 Now, Odell Beckham Jr. is officially a Baltimore Raven. He signed his contract, had his introductory press conference, and it went well. It went smooth. There was, of course, a healthy dose of Lamar Jackson questions, but I mean, Odell Beckham Jr. is a wide receiver, and people want to know who's going to be throwing him the ball. But one thing that I noticed that Odell Beckham Jr. did throughout the entirety of the press conference whenever it was brought up, he let it be known that he cannot assure that Lamar Jackson is going to be the quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens. He cannot say that set in stone because it's not set in stone. But he made sure he traded lightly with that one. He continued to do a lot of deflecting to EDC and hardball. He said, hey, and he waved to Lamar. Hey, Lamar, if you watching this, but he let it be known. It's up to those guys. It's not up to me. He even said, hey, if I could hand it all to you, I would, but it's not in my payroll. It's up to them. And that was that's the only thing he really could do about that whole situation because so much of that is really based on hope. A lot of us, including myself, are assuming that Lamar Jackson is going to be the quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens. I know there's still some people that think he won't be. And of course, time will tell. But Odell Beckham Jr. when asked about it, again, he pretty much still clear of giving any concrete answer to that. He said he hopes that he is. And of course, we all hope that he is. And I think with Odell Beckham Jr. Coming to the Baltimore Ravens, obviously they cut him a fat check. But with Odell Beckham Jr. Coming to the Baltimore Ravens, I think he is banking on Lamar Jackson being the quarterback of the team. But we won't know till we know. But Team Keep It Clean. Before we get into the details of this precedent, Odell Beckham Jr.'s introductory presser, which it went pretty well. I got to give a special shout out to the newest Team Keep It Clean patrons. My guy John R., my guy Mike F., LaVar W., and TL Mac. I appreciate y'all being Team Keep It Clean patrons. If any of y'all like to become a Team Keep It Clean patron, you can go to patreon.com slash engravingviz. And shout out to all the Team Keep It Clean channel members too. I appreciate y'all like crazy. Man, I appreciate everybody that supports. Make sure you subscribe to the channel, turn your notifications on. Cause when we talk about presses like this, I don't want y'all to be missing stuff. But anyway, let's get into it. Odell Beckham Jr. is of course a very extremely popular NFL wide receiver. And with Ravens press conferences, they have press conferences all the time, as we know. But for this press conference, a player that has not played in over a year, NFL Network was live streaming this press conference. NFL Network don't just live stream any press conference. That lets you know the star power that Odell Beckham Jr. has and what he's bringing to the Baltimore Ravens. And that's even before he steps on the field. Like he ain't even stepped foot in M&T Bank yet. He ain't even stepped foot. Well, he is in Owings Mills cause that's where the whole, the presses are. But he ain't stepped foot on a practice field or nothing. But just on his press alone, introduction to press alone, he's bringing all this attention. So Ravens fans, get ready for it. Cause I mean, it was already a lot of attention on the Ravens already with Lamar Jackson. But you add a, you add Odell Beckham Jr. to that and hopefully you re-add a Lamar Jackson to that. Ooh, go make your money Ravens. I said, I don't know the business. But anyway, before the press even started, oh, I felt bad because they were taking pictures. And I didn't feel bad because they were taking pictures. I felt bad because they showed Odell Beckham Jr. in his jersey. And I said, ooh, I felt bad for crochet. Because there's been a lot of speculation on what jersey number Odell Beckham Jr. is gonna wear. Is it gonna be zero? Like it's been listed on the website and NFL.com and NFLShop.com. Is it gonna be double zero? But no, Odell Beckham Jr. had a number three. And I've been someone that has, wait before they even signed Odell Beckham Jr. I've been someone who's assumed that James Prochet won't make the roster this year. Only because, not because he's a bad player at all, but just because I feel like the Ravens, they fell out of favor with him. And it showed throughout last season. But when he had that number three, I said, ooh, poor Prochet. Poor Prochet. But we'll see what happens. Cause I mean anything possible till it ain't possible anymore. But getting into it, Eric DeCosta, he talks about how this has been something that's been happening over the past year. And yeah, we know. We've been covering this thing from jump. Again, it started during last season. Started in the middle of last season, last football season. They were saying that the Ravens have been talking to Odell Beckham Jr. They were keeping in contact with them and stuff. But yeah, so this has been going on for a while. He said that they attended Odell's workout in Arizona. And he said, we went into it knowing that we were the underdogs. And that is a big thing with the Baltimore Ravens. Them just being known as underdogs. But anyway, Justina Anderson, she asked about the expectations on if Lamar was a factor in this whole thing coming together. And Odell said, hey, he said, that's more of a question for them. And he pointed at EDC and Hobbs. And he said, that's what he's hoping for, though. Said he's excited to get on the field, especially after missing so much time. And he was asked, before you signed, did you get any assurances from Lamar that you guys would be playing together this year? And again, he said, I didn't get any assurances. I didn't get any assurances. He said, my thoughts are that he would be here. These two want him to be here. So I said, all right, Odell Beckham Jr. You're a little agent for Lamar, huh? I see you. You working as a little agent, like a little liaison between Lamar and EDC and ours. And they're like, hey, these two, they want you here. And of course, they've continued to publicly say that they want Lamar. But maybe Odell Beckham Jr., he felt like he could sort of be the cherry on top. Hey, I'm here now. Hey, all right, Lamar, let's make it happen, baby. So anyway, he said, he was asked that you're used to the big city. But why did you choose the Ravens? Like, because obviously he played with the New York Giants. And that's where all the lights and attention is going to be on you. He played in LA with the Rams, got the Super Bowl there. And there's plenty of star power there and whatnot. But his response, he said, well, I was in Cleveland. I said, ooh, oh yeah, you were Raven for sure. Now you're over there taking your shots at your old city. OK. And he said, the big cities are great for opportunities off the field. OK, talking about sponsorship and the brand deals and all that. But I didn't really care what was going on unless I'm catching footballs. Then he was asked about Todd Monkham. And he said they had a great reporter in Cleveland. He said, sometimes situation is just on for you though. And no one did anything wrong, but sometimes it's not a good situation for you. And both of them went their separate ways. He went on to the Rams, won a Super Bowl. Monkham went on to Georgia, won two national championships. So I say it worked out for the both of them with them leaving Cleveland. Then another question was asked to EDC. He said, have you talked to Lamar since Odell Beckham Jr. signed the deal? I said, no, I haven't talked to Lamar since the signing. Our feelings on Lamar haven't changed since the end of the season. He's the right person to lead us where we want to be. Something gotta give though, with them making this thing happen. Because again, a lot of us assume that it's gonna be Lamar, but they get nothing set in stone. And that can be scary to think about when you really think about it. Like everything looks great right now. Oh yeah, they got Odell Beckham Jr. The draft coming up, da, da, da, da. But nothing set in stone. But hopefully it could be set in stone and set on the contracts. But we'll see. Odell Beckham Jr. he was talking about the Ravens. He said, I was in the AFC North. I got whooped by the Ravens plenty of times. And he said he's been an underdog his entire life and the Ravens, they fit that bill in that mold. He said, that excites me. It boiled down to being in a place in his life where it means more to be wanted than, oh, we would love to have you. And I was like, oh, okay. I said, all right, Odell. Odell getting a little deep with that one. But I liked that one. Because if somebody wants you there, that's different than, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We'd love to have you. It's cool if you come through. It's cool if you show up. If you show up, hey, great. I'm the Mortimeria, but if they actually want you there, that's different. And I was like, okay, well, there I see you. But he said it wasn't about the money. He said that they showed that they wanted me to be here and they saw me as a piece. I got one ring and he said it was bittersweet though. So of course, him getting the ring and making all them plays, but then not being able to finish the game with the injury. And he said it's all about getting more rings and championships. And he was asked, what did the team do to show you that love and that they wanted you here? And he said that Steve Bishotti reached out. And I'm like, man, Steve Bishotti. Like he probably hit up Odell and was like, look, Odell, please man, help us out. I'll cut your check. I'll cut the check like I never cut a check for no Y receiver ever. I'll cut the check. But please, we need you. We're trying to keep Lamar. We're trying to keep him at this price, but he went this way. You know how these negotiations go, but please. So whatever you say, it worked. But he said Steve reached out and he said, I text my agent and said, I think I want to be a Raven. Said they just showed him that they wanted him here. And he said, he's all about love. He said show love, you get love. And he said them Raven showed it. Now, somebody asked him, where are you as far as recovery? And he said, it's not really a second ACL surgery because he said that season, his last season with the Rams, that he played without an ACL. He said he found out about it in week nine and they approached him saying that they could redo his ACL, but he said no. He said that he would die on a sword. Meaning that a whatever happens happens, but he want to go out there and fight. He want to go out there and play with his boys and whatnot, play with his team. And he did that. He did that. So that touchdown that he scored on the Ravens and what was that week, 14 or 15, something like that? That touchdown that he scored on the Ravens and he hit the bird flip. Yeah, yeah, that was with no ACL. Yeah, that anyway. And he also talked about how he just, he cared that much about playing. He said he had to sit back and watch everybody have fun last year. And he was looking at the chops, wanting to be back out there. And he said he could have played a bunch of other sports in life, but he sacrificed a lot to play football. And now he's just really focused on this upcoming season. Then I think EDC was asked about what gave you the confidence, like with the type of contract that they signed Odell Beckham, Jr. too. Cause a lot of people felt like it was a risky contract and whatnot, but EDC said this was a guy that we felt could help us take, that could help take us to the next level. Now, I think in parentheses he's probably thinking this is a guy that could help us get Lamar on the contract as sort of an incentive, but anyway, he said the last game that he played in, he was probably the best player on the field. We remember the game in New York when he was with the Giants and he turned to Odell and he was like, what did you have like 200 yards? And he talked about how that was a tough game for him and John Harbaugh. And now remember when Jimmy Smith was playing, Odell ain't have nothing. He ain't have nothing. But when Jimmy Smith went down, that's when Odell went off. But anyway, EDC said Odell is 100% invested and that's something that we always look for. I said after two minutes of sitting in Arizona across the table from Odell, I feel like he was the right guy for the team. Odell said that he isn't worried about coming back from his injury. He's already passed the mental part of coming back from ACL injury. And that's probably the biggest part right there because when these players come back from ACL injuries, Achilles injuries, all types of injuries, the mental part, it's probably harder than the physical because with the mental part, the physical could be right. You can be straight, but it's getting back out there and really trusting that you're all the way good. Like really, and really giving you all on each and every play, each and every snap and practicing all that, really trusting your body mentally, being like, okay, I can do this and not second guessing yourself. Because if you start second guessing yourself, especially on a football field, oh, that's dangerous. That's second guessing yourself is like an injury waiting to happen. So he said he's passed the mental part. So that's important. He said that there are a lot of younger receivers in the room and that he can teach plenty of things that he learned. And he said he can still always learn too. And he said, if you're not in a place where you can learn and pass on the knowledge, then you're probably in the wrong place. Oh, what's that? Oh, Dale, what the hell came out? Oh, Dale, the philosopher. I liked it, but anyway, continuing. He said, it was tough when he first had the surgery, but that's all behind him now. He said he's looking forward to everything and that he's really excited. He said he's determined and hungry and he's ready to be excellent again. So that boy letting him be known. Like, yeah, I was excellent before and I know that I was excellent before, but I'm ready to be excellent again. So the confidence is oozing through. I wish, you know what? I didn't hear it. Maybe I missed it, but I didn't hear anybody asking me about Bateman. I didn't hear anybody say, oh, what do you think about it? Shall I Bateman? I didn't hear anybody asking about that, but maybe I missed it. Anyway, somebody asks, when you battled Marlon Humphrey, what's the practice gonna be like? What's it gonna be like y'all being teammates? But he said it'll have to get Marlon a few head butts, but as he said, it'll be nice to go against him, especially with him being an all pro corner. And he's happy that they teammates now. And he said that he ain't got beef with anybody and doesn't have any bad blood. He said life's too short for that. And I know that there's been a lot of Ravens fans that have felt like, oh man, Odell Beckham Jr., he would never come to the Ravens. He don't like MP Juice Man. He don't like Marlon Humphrey. They don't like him and I'm thinking like, no, man, like, no, them dudes ain't got no beef. Those games, especially that game where Marlon had them on the ground, they're just competing, man. They're competing. Them tempers are flying. The emotions are involved. They're just competing. That's it. They on the same team, they'll be cool. They's not on the same team. I'm sure they will still be cool. Even though MP Juice Man has some not so team can be clean stuff to say after that game, but I'm sure they would all be fine, especially with that check looking right too. He, somebody asked him how close he is to where he was pre-injury. And he said after being a year removed, going on like 13 or 14 months post-surgery, that's when you really start to turn that corner. But he said, we'll see in September how close he is to where he was before the injury. Now, this question was directed at Harbs. They asked, was there anything in particular you were looking to learn about Odell Beckham Jr. when you met him? And he said, we were, and this was back during the season. He said, we were fighting to make it through the season. But Odell was fighting to get back to playing. But he said that Odell was an open book on where he was headed, like the direction that he was headed in. And he was struck by Odell Beckham Jr.'s straightforwardness and honesty. But then to Odell Beckham Jr., somebody asked me, is there any concern about the uncertainty at the quarterback position? And he waved at Lamar. He said, Lamar, I don't know if you're watching, but hey. And he just said that he hopes everything gets worked out, but he said that life's not certain. So again, whenever he was asked a question like that, he did a good job of dodging and not making anything concrete or official or anything like that. So, because I'm not sure he knows a business. He knows a business. Not that he can have really any big impact on the negotiations, but you wanna, hey, whatever Lamar gotta say about his negotiations, you let him say that, whatever EDC and them gotta say about it, you let them say that. You just say, hey, I hope it gets worked out. If you don't wanna try to lean toward one side or the other or whatnot, you don't wanna get in the middle of it. Basically, you don't wanna get in the middle of somebody money. So anyway, somebody asked him, when is he gonna be getting on the field? He said, that'll be a discussion with the trainers. And now he did say, I appreciate this part a lot, cause it's true, cause it happens a lot. Whether it's media people, whether it's YouTube and stuff like that, whether it's something we talking about. He talked about how there, he said he's been there where the media makes a bigger deal of someone making or missing OTAs than the actual team does. And that happens. And I think it's from when we're on the outside looking in, especially around OTA time, cause this is like, we're like looking for something. Like what's going on with the team? We want any updates? Any, what's the status of this person, that person, that person? So if somebody missing from OTAs, we can be like, oh, okay, okay. And it could make you wonder, like, are they happy, are they unhappy? Da, da, da, we can all be coming to our own conclusions on stuff. But there's Odell saying, hey, there's a media and stuff that make it bigger than what it is. And we don't even be tripping off on all that. So I was like, okay, I get it cause that can happen. Next question was to Harb. They said, what's the art of bringing in a major personality star and making sure he's a part of the team? I wasn't really a big fan of that question because it made it sound like Odell Beckham Jr. was all about self and not about team. But anyway, Harb said, I don't care who you are in this league. You've always been on a team and had teammates. You've been around guys in the locker room and it's just a bunch of guys trying to be the best that they can be. So I felt like Harb all handled that question well. He answered it really well and allowed Odell Beckham Jr. to still have dignity with that question. Cause I just, and maybe it's me. Maybe it's me overlooking too much into, but I just wasn't a big fan of that question because I felt like it like, and we get that Odell Beckham Jr. is a star. But it made it seem like he's a star that would have his own locker room separate from everybody else that he would just be focused and only care about himself. It made him sound like he was this arrogant guy that only cares about Odell Beckham Jr. and doesn't care about anybody. That's what it sound like to me. But again, I could be wrong. So anyway, to EDC. EDC was asked, Lamar said he requested a trade back on March 2nd and have you spoke to him since then? I'm pretty sure that was Jameson that asked that question. But EDC said, we have communicated since that date and it probably wouldn't be smart on my part to discuss those details. So at a cost of like, look, I ain't trying to mess up this relationship with Lamar. I gotta keep what we talk about between me and him. And that's that. But he said, we only think of Lamar as a QB of this team. It's been a long process and a lot of things in life take a long time. These things take time, work and patience. And yeah, from the outside looking at it, we could tell it takes all of those things and more. Now to Odell Beckham Jr. He said that Lamar seemed excited, like after he signed. He said that Lamar was like, oh, trust. And that Lamar said that he was excited about the opportunity and the possibility. Said he's been there where he's worked his entire life to get to the NFL. And he said, it's tough when your heart is involved and it gets mixed with the business side. And he said that he would love to play with Lamar. He said Lamar reminds him of Vic. And he said that Vic always showed him love like when he was a young kid. And he said he tried to reciprocate that same love to other kids. Because he said that Vic, that just made a really big difference with him. And he said that he hopes it works with Lamar. Said if he could hand it over to him, then he would, but that's not in his payroll. And that's, yeah, we brought that up earlier. Then Hobbs was asked about how Todd Monkin feels. And Hobbs said, I see Hobbs negotiating. He was like, he said, Monkin probably not even listening to this right now. He said he probably drawn up plays for O'Dell and plays for Lamar. So, okay, yeah, I see what you're doing. O'Dell talked about when Bishadi reached out that they chopped it up just like two men talking. He said, not even about the business stuff. He said they were just talking. Even though, I mean, you know, Steve Bishadi ain't just calling O'Dell for no random phone call. You know it's about business, but he said he talked to him just like a man just straight up, man. Just a conversation. And we appreciate that, man. You appreciate that. Even like, for example, when we bring somebody on here, if we do like a collaboration with somebody, we know that it's business. It's business whether I'm on somebody else channel, they come on here, whatever it may be. But me, I always appreciate. Because there's some people where they may come through and you do the video, record it, boom, boom, boom, done, all right, see you later. Appreciate it, boom, it's over. And there's no problem with that. There's nothing wrong with that. But then there are people who will come through. We're talking for like 30 minutes before we even press the record button. And then after we record the video and whatever, then after that we're talking for another 30 minutes, sometimes even longer. And I always appreciate that because it's just a vibe, man. And when you just talking and chopping it up with somebody, and you know y'all gonna take care of business, but still when you just chopping it up with them, it's just different, man. It's different. So I felt where he was coming from on that part about talking to Bishadi. Somebody asks about everywhere you play, teammates talk about how great of a teammate you are. Why do you think not everyone views you that way? And he said he made some mistakes in the past as a young man with a spotlight on you, like when he was in New York. He said he could have done some things different. And he said when he was out there making one hand catches, it wasn't like he was taking out his phone and being like, oh no, look at me, look at me, it's all about me. He wasn't on that stuff. And he talked about his son because Ryan Mink asked how has his son impacted this football for him? And he said that he can have one of the worst days ever, but then he'll come home and the son is like, dadda. And it changes everything. He shouted out his son's mom, his entire family, just everybody. And that part hit me right there because it reminded me of even now too, but it's definitely when Carter was younger. When Carter was younger, if I have a really bad day at work or something, I used to say, I used to say, this is a really bad day at work. Oh man, he's had some really bad days at work. But before this, but just, oof, cause like with that is like, oh, it could be stressful in my last job before doing this for a time. But when he was younger, like he was a baby and stuff and like, you stress out about the job and whatnot, you come home and you see a kid, it's like, oh man, it just, you can say be stressed out, but it just, it helps a lot. They like alleviate so much from you. So that was special right there. I really appreciated that part. And then the question was asked to EDC, was why receive a more of a priority this off season? EDC said, we still strongly believe in the draft, but he said, let me say this first, we believe strongly in our young guys. So he said, I ain't getting caught up. Cause y'all, he went to the draft, but then he's like, hold up, let me shout out my guys. And then he named Rashal Bateman, Devon Duvenay, Tyler Wallace and James Pro-Share. Then he said, we also brought in Nelson Agiloh, of course. He said, we've tried in the past, and he said there can be times when you might have the best offer for a player, but a guy feels better somewhere else. But he said, in this case with O'Dell, we found the right person. And then O'Dell was asked about how there's a perception in the past. And the guy was like, it might not be, it might be right or wrong, I'm not sure, but that wide receivers don't want to come play in this offense. No, it's right, it's right. I know whoever asked that question, he kind of wanted to shy away from it or what. No, it's right, it's correct. But anyway, he said, O'Dell Beckham Jr. said, I don't really know if I thought about it. He probably did. But anyway, but Raven showed him that check, and he was like, oh, what in the world why receivers don't want to come play in Baltimore? Ah, I'll go quick. Cutting that 15-mil guarantee, O'Dell said, forget all that other stuff, I'm with it. But anyway, he said, I don't really know if I thought about it. I just know I saw number eight out there, and I know he can throw the ball, because he talked about how there are a lot of people that feel like, and say Lamar can't throw the ball, but he talked about perception versus reality. And he said it was about being wanted. I know what Munkin did in Georgia, I was in Cleveland, I was in a running style offense in Cleveland. Then he said he was in LSU, they ran the ball all the time, but he still put up thousands of yards. And he said, to have a good pass game, you have to be able to run the football. And then somebody asked him about like how teammates and stuff view him since he's so popular and whatnot. And he said in the locker room, we don't worry about none of that stuff. We ain't to worry about none of it at all. And then one of the last questions was to Harvey. He said, what kind of changes will be made to the offense with adding somebody like O'Dell? And Harvey said, like maybe some stuff philosophically you might change, but nothing crazy. He said, we got concepts for this player, that player, for what we got. So we got some stuff we got to add some new plays in for O'Dell, Beckham. And he said, well, you got a player like this that makes him more fun and gives you more options. And that is a mindset I wish the Ravens would have had a long time ago. When you add a player like this, it gives you more options. And that's what it's about, especially on offense or defense too, but having more options. So again, this season, like every other season too, it's huge. Still a lot of pieces left in the puzzle that need to be put together. Like what the Ravens are gonna do at the quarterback situation. And even though it does seem like, so yeah, just, it'll be Lamar. Sign Lamar, give him a deal, do something. Obviously, like we've seen this entire off season, it's not that simple. And if it was that simple, then all this stuff would have been behind them already, but it's still right in their faces. So we'll see how it goes. But Team Keep It Clean, I appreciate y'all. I love y'all. I know this one went on for a little while, but yeah, it was nice. It's nice seeing Odell Beckham Jr. as a Baltimore Raven. Appreciate y'all and just like Odell Beckham Jr. won't be since he officially signed that deal. Ain't no backing out now, baby. We out. Let's go. Making rage quit. Exit out the door. Exit out the door. Yeah. Use this favorite team with up bottom.