Odell Beckham's narcissism is a headache all over again

Odell Beckham Jr. has enough talent to become a Hall of Fame receiver and enough heart to help take a team to a Super Bowl championship.

Unfortunately for the 27-year-old wide receiver, he will achieve neither.

Beckham’s pathetic antics at college football’s national championship game in New Orleans on Monday night were another reminder that his unwillingness and/or inability to grow up will end up tarnishing his legacy. If not ruining it altogether.

On a night that his alma mater, led by spectacular quarterback Joe Burrow, won the national title in a 42-25 victory over Clemson at the Superdome in New Orleans, Beckham made it all about him. On the field after the game, he gave several players cash, not only a violation of NCAA rules for players with remaining college eligibility, but a silly, self-absorbed escapade that made him look childish.

It got worse.

In the winners’ locker room after the game, Beckham was seen slapping a security guard, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. An overreaction to serve an arrest warrant? Perhaps. But it was still a reckless and ill-advised move by Beckham, who shouldn’t have been in the locker room in the first place, no less taking away from the victory celebration of the players who actually won the game.

Earlier in the night, Beckham was captured on video taking a megaphone from a member of the LSU marching band and shouting into it. When someone tried to take the megaphone back, Beckham grew angry.

Beckham’s self-centered behavior was what got him traded from the Giants to Cleveland in the first place, and his continued immaturity may prompt the Browns to consider doing the same. Beckham may have more talent than 95 percent of today’s receivers, but his egocentric behavior might not be worth it.

Former NBA coach Pat Riley had a phrase for athletes like Beckham, and it’s worth bringing it up at a time like this. Riley said similarly narcissistic players suffer from “the disease of me.”

He’s so right. And at this point, it looks like an incurable case for Beckham.

Jason Garrett a solid hire

Good move by Giants first-year coach Joe Judge to bring in former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett as his offensive coordinator.

Judge can draw on a number of positives from Garrett, whose job as the Dallas head coach left much to be desired but whose role as a play-caller and quarterback tutor will serve the Giants well.

There was some talk earlier in the hiring process that the Giants were interested in Garrett as a head coach — a less-than-appealing option after he showed in Dallas that it was time to move on. But Garrett is a former backup quarterback, including a stint with the Giants, and will be a benefit for second-year quarterback Daniel Jones.

Garrett also did a solid job calling plays in Dallas before ceding that role in 2012, and his working knowledge of the NFC East will help Judge acclimate himself after his years with the Patriots in the AFC East.

All in all, a smart move.

The one cautionary note: It’s up to GM Dave Gettleman and Giants ownership to make it clear that Garrett is there as an assistant to Judge and should not be considered a potential replacement. Judge invariably will go through growing pains as a head coach, but it has to be made very clear that the Giants will give him time to develop without having to worry about Garrett lurking in the background.

Antonio Brown’s career is over

Speaking of hopelessly selfish players, Antonio Brown has almost certainly played his final NFL game.

The 30-year-old receiver, released in September by the Patriots after reports of domestic violence surfaced, livestreamed a dispute with his ex-girlfriend and Hollywood (Fla.) police outside his home. Brown yelled profanities at the woman and police, and his children appeared in the video. Brown accused her of trying to steal a Bentley that had been parked in his driveway.

Brown is already under investigation by the NFL for past domestic violence allegations, and this latest episode will likely mean a more permanent banishment. How bad has it gotten for Brown? His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, who has represented several other controversial players in the past, including mercurial wide receiver Terrell Owens, told Brown in a letter that he is severing ties with the receiver.

Brown simply doesn’t deserve another chance to play in the NFL again.

Chances are he never will.

Kuechly the latest 20-something to retire

Luke Kuechly became the latest player to call it a career before his 30th birthday, as the Panthers’ 28-year-old linebacker announced his retirement earlier in the week, citing health concerns. Though Kuechly wasn’t specific, he has had a concussion problem in recent years.

In the last 12 months, Kuechly, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck and Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski have walked away, all before turning 30, in large part because of injuries. And before that, Lions receiver Calvin Johnson and 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis both retired at the age of 30.

Is it a trend? Absolutely. Does it mean the eventual demise of the NFL as we know it? Too soon to tell, although more and more potential NFL players are certainly being steered to other sports by parents who are concerned about the risks posed by football.

The league has strived to make rules-related changes and improve equipment with an eye toward making the game safer, but there is only so much you can do in a sport with this much contact on every single play.

All these players who have opted to step away from the game have made the right decisions for themselves, but at this point, they are the exception, rather than the rule. If and when the exodus includes more players, that’s when the league will face an existential crisis.

Bieniemy has the Chiefs’ support

Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has interviewed seven times for head coaching jobs, including this year with the Giants, but he still hasn’t gotten the chance to run his own show. Andy Reid’s advice for the former NFL running back-turned-assistant?

“Really, keep being you,” Reid said. “We all know what (Bieniemy) is all about and how good he is. I’m just as disappointed for him as the coaches and the players are. That says everything. The players, they know. They’ve been around him every day and know what he’s about. They have that kind of respect for him.”

Graves: NFL’s minority hiring is abysmal

Fritz Pollard Alliance executive director Rod Graves believes the NFL must dramatically improve its diversity hiring practices at all levels, especially head coaching. Only one of the five coaches hired this season — Ron Rivera in Washington — is a minority. Of the 20 head coaching hires over the last three years, three minority coaches have gotten jobs.

“We’re not satisfied with the state of hiring in the NFL,” Graves told Newsday. “I think we need to get away from emblematic victories from year to year and focus on policies that are more sustainable, that ensure growth in hiring numbers.”

Graves calls for owners to take more concrete steps in opening up the hiring process, even though the Rooney rule requires all clubs to interview at least one minority candidate for every head coaching and top football executive position.

“What we have to do is call on clubs to be more intentional and come up with strategies that really move the needle and those strategies should be analyzed when they’re put together and measured year after year for progress and accountability,” he said.

Graves expressed shock and disappointment that several qualified minority candidates weren’t even interviewed this year.

“It’s almost inconceivable to me that you can go through a hiring cycle and not call (Bills defensive coordinator) Leslie Frazier,” he said. “He’s not able to get one call. (Former Lions head coach) Jim Caldwell is not able to get a single call. (Former Jets head coach) Todd Bowles was not part of the process. (Seahawks defensive coordinator) Ken Norton Jr. wasn’t, either. I can go down the line of top coaches in the game who simply aren’t asked to be in the interview process. When the system doesn’t work for those guys, then we’ve got to find a way to fix it.

“I do believe there is enough intellectual talent in the league to figure it out,” Graves said. “I believe we can come up with a system that is more fair, more inclusive and gets to making progress at some levels. When you go from Fritz Pollard being the first African-American coach to 100 years later with three (black) head coaches, we’ve got zero team presidents and one general manager. That is not progress by any standard.”

Is the sixth time the charm?

The Titans are only the sixth team to make it to the conference championship game as a sixth seed since the NFL went to a 12-team playoff system in 1990, and the first team since the 2010 Jets and Packers got this far as sixth seeds.

Should the Titans go on to win it all, they’d become just the third team to do so as the sixth seed. The 2010 Packers, coached by Mike McCarthy, who is now the Cowboys’ coach, and 2005 Steelers, coached by newly minted Hall of Famer Bill Cowher, previously won Super Bowl titles as the sixth seed.

If the Titans beat the Chiefs on Sunday, they’d join those Packers and Steelers teams as the only clubs to defeat the top three seeds in their conferences during their playoff run.

More history for Henry?

Derrick Henry has carried the Titans to the AFC title game against the Chiefs, becoming the first player in NFL history to rush for at least 180 yards in back-to-back playoff games.

If he rushes for at least 150 yards against the Chiefs, Henry would equal Broncos Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis as the only players with at last 150 rushing yards in three straight playoff games. He also has a chance to join Davis (581 yards in the 1997 playoffs) and former Redskins running back John Riggins (610 in the ’82 postseason) as the only players to rush for at least 500 yards in a playoff year.

Riggins and Davis both led their teams to Super Bowl titles the year they surpassed 500 rushing yards.

By Bob Glauber

Special to NewsdayBobGlauber

Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”