Beckham Looking for 'Great Ending to This Story'

The new Miami Dolphins wide receiver is excited about his new opportunity

Odell Beckham Jr. at his Miami Dolphins introctory press conference. / Alain Poupart - SI Fan Nation Dolphins

A stylish and soft-spoken Odell Beckham Jr. met the South Florida media Wednesday for the first time since joining the Miami Dolphins, and spoke about a great opportunity with a new team and a great chance to write the perfect final chapter to his NFL career.

The veteran wide receiver signed a one-year contract last week, a decade after lighting up the NFL for his first three seasons as a New York Giants first-round pick.

Beckham isn't necessarily looking to duplicate that kind of performance and those kind of numbers in Miami, but he does want to go out on a high note.

“I’m always here to prove something," Beckham said. "I think to me, it’s about finishing strong, being able to end my career on my terms. I don’t know when that is – one year, two years, three years, however many God gives me. If this is my last season, it’s whatever, but it’s just about being able to end it on a strong note, to be able to put my best foot forward. I’ve given my entire life to this game. The way it kind of went in the middle of my career and even a little bit of last year, I just can’t go out like that. I’ve really, since I was three or four years old, given my life to this game. There’s no way I won’t finish it on a high note.”

Beckham signed a one-year contract with the Dolphins, with $3 million guaranteed and the possibility of reaching $8.25 million through incentives.

His acquisition became official some five weeks after he first made a free agent visit with the Dolphins following his one season with the Baltimore Ravens.

"At this point in my life, I kind of just go with the flow," Beckham said. "After the way the season ended last year, it was kind of like an abrupt feeling. I wasn’t expecting to not win the Super Bowl, so I was expecting a different kind of offseason. But just kind of going with the flow and letting life take its course. There is no point in rushing anything because life is going to happen exactly how it’s supposed to happen anyway. That was just kind of it. But off the first meeting, I was very excited about the opportunity. Conversations came along, came along and then it just happened, and it happened very fast when it did happen. I remember getting off the phone with my agent and being like, ‘Yeah, this sounds good. Let’s figure out a way to do it.’ Then eight minutes later, my phone is blowing up. It all happened very fast. But again like I said, I can’t tell you enough how excited I am about the opportunity.”

Odell Beckham Jr. on Joining the Dolphins. pic.twitter.com/gRtPxTrEsj

— Alain Poupart (@PoupartNFL) May 15, 2024

BECKHAM REFLECTS ON HIS CAREER

Beckham said he's not looking beyond this season and is very happy with where he stands in his NFL career, which has produced three Pro Bowl invitations and one Super Bowl title — with the Los Angeles Rams in the 2021 season.

Most importantly, Beckham is happy and at peace.

“It’s amazing," he said. "It gives you a huge sense of peace. I feel like I used to carry a lot of anger or resentment or whatever it was. Now I just feel at peace. You’re able to train, you’re able to play the game that you love again. You kind of get past all the business side or whatever could be holding you back. A part of me feels like this is an opportunity for it to just be football.

"There’s no way that I haven’t not thought about (the arc of his career), like you said, an incredible start and then just the way that life goes, things happen to people. But I think my favorite thing speaking on myself is resiliency. It’s about – give me the best of the best in the world and put them through what I’ve been through at the highest level and let me see them rebound and bounce and still be here to this day standing in front of whoever still daring to be great, still trying with all the things that get to be said about you and all that. I’m just going to keep going, I’m a competitor. Now that’s why it’s kind of like forget the middle part. We read a book. The start is going to capture us, we read the body of the story and then how is it going to end? That’s kind of where I’m at, let’s have a great ending to this story.”