For Odell Beckham Jr., being one of the best players in the NFL isn’t enough. He wants to be even better. Since breaking out as a rookie in 2014 with the one-handed “catch seen around the world,” Beckham’s been in the spotlight no matter what he does. Even when he doesn’t do something, it becomes news, too.
One recent example of this came when Beckham didn’t attend the first set of voluntary offseason workouts with the Giants, sparking some in the sports media to wonder if it set a bad example that Beckham wasn’t there. But Beckham wasn’t absent from those workouts because he was sitting around the house or partying with Drake. In fact, Beckham was doing the exact opposite.
In his first Instagram post since April 19—a gap of nearly two months—Beckham posted a compilation video of the workouts, training program, and exercises he’s been doing this offseason with trainer Jamal Liggin, the man who turns NFL players into speed freaks:
Now, Beckham is back at the New York Giants’ facility working out with the team. But before he got there, he went hard this offseason. Here’s one look at his workouts:
I never seen a workout quite like this. Just a constant stream of footwork drills, resistance drills, and then this, which doesn’t look fun pic.twitter.com/QEGDDVI6OR
— nick wright (@getnickwright) May 25, 2017
The ultra-talented wideout was in the gym during the 2017 offseason, working out with Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter and his trainer, Jamal Liggin, the man who helps NFL players get faster than fast. If anyone knows how hard Beckham works, it’s Liggin.
“Odell is ready to work, no matter what the situation is,” Liggin told Men’s Journal. “One time, he landed in Los Angeles at midnight and called me up to do a workout. We ended up doing an intense session from 2 a.m to 4 a.m. That’s the kind of guy Odell is and how dedicated he is.”
Beckham went through a similar workout with Carter and Liggin that included weightlifting, agility drills, and even catching bricks—something NFL great Jerry Rice used to do to strengthen his hands:
Here’s a few more videos from @OBJ_3 workout today… this is some brick catching drill that evidently Jerry Rice invented. pic.twitter.com/YM4KAXWz4P
— nick wright (@getnickwright) May 25, 2017
The most intense workout, though, was “the tennis ball drill,” a move that Liggin developed to help Beckham—and other NFL players he trains—with hand-eye coordination, agility, and change of direction.
The drill has Liggin tossing two tennis balls at Beckham, who has to catch them while changing direction and toss them back to Liggin before jumping back to the other ball:
The critique @criscarter80 had on this drill was that you’re supposed to write numbers on the tennis balls and call them out when you catch pic.twitter.com/dr9e4HXPca
— nick wright (@getnickwright) May 25, 2017
“Football players have to do so many things with their eyes,” Liggin says. “They have to be aware of what their lower body and upper body is doing at the same time. For Odell, he has to watch what the quarterback’s doing, watch the cornerbacks on him, watch his feet, and then find the ball. It’s about the footwork and helping with reaction time, vision, and explosiveness.”
Here’s another look at Beckham doing the drill with Liggin:
Beckham has made some amazing one-handed catches during his career and one reason why he’s so good at it is because he trains for those situations.
Here, Beckham does a new drill with the JUGS machine, sitting down and snagging the balls with his backside hand.
Pretty impressive stuff:
👐 @OBJ_3 pic.twitter.com/aXe762yGp2
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) June 7, 2017
Beckham is ready to take yet another step in his NFL career—and this year could be his best yet.
Here’s a look at some of the other ways Beckham has been working out this offseason:
