Welcome Home, Odell
Well, its officially official. We brought our boy home.
With all of the unwarranted hate and negativity surrounding the team of late, the Giants brass was wise to pull the trigger on one of the easiest decisions they’ll be faced with this season. Between the social clips that emerged from Brian Burns’ Celebrity Softball Game, and the impression our painfully unsubtle beat reporters were giving – it seemed as though Monday’s workout was all but a formality before the inevitable OBJ/Giants reunion.
While Odell’s tenure wasn’t all sunshine, lollipops, and blonde mohawks – enough time has passed where a majority of the fanbase appreciates just how special of a talent OBJ was. His trio of 1,300+ yard seasons to begin his career was not just unprecedented, but almost unimaginable given the defensive, grind-it-out identity the Giants had prior to OBJ’s arrival.
The combination of some insanely childish antics and a whole lot of losing would eventually sour Odell’s image in the eyes of the media and the drunk, semi-racist uncles of the tristate area. While it’s easy now to look back at the last 15 years of dysfunction and realize it probably wasn’t all the best player on the team’s fault, it’s important to remember that at the time, the fanbase simply didn’t know how to handle losing.
When OBJ was drafted, we had two Lomabardis that were yet to collect dust. There was a widespread belief that we just needed to make the playoffs and have Eli do some wizard shit to win another Super Bowl. As the years went on, these expectations slowly looked more and more like fan fiction. Instead of making honest assessments of the roster, the fans and media united to alienate one of the only talented football players on our bad football team.
Sadly, we’ve never learned from this failed exercise and have continued to let talent walk out the door, wrongfully labeling players as “distractions” and in Odell’s case a “locker room cancer”. Hopefully, today’s signing helps put an end to this nasty, loser habit.
In his second stint with the Giants, OBJ is not expected to be a star player or even a starter. He’s not going to demand targets, shed tears on the sideline, or livestream a therapy session with Lil Wayne. There is no possible way his ego was not checked at the door when he found himself working out alongside Braxton Berrios and Juju Smith-Schuster. He understands his role as a depth piece and is an instant upgrade over bums like Jalin Hyatt.
Most importantly, he can serve as a mentor to the young guys in the locker room. Odell’s experience being built up as a superstar, only to be chewed up and spat out is beyond valuable to a team whose best players are currently going through eerily similar experiences.
While the parallels to Malik Nabers are the most obvious, I’m not overly concerned with the fact that he’s not rehabbing his knee fast enough for Pat Leonard’s liking. I want him in the ear of Jaxson Dart and Abdul Carter.
This duo has obvious star potential and are in the process of being torn down for absolute nonsense. We can’t have their stories in NY end the same way as Odell, Saquon, and so many others. I’m not looking for 1,200 yards and 10 TDs. I just want to focus on football and not be dragged by the bullshit that has plagued us for the past 15 years.
So let’s get Jalin Hyatt $10,000 and a gig at the American Dream. Let’s get #13 back in the end zone again.
