Odell Beckham Jr. Wise to Choose Football Over Futbol

New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. won’t regret sticking with football over soccer.

Major League Soccer is essentially the left-handed red-headed stepchild of the professional sports world in the United States. While the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and Major League Baseball all have cable networks dedicated to them, MLS celebrates when the league gets the occasional shout-out on SportsCenter. Television ratings for MLS Playoff games are downright embarrassing when compared with the ratings the so-called “Big Four” get for postseason contests. The popularity of soccer grows in the US with every year, but MLS has not yet been able to turn casual sports fans into viewers and customers.

Nov 23, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham (13) pulls in touchdown pass against the Dallas Cowboys during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

Sometimes the North American top-flight comically seeks for attention as was the case this past Sunday. On the same day that New York Giants rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. scored a hat-trick of his own and the Giants defeated the Washington Redskins, MLSSoccer.com posted a story that included information on Beckham being scouted by US Soccer during his teenage years, to the point that he was invited to join the national team program. Beckham, a multi-sport star in his youth, turned US Soccer down, however, citing the fact that he did not want to leave his family as part of the reason for his decision.

Part of what makes the MLS update humorous is that the Beckham post comes from an article that originally landed on the Internet this past June when the US was preparing for the start of their World Cup run. Beckham was going to show up high in Web searches because of his stellar outing against the Redskins, and MLS wanted a piece of the action. It isn’t against the law nor did it violate some unwritten Internet code, but that MLS was so desperate to get diehard NFL fans such as myself to click a link for a piece that was running on its website did make me chuckle.

These “What if LeBron James had played soccer as a youth?!?” articles pop up all the time. They generate buzz, discussions and, most notably, Web hits for sites. There is nothing wrong with them. They are inoffensive posts that do make for some interesting chatter among soccer fans who want to see US Soccer and US club soccer flourish and thrive. Is there a chance that Beckham will, at some point down the road, look back, wonder what might have been and regret sticking with what would be deemed to be the wise choice over going all-in as a soccer player?

Sure, but it’s a very small chance.

Beckham has been a standout in his first NFL season, a true Rookie of the Year candidate despite the fact that he missed his first professional training camp, his first NFL preseason and the first month of the regular season because of lingering hamstring issues. He has not at all looked like a rookie in games minus a few forgettable moments, and Beckham has flashed some incredible and athleticism as he did when he became a household name after making what is now a famous catch for the ages while the Giants were being featured on Sunday Night Football. He is on a rookie deal for the remainder of 2014, but Beckham is going to get paid sooner than later.

Paid.

Barring injury concerns or an unexpected letdown from a young man who has the special kind of talent required to earn NFL players free trips to Hawaii each January, Beckham is another great season away from cashing in on a massive contract. Take his New York teammate Victor Cruz as an example. Cruz put pen to paper on a deal that earned him $9.5 million up front and that could be worth over $40 million total in the summer of 2013. Add in that there is a perception around NFL insiders that Cruz intentionally or not gave the Giants a hometown discount and that he is not what one would call a No. 1 wide receiver, and Beckham’s future contract will likely be worth money if he continues to improve as he should.

The best soccer players in the world, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, are, of course, paid handsomely for what they are able to do during matches. They also aren’t produced by US Soccer, at least not yet. Plenty of talented footballers have come from this country, of course, but the US hasn’t yet grown an international superstar in the sport, and the best young players found in America are shipped out of the country in their youths so they can learn how to play the game while in what is considered to be footballing nations. That no top-notch European club was willing to offer United States Men’s National Team members Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley contracts that they landed from MLS tells you plenty on the subject.

Money isn’t everything, some would say, but that doesn’t erase that there is no way of knowing what Beckham would have been as a professional soccer player. A football player who runs for literally seconds during plays and who repeatedly gets breaks when the opposite unit of the team is on the field would likely struggle to keep up with top-tier footballers for 9o minutes during competitive matches that mean something to the clubs involved. Would Beckham have evolved physically and mentally as a footballer as he has as an American Football player?

We can’t say, but the topic makes for interesting banter in Internet comments sections.

The best athletes in this country have little reason to pursue soccer as a career the way that North American pro sports are currently structured. Those who are the best basketball and baseball players and who prove themselves in the NBA and MLB are guaranteed to make over $100 million while living in the country and cities they choose. NFL teams do not have to worry about being saddled with such guaranteed contracts because the league has a solid collective bargaining agreement, but Beckham is nevertheless going to be a rich young athlete living in the NYC region.

Not a bad life.

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Odell Beckham Jr. Wise to Choose Football over Futbol

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