Odell Beckham Jr. laid it all out there in the GQ Magazine cover story, and of all the Giants cast of characters who had a hand in his expulsion, the star receiver blamed coach Pat Shurmur more than anyone else for the trade that sent him to Cleveland.
This was news to the man who worked one season with Beckham.
“I’m the reason?’’ Shurmur asked quizzically Wednesday as the Giants opened up training camp. “Is that what he said?’’
Yes, that is what he said. Beckham in the GQ question-and-answer article stressed, “I’ll forever have respect’’ for John Mara, the Giants co-owner, but made clear he did not appreciate the tone of the phone call he received from general manager Dave Gettleman informing him of the deal with the Browns. Beckham was in Paris at the time.
Beckham also did not like the way Shurmur reached out to him following the trade.
“To be called like that [by Gettleman] and then be texted by your coach and be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I heard the news,’ ’’ Beckham said. “Yeah, you heard the news? It happened because of you. The reason I’m gone is because of you.’’
Shurmur did not see it that way.
“I really don’t have any reaction, other than I know when the trade was made, we felt like we went through it in a professional way,’’ Shurmur said. “He was out of the country at the time when it happened, and we made efforts to get in touch with him. I know Dave actually did speak to him, and I made efforts to get in touch with him, both through phone and text. But he was out of the country. Listen, I’ve said it all along, we’re hopeful that he can go to Cleveland and help them win football games and play good football. That’s really the gist of it.”

