Odell Beckham's antics overshadowing his greatness

If you search Odell Beckham's name on Google, you'll see things like "Miami boat trip," "punches hole in wall," and "grow up."

What you won't see is that Beckham posted the most receiving yards of all time by a wideout during his first two seasons. Or that he is the only receiver in history with 80-plus catches and 1,000-plus yards in his first three years. Or that he is tied for the most catches by a receiver ever through his first three campaigns.

And that's a shame.

Beckham, though, has brought this on himself. The 24-year-old is a magnet for attention because of his remarkable skill set, but when people tune in to watch him, they're left with the image of someone who commits personal fouls, hits kicking nets, and punches walls, not the generational talent that he is. His antics have made him an easy target for critics and allowed people to make a national story out of nothing when he visited Miami on his off day.

The New York Giants have shown patience with Beckham, though it appears his act is starting to wear thin.

"He is a smart guy, but sometimes he doesn’t do smart things," general manager Jerry Reese said, according to Bill Pennington of The New York Times. "We all have had to grow up at different times in our lives, and I think it is time for him to do that. He has been here for three years now and is a little bit of a lightning rod because of what he does on the football field. But the things he does off the football field, he has to be responsible for those things."

Beckham seems to have the most trouble accepting losing, given reports of banging his head on a wall repeatedly after losses and the aforementioned wall punch. That's an excellent attitude to have, but he better learn to deal with it in a productive way because it's going to happen regularly. Unlike college, in professional sports you will often lose more than you win.

Even the best teams see their season end in a loss more often than not. The New England Patriots have been a model franchise and the best team in football for close to two decades, but have only won four championships over that span. There would be a lot of holes in a lot of walls if everyone reacted so extremely after a defeat.

We've seen plenty of diva receivers in the past that brought attention to themselves for selfish reasons, but Beckham is different. You can't lump him into that category because he doesn't berate his quarterback on the sidelines, he appears to want to win more than anything, and seems genuinely happy for the success of his teammates.

The problem is the results are the same. Beckham is garnering negative attention and coming closer and closer to truly hurting his team. He was suspended one game last season in the middle of a playoff race after he came to blows with then-Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman. Beckham's absence the next week ultimately wouldn't matter, as the Giants were eliminated thanks to a Washington win the day before, but he could have easily cost his team a playoff spot by being out of the lineup.

Or how about this past weekend, when he punched a wall after New York was eliminated by the Green Bay Packers? Sure, some will be happy to see the team's best player get so upset about losing, but not at the expense of suffering a broken hand.

Perhaps the best illustration of Good Beckham vs. Bad Beckham came in a game earlier this year against the Baltimore Ravens. With the Giants trailing by a field goal in the final two minutes, Beckham did something perhaps only he can do. He took a simple slant route on 4th-and-1 for a mesmerizing 66-yard touchdown to give New York the lead. The problem? Beckham celebrated wildly and removed his helmet, receiving a 15-yard penalty and handing the Ravens an opportunity to steal a victory.

Baltimore wouldn't capitalize and Beckham again avoided disaster, but if nothing changes, it appears only a matter of time before the Giants suffer because of their star wideout's behavior.

The fact is, Beckham is too talented and does so many positive things that we should be talking about instead. Donating $500,000 to help rebuild Louisiana football fields following the floods or auctioning off game-worn cleats for charity are great personal gestures that go overlooked because of his perceived image.

Beckham is arguably off to the greatest start at his position by anyone that has ever played in the NFL. When he eventually retires, he has a chance to be mentioned in the same breath as Jerry Rice, Calvin Johnson, or Larry Fitzgerald, but right now he's a Twitter meme and social media punchline.

The good news for Beckham is, he still has plenty of time to change the narrative.