Odell Beckham Jr.'s Cousin Reveals Why He Turned Down WWE Developmental Deal
Terron Beckham, the cousin of New York Giants star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., explained why he turned down an offer from the WWE in a live chat on his own YouTube channel.
Beckham briefly showed the paperwork for the offer but said he didn't want to fully show it because of the amount of pages. He had participated in a three-day tryout at the WWE Performance Center earlier this year. Beckham said he wasn't ready to give up being a fitness personality.
"I did make it, but it is not what I expected it to be," he said. "I was basically required to drop everything that I have going on, that's YouTube, that's fitness business, that's being a fitness personality. Everything I want to do would be under their wing, and I wasn't fully OK with that."
Beckham has a strong social media following with over 461,000 Instagram followers. Despite not playing football past high school, Beckham organized his own pro day and impressed NFL scouts with numbers like a 4.47 40-yard dash, 44-inch vertical, 11-foot broad jump and 36 reps of 225 pounds on the bench. But it wasn't enough to earn him a contract with one of the league's 32 teams. He became known for his bodybuilding videos and great physique.
"After everything I've worked for, I can't just drop that and let that go despite where the WWE could take me," Beckham said. "So it didn't make any sense for me to do so and just drop everything. And let's say I get into it and I don't like it, then I'd have to re-up from where I left off."
Beckham said he would end up losing money if he were to sign with the WWE. He had a warning for anyone who was considering pursuing a career in professional wrestling.
"If I was to sign and continue on with the WWE, I would actually be losing a lot of money that I can't afford to lose the amount that I was going to lose, to give it all up to go for the WWE," he said. "I do things on my own time, so I couldn't give that up on top of a lot less pay than what I get paid now. Even with sponsors, I couldn't keep sponsors, that sort of thing. That being said, I kind of want this to be for those who are aspiring to go into wrestling, just make sure you are willing to give up everything for that."
Beckham said he did enjoy his experience at the WWE tryout, so it was a difficult decision to pass up the opportunity. But he believes he can reach the same level of success he can achieve with the WWE on his own.
"I liked the training, I liked what we were doing and [thought I could] still keep on what I'm doing now, but that wasn't the case. So I was misled on the journey I was hoping for," Beckham said. "It's tough, it was a tough decision because there are possibilities, making a million-whatever dollars and all this exposure in like four years. But I expect that nonetheless regardless, with or without it and I'd rather just keep doing what I'm doing and see the growth myself from doing my own thing. I think that makes more sense for me."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Terron Beckham with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Jon Bellington contributed to this article.