker 1: is to take care of your family and get your contract.
Speaker 1: And it's a very thin line when it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's your heart that's involved, and you are a personable
Speaker 1: person and you feel like you've done so much and
Speaker 1: you deserve this, and then the business side gets in
Speaker 1: the way. It's just the nature of the business that
Speaker 1: we're in. Like, it's very it's very tough. It's no
Speaker 1: written script for it or how to handle it or
Speaker 1: how to deal with it. But I could definitely tell
Speaker 1: it he was, you know, excited about the opportunity to
Speaker 1: be able to get to work if that does present itself.
Speaker 1: You know, I think at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: that's you know, obviously, he's who I would love to
Speaker 1: play with it. I've watched him for years. He reminds
Speaker 1: me of one of my favorite players, a guy who
Speaker 1: I grew up in Atlanta for a little bit playing
Speaker 1: in the Georgia Dome when I was seven eight years old,
Speaker 1: and I remember how Mike Vick looked at me, um
Speaker 1: and looking in my eyes and gave me love. How
Speaker 1: you doing, young man? Blah blah blah and I and
Speaker 1: that made me who I am today in the sense
Speaker 1: of that I was always going to be like that
Speaker 1: for the kids. I was always going to be able
Speaker 1: to um show them that love. And that's why I
Speaker 1: think I love kids so much, is because of how
Speaker 1: he placed that on me. Um. So I'm excited about it, Lamar.
Speaker 1: I hope, you know, I hope that it all works
Speaker 1: out for you and it gets done. You know. It
Speaker 1: feels I can hand it over to you. I hand
Speaker 1: it over to you, but that's not my side of
Speaker 1: my pay roll. So I'm just excited about it. I
Speaker 1: can't I can't wait for the opportunity for me. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Todd's fired up, man, I mean, Todd's excited, you know.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm most surprised you're not sitting there right now.
Speaker 1: He's probably drawing up plays, you know, for for dal
Speaker 1: and Lamar. You know. So yeah, that's that's a coach
Speaker 1: and they have they have they know each other, I know,
Speaker 1: they've talked and um, he's in the laboratory. You know,
Speaker 1: I've seen some of the drawings, so we got some
Speaker 1: good stuff. We'll be ready to go. How many people
Speaker 1: when when you got that working out last month before,
Speaker 1: where you're not opening to see listen first? Well, him
Speaker 1: him reaching out is really I feel like what said it,
Speaker 1: you know, over the edge, um, And like I said,
Speaker 1: the conversation we had, we we we just chopped it
Speaker 1: up as two men talking. You know. It wasn't so
Speaker 1: much the business side and all everything that was going on.
Speaker 1: We just he made me feel wanted. He made me
Speaker 1: feel like somebody wants me to be here, wants me
Speaker 1: to be great, wants me to be a part of
Speaker 1: his team in this organization. And at this point in
Speaker 1: my life, that's everything I need, um, is to be wanted.
Speaker 1: And that was That's pretty much the story for me.
Speaker 1: And again that allows me to come here and put
Speaker 1: my hard hat on every single day and know that
Speaker 1: these guys believed in me. Um, you know, not to
Speaker 1: say what no one else did, but they believed in me.
Speaker 1: And that's gonna I'm gonna come here and put my
Speaker 1: best foot for it every day. Oh yeah, everywhere you played,
Speaker 1: numerous teammates have thought about how much they loved playing
Speaker 1: with you. What a great teammate. How important is that
Speaker 1: to you? And why do you think sometimes you haven't
Speaker 1: didn't see you that. I'll be honest, you know, I've
Speaker 1: made mistakes in my past, you know, but who hasn't
Speaker 1: as a as a young man who's got then the
Speaker 1: entire world spotlighted on him again. I always tell people,
Speaker 1: you know, when I was out there making one hand catches,
Speaker 1: I wasn't holding the camera and pointing at it making
Speaker 1: the catch saying look at me. You know it was
Speaker 1: you know, I'm not pointing any of y'all out. But
Speaker 1: I think the stories came more from over there, and
Speaker 1: then headlines came, and titles came, and the drunk this whatever,
Speaker 1: And where our world works is those five names. They
Speaker 1: take them and they run with them, and they run
Speaker 1: with them each place they go, and that's just how
Speaker 1: it works. But everyone who's ever met me as far
Speaker 1: as a teammate, um, I mean, not that I know
Speaker 1: of anyone's gonna say anything bad. And when I'm when
Speaker 1: I'm in the room with people, it's a completely different,
Speaker 1: completely different feel. Um I definitely think that. You know,
Speaker 1: I could have did some things different as a young man,
Speaker 1: but you know, we all live and learn and we
Speaker 1: grow through our mistakes. And here I am now, um
Speaker 1: that I can acknowledge, you know, some of the things
Speaker 1: that I did. But I know who I am as
Speaker 1: a person, and I think my my perception of who
Speaker 1: I am is always going to walk into the room
Speaker 1: before I do. And that's just the nature of where
Speaker 1: I'm at in life. And I could deal with that.
Speaker 1: I could live with that deep down inside because I
Speaker 1: know who I am and that's just the reality of
Speaker 1: the situation. As a father is obviously violantly clear. You
Speaker 1: talk about how your son has changed you as a
Speaker 1: person and as a player, I can't even Um. I
Speaker 1: would say sleep is one of them, but I can't.
Speaker 1: I can't express what he does for me when I
Speaker 1: when I look at him in his eyes, or you know,
Speaker 1: I haven't seen him in a couple of hours and
Speaker 1: I come home and I could have had the worst
Speaker 1: ever and he's at the door, dadda, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, Like, there's no there's no words to um
Speaker 1: describe that feeling. I remember my mom used to always
Speaker 1: joke at me She's like, just wait till you have
Speaker 1: a kid, and I was like, I already know, and
Speaker 1: like it's just a different feeling when I have him
Speaker 1: in my arms or he's running around and I see
Speaker 1: the smile that's on his face. He's completely changed me. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, forever. And you can't do it alone. You know,
Speaker 1: his mom was a great mom. My mom's there to
Speaker 1: take care of him, His auntie's there, his papa was
Speaker 1: over there. You know, my whole family is here and
Speaker 1: they help. You know, it takes a community to raise him.
Speaker 1: And I'm just blessed to have that kind of love
Speaker 1: around me that gives me that support and then I'm
Speaker 1: able to do what I need to do. And it's just,
Speaker 1: you know, it's a great team that I have. I
Speaker 1: couldn't do it without any of them characters. Momentum to
Speaker 1: off season when you're building a team, and does shut
Speaker 1: feeling or extra that's a deep question. Uh, you know, momentum,
Speaker 1: I think it's just really how you just attack every day.
Speaker 1: It's kind of we just try to stack a lot
Speaker 1: of positive days as best as we can. Sometimes you
Speaker 1: can't even you all may not realize, but it might
Speaker 1: just be we find some good guys on tape that
Speaker 1: we like. In the draft, it may be just signing
Speaker 1: somebody to a minimum deal. You're just stacking good days
Speaker 1: coming in, being positive, working together and trying to do
Speaker 1: whatever you can to build the best team. You're not
Speaker 1: always going to hit the home run. You can hit
Speaker 1: a bunch of singles, you can walk, you can steal
Speaker 1: a base. There's a lot of different ways to go
Speaker 1: about it. In the end, you want to hit some
Speaker 1: home runs. But certainly for us um you know, as
Speaker 1: we approach every single day leading up to the draft,
Speaker 1: it's sake every day I go home, did we get
Speaker 1: better as a football team? What do we do today
Speaker 1: to get better? Maybe it's we saved some capital, Maybe
Speaker 1: it's we signed a vet. Maybe it's we saw a
Speaker 1: player at Sagonaw Valley State who we like quite a bit.
Speaker 1: But it's just, you know, that mindset of every day
Speaker 1: just kind of building the best team we can. I
Speaker 1: think if you do that over time, you're gonna win
Speaker 1: some games. And that's how we how we approach the roster,
Speaker 1: try to position at recent years more of a priority. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I think we still we still believe very
Speaker 1: strongly in the draft, and I'm very excited to see
Speaker 1: our young guys this year. Let me say that first
Speaker 1: and foremost, I believe very very strongly in Rashad and
Speaker 1: Devon and James and Tyland, all those guys we brought
Speaker 1: in Nelson. I mean, we really do believe in that group. Um.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of different ways to attack the roster.
Speaker 1: And one of the things, as you think about it, like,
Speaker 1: is there a way for us to bring a veteran in,
Speaker 1: a proven veteran who's proven that he can win a
Speaker 1: game for you when the game needs to be won.
Speaker 1: Does that possibility exist? And you know we've tried in
Speaker 1: the past. This isn't the first time we've tried to
Speaker 1: do that. Sometimes you succeed and sometimes you don't. And
Speaker 1: you know, there's a lot of different factors. Sometimes, you know,
Speaker 1: you might have the best offer and the guy feels
Speaker 1: really good someplace else. Um, sometimes you may not win
Speaker 1: that financial game. Um no, I'm saying, but but sometimes,
Speaker 1: but sometimes you might, like a guy may not want
Speaker 1: to play on the East coast, right, Sometimes a guy
Speaker 1: wants to be in the southeast. Sometimes a guy you
Speaker 1: know wants to play for a specific coach, whatever it is.
Speaker 1: So there's a lot of different reasons why. But in
Speaker 1: this case, we found the right person to come here.
Speaker 1: Odell wanted to be here. We wanted Odell very badly,
Speaker 1: and we think that this is gonna be a great
Speaker 1: acquisition in the short term and hopefully the long term.
Speaker 1: Perception in the past that, whether it's fair or not,
Speaker 1: that three time white receivers don't don't want to come
Speaker 1: and play or don't want to play in this offense.
Speaker 1: Did you think through that at all? Was that a
Speaker 1: factor for you at all? And if you think that that,
Speaker 1: that is kind of a miscouided perception. I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't know if I ever thought about it. You know,
Speaker 1: I just seen them or eight out there, and I
Speaker 1: know that he could throw the ball. You know, we
Speaker 1: always talk about perception and perception versus reality, and um
Speaker 1: you know, there was perception that Lamar wasn't a passer,
Speaker 1: and then there's reality that he could throw the ball
Speaker 1: all over the field. Um. So I don't really take
Speaker 1: too much in a perception anymore. I kind of just
Speaker 1: live in my reality. And for me, it was about
Speaker 1: being wanted. And you know, I know what Monkin did
Speaker 1: a Georgia. I know what this team has and what
Speaker 1: they're built around. UM. And again, like I said, I
Speaker 1: was in Cleveland, so it's I was in I was
Speaker 1: in a running, you know style. I was in the
Speaker 1: same division, and I went to LSU where we ran
Speaker 1: the ball all the time. I still went for a
Speaker 1: thousand yards like it's, you know, to be able to
Speaker 1: have a great pass game, you gotta be able to
Speaker 1: run the football, so it's always balanced. I don't really
Speaker 1: think I thought about, um, why there wasn't anybody who
Speaker 1: didn't come through here. I don't, you know, I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't think I thought about that. One of the
Speaker 1: more popular players in the league and you're one of
Speaker 1: you guys in locker room to kind of can relate
Speaker 1: to that. Does that help in terms of the locker
Speaker 1: room country as far as being a popular player. I
Speaker 1: think once, you know, like I said, once we leave
Speaker 1: right here and we're all in the locker room, like
Speaker 1: we don't, we don't think about that. I don't think
Speaker 1: about if I wasn't me and me walked into the
Speaker 1: locker room, I wouldn't as might be just kind of
Speaker 1: the person am. I wouldn't think about, you know, how
Speaker 1: it is he or anything like that, or he's a
Speaker 1: big personality. I just you know, we're all humans. You know,
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, we all have mothers, frothers, brothers, brothers, sisters,
Speaker 1: we all have emotions, we all have things that are
Speaker 1: in common. I think that's where the people in the
Speaker 1: locker room, that's how we relate to each other. It's
Speaker 1: not so much the outside stories or anything like that.
Speaker 1: It's more about, you know, how humans connect to one another.
Speaker 1: Jo Hysteric negotiates with Lamar and ode folks to catch
Speaker 1: passes from Lamar. You're a head coach who is facing
Speaker 1: the uncertainty as you can try to compare our team.
Speaker 1: That's the first time you've been in this position. How
Speaker 1: is that practically campact? Dude, you're offseason and I think
Speaker 1: you're in this position there all the time. It's just
Speaker 1: a different type of a circumstance. So, uh, you know
Speaker 1: what positions you need, h who you're looking at, who
Speaker 1: you look in the draft. I just think it's ongoing.
Speaker 1: You're always trying to build your team. It's just this
Speaker 1: move is a big move, you know, it's we talked about.
Speaker 1: It's an exciting move for us. It's a big move
Speaker 1: for us, but it's a move that we we had
Speaker 1: an opportunity to make, and he wants to be here
Speaker 1: and and we wanted him here and he fits perfectly,
Speaker 1: So you know, you strike, And I think that's true
Speaker 1: for all things. Eric was talking about, all the different moves,
Speaker 1: whatever they are, you try to build your team, So
Speaker 1: just keep doing it. I'm of infinite that all that
Speaker 1: stuff has a way of working itself out in the
Speaker 1: end and everything ends up the way it's supposed to
Speaker 1: be because you do your best and everybody's in a
Speaker 1: good place. So it hasn't been hard at all. You know,
Speaker 1: we're just working hard and trying to make our team
Speaker 1: as good as good as it can be. And today's
Speaker 1: a really good day. You know, today's a great day
Speaker 1: for the Ravens. What kind of machine is going to
Speaker 1: be made to the offense now with an additional play?
Speaker 1: Odell two year after, Oh yeah, we talked. I mean
Speaker 1: you talk about kind of the in terms of philosophically
Speaker 1: or kind of how you're gonna try to build the offense.
Speaker 1: Then with that the details commit and how you how
Speaker 1: you structure the plays and things like that. It's not
Speaker 1: going to be anything that's gonna be Uh. Oh we
Speaker 1: have Odell. Now we're gonna run this play. You know,
Speaker 1: it's how it's how you fit all the pieces together
Speaker 1: within the concept. So we've got the concepts that are
Speaker 1: good for Lamar, are good for our offensive line, good
Speaker 1: for our backs, good for our tight ends, and good
Speaker 1: for this receiving room that we're building as best we can.
Speaker 1: And then you know that you place guys even day
Speaker 1: to day, week to week in those watch you know
Speaker 1: what route is he gonna be running today? How are
Speaker 1: we gonna try to open him up, you know, against
Speaker 1: this defense or the coverage that we think they're gonna play.
Speaker 1: You know what's the best matchup that we can find?
Speaker 1: That's just like day to day football stuff I think
Speaker 1: that you do. We have a player like this, it
Speaker 1: makes it more fun. It gives you more options, you know,
Speaker 1: and uh and of course a quarterback like Lamar that
Speaker 1: even makes it better. So that's fun for a coach.
Speaker 1: You see, I was not there. We sent a coach,
Speaker 1: Keith Williams, who great evaluator, and uh, he was excited
Speaker 1: to go out there for a couple of days. Um,
Speaker 1: we got the video. We have the video, watched the
Speaker 1: video play four times with some of the pro staff,
Speaker 1: coach guiding staff, some of the coaches. But we just
Speaker 1: want to see, you know, number one, how's he moved,
Speaker 1: body control, all the things we look for when any player, really,
Speaker 1: how's he catching the ball, how's he adjusting to the
Speaker 1: ball just mechanically, how's he is he able to drop
Speaker 1: his way, burr's quickness, speed aty conditioning as well, and
Speaker 1: you know, obviously controlled environment. But we saw everything we
Speaker 1: needed to see, knowing that it's going to just improve,
Speaker 1: you know. And that's the thing, like when a guy
Speaker 1: has a serious injury in general, it only gets better.
Speaker 1: It may take time, sometimes it takes longer, but it
Speaker 1: only gets better. What we saw was extremely encouraging, and
Speaker 1: you know, I can't wait to see the progression from
Speaker 1: March to April to May to September. And that's probably
Speaker 1: the thing, Jonas, that we're most excited about, is that
Speaker 1: we're getting somebody who's ready to explode again, and he's
Speaker 1: in the right environment, with the right quarterback, with the
Speaker 1: right team and the right city. It's the perfect player
Speaker 1: at the perfect time. I remember, we will be dropping
Speaker 1: an Odell Beckham Junior enter doctory Press Conference Takeaways episode
Speaker 1: of The Ravens Lounge. Make sure you check that out
Speaker 1: tomorrow to hear what Make and I have to say
Speaker 1: about today's press conference. You do not want to miss it. Also,
Speaker 1: don't forget that you can get every media availability and
Speaker 1: press conference right here on Ravens Press Pass. So if
Speaker 1: you have not done so already, this is your time
Speaker 1: to subscribe, rate and review the podcast. Go and do
Speaker 1: that right now. Thank you for listening, and we'll be
Speaker 1: back with you soon