Odell Beckham Jr. explains why he turned down 'Dancing With the Stars'

By Brett Smiley
Published

With great fame comes great scrutiny. Living and playing football in New York only magnifies that spotlight.

After New York Giants wideout Odell Beckham Jr. burst onto the scene with a tremendous rookie season in 2014 and followed it up with a second Pro Bowl campaign in 2015, a lot of off-the-field opportunities came his way including the chance to compete on Dancing with the Stars. 

Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller and Pittsburgh Steelers wideout Antonio Brown ended up strutting their stuff on the most recent season but not Beckham Jr.

In a 15-minute interview on Monday with Mike Francesa on WFAN, within a greater interview about managing the spotlight, distractions and critics, Beckham explained why he passed:

“Dancing with the Stars was an opportunity to do and I would love to do it. But I don’t want to do that and have [media, fans, critics] ready for the excuse that if anything were to happen this season, it’s like ‘oh he’s too focused on what he’s doing in the outside world and his fame.’ Whatever fame means. I had 'fame' tatted on me my freshman year in college-- forgive all my enemies, or forget all my enemies."

 

Beckham expounded on how he lives in the fishbowl and on how he's portrayed in the media compares with the reality that he lives.

“I live this life every day. This is not a joke to me. I don’t like when I feel as if my life has been made a mockery of. You just try to walk this fine line. On the field is the only place I have control.

“This is the most honest I can be: I’m trying to play football until the wheels fall off. For me, football is everything. All that stuff that goes on outside of football is almost a distraction to keep myself to not think about football all the time. Football has made me who I am today ... All I care about is football, really."

Had the decided to give DWTS a whirl he certainly would have had company among NFL players who competed on the show it in the offseason, including Miller, Brown, Hines Ward, Jason Taylor, Chad Ochocinco and Donald Driver.

But he's made it clear football is his priority and now that the preseason is in full swing, 'tis the season.