Odell Beckham Jr. might be forced to sit out of the New York Giants Week One regular season opener against NFC East division rival Dallas Cowboys thanks to an ankle injury sustained in the team’s preseason matchup against the Cleveland Browns.
While the injury looked back initially, the x-rays came back negative. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a serious ankle sprain, and it’s “not out of the question he could miss a week or two of the regular season.”
The low hit by Browns cornerback Briean Boddy-Calhoun has drawn both criticism and sympathy. Boddy-Calhoun went right for Beckham’s knee on the hit. It’s a borderline miracle that OBJ didn’t break something.
Some say a hit like that should cost Boddy-Calhoun a game or two in the regular season. Some say that because it is only preseason, hitting like that should mean losing your entire regular season.
Others, however, like legendary cornerback Charles Woodson, say that it’s just football, and Boddy-Calhoun will do whatever it takes to make that final roster cut.
“That’s football!” exclaimed Woodson. “…At no point did I think it was dirty. Hitting people low is part of the game. We react instantly on how it looks, which is a major problem with social media. If it looks bad, people immediately get angry. If it looks bad, people go crazy. No! The young man was just playing football! The way football works is: coaches tell players, ‘By any means necessary.’ The guy is trying to do what he can to make the team!”
No matter which side you fall on, the hit proves that OBJ isn’t immortal. He can get hurt, and a serious injury this season could hurt his chances of signing that $100 million contract he’s been looking forward to.
To solidify that pay day, Beckham is reportedly looking into a $100 million insurance policy to protect against injury or anything else that might stop him from receiving the contract. A policy of this sort is expected to run him around $600,000.
It won’t be the craziest thing ever insured in the NFL. Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu had a large policy out on his hair in case someone decided to yank it out.
While missing games is never fun, Beckham won’t be the only star out in the Giants Week One opener if he has to sit—Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott is facing a six-game suspension. But with the Giants, one loss could change a potential Super Bowl run into another season out of the playoffs.