Odell Beckham Jr. On Fame, Fatherhood, Fashion, and Fighting For His Next Big Moment — On and Off the Field

Photo Credit: Scott McDermott

BY LAURA SCHREFFLER

PHOTOGRAPHY SCOTT MCDERMOTT

STYLING JASON REMBERT

GROOMING VALISSA YOE

SHOT ON LOCATION AT ZERO BOND NEW YORK

There’s a rare hush around Odell Beckham Jr. today. No roaring crowd, no flashbulbs — just the soft creak of a table as a therapist shifts his leg inside a Parisian hotel suite. Outside, Roland Garros pulses through the City of Light, but inside, Beckham is still. It may look like a pause, but the past few weeks have been anything but: courtside at the French Open, red carpets in Cannes, champagne-slicked nights in Monte Carlo — a passport-stamped blur of motion, style, and spectacle.

But inside, currently focused on rehabbing, OBJ is finally still long enough to talk about what people still get wrong, how his priorities have shifted since becoming a father, and — with his future in the NFL uncertain — what could come next.

“This is the period of my life where I deserve to relax and have fun,” he says, matter-of-factly, knowing that he’s worked hard enough to have earned the view. And while it isn’t his first time circling the globe — he recounts a past trip with ease, touring with Drake through Stockholm, Amsterdam, Norway (as one does when you’re Odell Beckham Jr.) — but these glittering days and nights on the Riviera hit differently. “This Cannes/Monaco trip is honestly something I’ve done for the last three years, and that I want to do every year that I possibly can,” he says. “It lets me realize there’s so much more out there… It’s probably my favorite place I’ve been to.”

It’s certainly a stretch that most would consider aspirational: attending the amfAR gala Cannes 2025 in custom Chrome Hearts, hanging out with longtime friend Sir Lewis Hamilton trackside in Monaco alongside Jeff Bezos, Naomi Campbell, Dua Lipa, Patrick Dempsey, and Bernard Arnault being interviewed by legend John McEnroe at Roland Garros. But for the 32-year-old athlete, it wasn’t about appearances — it was about breath. Back then, he was still finding the balance between work and world. Now, he’s all about letting the weight of the world off of his very capable shoulders.

“I just had a lot of fun, a lot of time to actually relax,” he admits from his horizontal position on the adjusting table. “I feel like I’ve been going and working so hard for so many years that it’s good to just be able to sit back.”

And he means it. Some people fight the pause, filling every moment with motion to avoid discomfort. Beckham Jr. isn’t one of them.
“I’ll get back to, you know, doing it and working hard and all that eventually,” he says, but shares that it will be on his terms. That’s what luxury means to him, after all. Not a price tag or a logo, but the ability to move through the world freely, fully. “Growing up the way I grew up, just being in some of these places is already enough for me,” he says. “Just enjoying the life that I worked so hard for.”

That mindset is at the heart of where he’s headed next — not just as an athlete, but as a man building a post-NFL life by design. “I’m getting to that point,” he says. “You finish up your career the way you want, or see what’s going to happen, and then it’s going to be really about living life, enjoying it, and enjoying my son and the time that I could have with him.”

It’s a thoughtful transition, and one that doesn’t come with a blueprint — but he’s creating his own. “It’s just where I’m at in my life,” he says. “You know, establishing your businesses and things that you’ll have after football, because life will go on. Bills have to get paid.”

It sounds like a somber thought for someone who has given his all to the NFL for the last decade, but it’s just life, and Beckham Jr. is ready to start living it in a different way. For almost a third of his life, since being drafted by the New York Giants in 2014, the New Orleans native and LSU grad has been abiding by the seasons, dedicating his life to football. He’s made moves cross-country and state-to-state, playing for the Cleveland Browns, the Los Angeles Rams (where he won a Super Bowl ring), the Baltimore Ravens, and his most recent team, the Miami Dolphins. He was named the NFL Rookie of the Year (2014), has earned three Pro Bowl Selections, and a first-team All-Pro accolade. His rookie year one-handed catch against the Dallas Cowboys remains iconic to this day.

With retirement looming on the horizon, he’s equally pragmatic and passionate about his future. “I’m in a place where I’m doing things that align with me — things that I would enjoy. Not so much trying to find things that make you money. It’s more about your heart.”

Photo Credit: Scott McDermott

So, what speaks to his heart? His answer is effortless. “Fashion. Traveling. Having a good time. Enjoying life, family, friends,” he says. “I’ve worked so hard for so long — it’s time to, at some point, get into just relaxing.”

That’s the energy behind FRI&NDS, the lifestyle brand Beckham’s been quietly shaping behind the scenes that fittingly made its worldwide debut during Super Bowl LIX — held in his hometown — this past February. “It’s about combining all the things I like to do — traveling, actual good events, the things that are fun, the nights that you actually had a good time and that were worth remembering,” he explains. But it’s more than that. It’s a mission.

He means that. Beckham Jr.’s built a community of creatives and collaborators around him — many of whom have found their own success alongside him. “I don’t take credit for it, but I know a lot of people who’ve now been successful and come up in their own way,” he says. “It’s uplifting and empowering other people to go and have success on their own — and I love that more than anything, just seeing people succeeding.”

That spirit of elevation is matched by a quiet humility. When asked who’s helping him succeed in this new phase of life, he doesn’t drop names for the sake of it. “I’ll get advice from people who are successful — you know, the Michael Rubins of the world,” he says. “People like that, who are family friends of mine. But it’s definitely a learning curve, and I’m always someone who wants to learn and ask questions.”

And if there’s one philosophy guiding his evolution, it’s flexibility. “It’s kind of a free-flowing thing,” he says of FRI&NDS. “Whatever makes sense. You have an idea of something, but along the line, things change. You’ve got to be able to adapt.”

He smiles a little, lifting the hem of his shirt to reveal a tattoo inked low on his torso. It’s a quiet emblem, etched in stark black: adapt to survive. Around it, a living gallery of symbols, stories, and scars. His body is a map of meaning, from the leg sleeve that launched a movement to a new Egyptian-coded tattoo on his neck. And on this map of Odell Beckham Jr., only his stomach remains as virgin, uncharted territory, a blank canvas. A story still to be told.

Photo Credit: Scott McDermott

Odell Beckham Jr. has always played with heart — but now, the stakes are different. Now, he’s living with intention, and for someone who has his heart: his three-year-old son, Zydn.

“My son is everything for me right now,” he says, with no hesitation. “There’s nothing more in my life that means more than him. He’s changed everything in me — my everyday thoughts, my everyday everything.”

Beckham Jr. lights up when he talks about his son. You can hear it in his voice, softening even when the stories turn tough. The legendary wide receiver, once the epicenter of media frenzy and sideline spectacle, now orbits something more personal. Fatherhood hasn’t just grounded him — it’s transformed him.

“It’s taught me so much patience, so much love,” he says. “It’s the best thing in the world. You’re looking at your twin, and he does something, and it’s like — it’s just like you. I always ask my mom, ‘Was I like this?’ And she’s like, ‘Exactly like that.’ It’s like watching myself all over again.”

He smiles, and his face softens. “My little twin.”

Photo Credit: Scott McDermott

Becoming a parent, he says, isn’t something you can prepare for. “You’d never know the love that would be filled in your heart until you’re staring at your seed. I had a natural home birth… and it’s something I can’t ever describe unless you’ve been through it.”

But that love brings accountability. He’s aware, now more than ever, that he’s being watched. Closely. “I try not to cuss or say too much around him. He’s very smart and picking up on everything,” he says. “So that’s one of the hardest things — you have to change as a person, because he’s watching full on.”

Still, Beckham Jr. doesn’t always catch himself in time (de rigueur). Listening intently, I pick up on what he’s putting down: Zydn has modeled himself after his father and grandfather in all the ways. “We’ve had to be really careful,” he confesses. “Every now and again, pops will be playing a certain game on his phone, and he might have, you know, said the ‘F’ word. It was funny when my son was really young, because it was like, ‘What did he just say?’ But we had to get him out of that. And now he’ll be like, ‘You said a bad word!’ He’s very aware of those things; he’s not bringing that to school and saying that.”

Like he said, he’s an evolution. The point is, Beckham Jr. wants to change — not fundamentally, but in the small and most important ways — for his son. But he’s not interested in becoming someone else. “I’ve pretty much been who I am all my life,” he says. “It’s not about changing — it’s just trying to be even better. For him. For myself. I want to teach him the right things: morals, values… But at the end of the day, he’s going to be who he is too.”

That balance — between leading and letting go — is one he’s still learning. “I want to give him all the tools to be the best human I can imagine… but I know he’s going to be who he wants to be. And my job is to love that. Support that.”

Still, practical questions loom. Where to live? What kind of life to build for a child who deserves consistency but has a father in motion?

Photo Credit: Scott McDermott

“I don’t know where I’ll live,” he admits. His current home base is Miami, which has an energy that matches his, but also happens to be where his current — at press time — NFL team is located. Yet, as much as he loves the Magic City, he admits, “I know I won’t be in Miami forever. I’m trying to find the place I could love, enjoy — and build a home. My son’s getting to that age. School will be coming up. He needs to feel like he has his own bedroom. His own home. Not always moving.”

It’s a reflection of how differently he views life now. The freedom to travel is still luxury — but so is stability. So is presence.

Ironically, presence is something Beckham Jr. has had to defend throughout his career. For someone with as much charisma as he has talent, he still feels that he’s largely been misunderstood.

On the field, he wears his heart on his sleeve — he’s fiery, expressive, and emotionally invested in every play — but that passion has made him beloved by fans and a target for critics. He’s often described as “competitive to a fault,” reacting strongly when things don’t go his way, which has sometimes been framed as immaturity or drama.

I want to know, specifically, how he feels he’s been misunderstood. If he was vertical, it would have shrugged — I can feel that shrug in his voice from his still-horizontal position on the table, where he remains for the duration of our chat. “Just me as a person,” he says. “People can take that for whatever. But I’m definitely someone who’s misunderstood, and I have been throughout my career. People always talk shit. Because my name is going to sell, they’re going to use it to their advantage and gain. It’s a backwards thing, in my opinion.”
He pauses, then offers a perfect metaphor. “You can’t please everybody. I always say: hand sanitizer only cleans 99.9 percent of germs. There’s always going to be something someone thinks about you. Or they’ve seen an incident and don’t know the full story.”

And now he does shrug. “Not to say I’m perfect. There are things that I could have handled better. I’ve made mistakes — but I know who I am.”

And now he shares one of those specific moments: the viral “airplane incident” — a headline storm that painted him as disruptive, even aggressive, after being escorted off a flight in 2023.

The real story, he says — one he’s sharing for the first time now — is far more mundane, and far more maddening.

In this moment, he’s reliving it — I can see it on his face. “I bought a first-class seat on a specific flight to get home and see my son,” he says. “I was one of the first people to board. The flight gets delayed for an hour while we’re sitting there, so I just go to sleep, like anybody else would do, and then I’m woken up — an hour and 20 minutes later — thinking I’m waking up to us landing in California, to nine officers surrounding me.”

He continues, “I’m obviously a little startled, to say the least.” Beckham Jr. swears that he hadn’t been rowdy, hadn’t made any outrageous requests. “I didn’t even ask for food,” he says. “I looked at the menu, I looked at the movies, and I was like, ‘F*** it, I’m just gonna go to sleep. I’m tired.’ We came from having a night out, and it was an early flight.”

What happened next still baffles him. “They said, ‘Basically, you have to get off this flight. I was just trying to ask the question as to why I was being removed from a flight where I did absolutely nothing but fall asleep, nothing wrong. They said I was unconscious, refusing to put my seatbelt on. Which makes no sense. If I was unconscious, how would I refuse anything?”

Then: “I just don’t understand. I’m flying commercial to start, and being the person that I am, I don’t want to be bothered. I don’t want to draw any more attention to myself. I’m in a low-key hoodie, trying not to be seen. I looked back at this gentleman behind me, like, can you believe this? and he says, ‘Just get off the plane,’ which pissed me off.”
A racial comment from a fellow passenger sent the moment spiraling into something uglier — and more triggering. “That’s where you see me talking shit to this guy,” he says. “But people don’t know that part. They just see me yelling. They think I’m trying to be seen. But at the time, I was like, ‘f**k, my day is literally about to be ruined. I’m not going to get to see my son. There are no more flights to get me back home to see him. But then, I’m the headline. Odell Beckham Jr. causes a scene. It doesn’t make sense.”

To this day, he regrets losing his cool the way he did. “I let my emotions get the best of me. I was definitely hot.”
But to be fair, he’s been through this before. The passion he brings to the field — once praised — is now a liability in the eyes of critics. A kicked net becomes a referendum on character. A missed catch becomes ego.

“I’m passionate. I’ve been through a lot of injuries. And yeah, I’ve had moments where I let emotion get the best of me,” he admits. “But I’m competitive. I love the game. I’ve dedicated my life to it.”

Still, he’s done explaining himself. “I just live my life knowing who I am. And I’m okay with that.”

That’s been the paradox of Beckham Jr.’s career — he’s both a generational athlete and a global icon. Tens of thousands of kids once dyed their hair to match his, imitating not just his style of play but his style, period. His outsized influence — on football, fashion, and culture — has made him a lightning rod, even when he’s simply trying to live.

“It’s a metamorphosis,” he says. “Becoming a new version of myself. Staying true to who I am.”

He’s still writing his future. No firm timeline. No forced endgame. But he does hope for one thing — that his son will get to see him, really see him, as a man and as a player — and that he be remembered in the right way, especially if this past season with the Dolphins was to be his last in the NFL.

Photo Credit: Scott McDermott

“I want to be remembered for the passion and the excitement I brought to the game,” he admits. “I’ve dedicated a lot to the game; I’ve spent my whole life working to get to this point; I’ve been training since I was young. I want to be able to finish off in the right way. And I hope my son sees that, and hopefully it will motivate him. To know that his dad worked through pain, through injuries, that I was one of the greats, and that I had a lot of fun playing the game.”
This is the kind of legacy most athletes dream of — defined not just by stats or rings, but by heart. And yet, for Beckham Jr., his legacy has taken on a different meaning now. It’s no longer about proving anything to the world. It’s about being present — for himself, and for the little boy who’s watching every move he makes.

So, he’s not racing anyone anymore. Not the clock, not the critics, not even the version of himself the world once insisted he be. For the first time in a long time, Odell Beckham Jr. isn’t chasing a moment — he’s choosing one. A life lived on his terms, a legacy shaped by love, not noise. And right now, the only thing left on his to-do list is simple: getting home, back to his son, back to being uninterrupted.

“I’m just kind of going with whatever God has planned for me right now; I’m going to let that play itself out… and however it works out, is however it works out,” he says.

Odell Beckham Jr. is ready for what’s next — whatever that chapter looks like, and however it will be written.  

Photo Credit: Scott McDermott