Beckham’s honesty is refreshing, whether fans like it or not

If you're listening to sports radio or television and you hear a player is coming up to be interviewed, pretty much figure you're going to get nothing but a cliche festival ending with whatever charity event or paid endorsement they happen to be promoting. Very rarely do you get an athlete to give you any more on his struggling team than "I gotta play better" or "we've got to back to work" or the famous "I've got to do a better job." That's why, as a New York Giants fan, I found Odell Beckham Jr's interview with ESPN's Josina Anderson so refreshing.

Beckham questioned the energy, play calling, and heart of the team as well as whether or not he liked being in New Jersey. There was nothing he said that Giants fans weren't thinking as well as the players themselves. It's been the subject of sports talk radio for weeks. It's one thing when the fans are thinking it, it's another thing for the fans to know that the players are always thinking it. God forbid they actually believe that they just have play better or work harder. Beckham actually said what a lot of players were thinking but couldn't say it publicly. As a fan, I'm glad he did because it definitely had an effect.

Anyone around the team will tell you that few if any work harder than Odell Beckham Jr. He also brings an energy and a passion to win that he's trying to spread to his lackluster team. Did they hear the message? For what it's worth, they scored 31 points for the first time since the 2015 season. The quarterback Eli Manning threw for 326 yards and 2 touchdowns, something he hasn't done all year., and Beckham himself caught 8 passes for 131 yards and even threw one to Saquon Barkley. You may even have seen Beckham calming down an upset Sterling Sheperd.

Giants head coach Pat Shurmur after the game said that Beckham's interview galvanized the team and that the locker room handled it. Shurmur has had a great relationship with not only Beckham but with the team as well. He just handled his first crisis. if the team starts winning and it looks like it could, this will be a turning point.

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