Odell Beckham reveals he nearly retired after suffering season-ending injury in 2017

Cleveland Browns receiver Odell Beckham nearly retired after suffering his ankle injury in 2017.

Things haven’t quite gone according to plan for Odell Beckham Jr. in the AFC thus far. After joining the Cleveland Browns prior to the 2019 campaign, the expectation was he’d help the organization get back to the postseason and make some serious noise in the AFC North. That simply didn’t happen.

Beckham had a down year production-wise, with the media bashing him at times for not living up to his hype. As it turns out, the superstar wide receiver almost never even made it to Cleveland. Heck, we almost never saw him play in 2018 or 2019.

In a recent roundtable interview with Cam Newton, Victor Cruz and Todd Gurley, Beckham revealed that he was seriously considering retiring in 2017 after he suffered his terrifying ankle injury while with the New York Giants.

Odell Beckham missed the final 11 games of 2017 after fracturing his ankle

“I said this in college, I said, ‘I fear the day that they make this game a business and not what I love,'” Beckham said via 247Sports. “And when I seen that for the first time … after breaking my ankle, like, I thought about not playing no more … they’ve ruined the game of football for me a little bit.”

As you can see, OBJ was quite serious about hanging up his cleats. In that 2017 campaign, he ended up missing the final 11 games of the season. Being away from football clearly broke his heart, but at the same time, he was struggling with the idea of having to come back from such a devastating injury.

Despite considering retirement, Beckham came back in full force and remains one of the more talented receivers in the league. He’ll look to have a bounce-back season in 2020, with the hopes of getting the Browns in a position to make the playoffs. It’ll be easier said than done, of course.