The crowd at MetLife Stadium roared like it was welcoming an old friend home when Odell Beckham Jr. was introduced with the starters. And for the rest of the night, No. 13 was confined to his proverbial room.
He made the Giants’ roster and his hair is blonde again and that all amounted to a feel-good story for the 33-year-old Beckham ahead of a Sunday night matchup against the Cowboys in which he once provided the Giants a forever highlight.
Beckham electrified New York in his first run here, but his best highlights Sunday night were those cheers and a one-handed snag in warmups.
“He’s been through a journey, he’s been through a battle,” Malik Nabers said. “Just seeing him back where he started, seeing him home, I’m smiling in there. I’m that little kid that just was watching him in warmups.”
Though he did make it onto the field during the 28-20 win, Jaxson Dart never looked Beckham’s way, and that was on a night where he was dealing.
Seven different players got targets, including three different tight ends — Isaiah Likely, Theo Johnson and Patrick Ricard — but Beckham was not one of them.
And, just as concerning for his prospects of making an impact on this Giants’ season, is that Dart and company didn’t seem to need him to rip apart the Cowboys’ defense and deliver a cathartic victory.
Maybe that is not altogether shocking given that Beckham spent training camp on the roster bubble, having missed all of last season with injuries, along with eight games in 2024. Beating out Darius Slayton for a roster spot already counted as a surprise, though Beckham was helped in that competition when Calvin Austin III tore his ACL.
That does not mean Beckham won’t have a role to play as the season goes on. Injuries, roster attrition and week-to-week variabilities across 17 games mean that Beckham has every chance to hear his name cheered when the game is actually going on, as opposed to before it, at some point this season. And there is plenty he’s doing behind the scenes, to hear Nabers tell it.
“He’s a very good mentor for me. Always asks me how I feel,” Nabers said. “Asks me to do the extra, asks me have I done enough to be out here. He always gives me good prep like, ‘Bro, you ready but you gotta do it for yourself.’ Having him in my corner, having him push me has been the best.”
