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Greg Cote: New Dolphin Odell Beckham Jr. has the name and fame. Now we see if he still has the game.

Greg Cote, Miami Herald on

Published in Football

MIAMI — The aura around him, the sizzle in his wake, still hasn’t left Odell Beckham Jr.

He conveys stylish cool like Dwyane Wade did. OBJ has appeared as himself in TV series, and in music videos by Drake and Nicki Minaj. His welcome to instant stardom 10 years ago was on the biggest media stage in America, New York, and it catapulted him and wrapped him in the sort of lasting celebrity that is bigger than a football field.

Three straight Pro Bowl selections and 35 touchdown catches his first three years out of LSU didn’t hurt.

Beckham appeared at his Miami Dolphins introduction on Wednesday sharp in a double-breasted white suit, diamond studs in the left ear as accents. From a reporter came the obligatory (if dated) Miami Vice reference.

“Look good, feel good, play good,” said Beckham, smiling.

As he joins the Dolphins, you could argue Beckham immediately is the team’s biggest star, which is not less than remarkable because this team is not bereft of high-watt talent, and mostly, because, at age 31, this is a receiver now long past his prime in terms of NFL production.

 

It has been a minute, as the kids say, since Beckham’s last 1,000-yard season in 2019 and last Pro Bowl in 2016.

Look at other numbers, though, and see the man has 17.6 million Instagram followers, a number conveying currency, relevance. For perspective, Miami’s top star receiver, Tyreek Hill, has 2.6 million. The man who will be throwing passes to OBJ, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, has 1.1 million. The biggest star in the NFL, champion Patrick Mahomes, has 6.8 million.

With Beckham on board an already exciting Dolphins team built on speed, built for “Hard Knocks” and prime time, unquestionably has added yet more starpower, more intrigue.

Miami is getting Beckham’s name and fame.

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