If you're like me, then you are all in for former and current professional players building their brands outside the field. And if that's the case, then you absolutely love players creating content and podcasts touching on different aspects of sports and life.
That's been the case for former NFL great wideout Chad Ochocinco, who hosted Cam Newton in the first episode of his new podcast "Uno & Ocho." Chad Johnson discussed multiple topics, but one of them caught everybody's attention: Odel Beckham Jr's oft-talked what-if scenario had his career not been ravaged by injuries.
Ochocinco thinks Beckham "might have been the first $200 million deal." The former Bengals wide receiver said that Beckham "does more than just play football--he’s bigger than that," as quoted in a story published in The New York Post under Michael Blinn's byline.
Cam Newton also revealed that he worked out with OBJ" at some point, staing that the Ravens WR "has the best tracking ability--it’s like a radar." Newton explained that "as soon as the ball comes off your hand, you can see him finding that and how it’s spinning and how it dictates.
"It's poetic,” Newton finished.
“I've always been a perfectionist.”@obj on joint practices with the Commanders: pic.twitter.com/G2Ics8FKTZ
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 16, 2023
All of the above is very interesting and comes at the best possible moment, considering Beckham spoke after Wednesday's practice and told reporters that he feels great, he still cares a lot about the game, remains a perfectionist, and is trying to improve on a daily basis even though he's entering the later stages of his career and returning from a long rehabbing period.
"There are some things I wouldn't do to my teammates that I'd do to somebody else," Beckham also said. "It was great to be able to go against another team and different competition. I think the last few days are very beneficial on both sides."
.@Lj_era8 ➡️ @obj ‼️ pic.twitter.com/FjtPPFxGDR
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 15, 2023
On top of OBJ's own comments, Lamar Jackson also discussed his new teammate and offensive weapon saying that "He’s a lot faster than people give him credit for." Quoted by Clifton Brown of BaltimoreRavens.com, Jackson stated that Beckham is "A lot faster."
Considering Lamar and Becks have been teammates for just a few months, and barely weeks of actual training and building a rapport between them in training camp, things are looking very promising for the QB-WR duo ahead of the 2023 season.
With the regular season not kicking off until a few days into next month, the pairing still has a few weeks' worth of reps to get in (more) sync and improve their connection as the Ravens gear up for their regular-season debut on Sep. 10 when they'll host the Houston Texas at M&T Bank Stadium.