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Odell Beckham Jr. thinks he could have been a professional soccer player

Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. spent time in the United Kingdom recently as part of a promotion for the NFL's International Series and revealed that he was a pretty gifted soccer player as a kid.

"I started when I was three years old and played until I was about 14," Beckham said during an appearance on "Soccer AM," according to NJ.com's Nick Powell

"My coach was pushing to try and get me on the national team and tryout. At that age, you're 13, 14 years old you know that to make it big in soccer you are probably going to have to go overseas. Obviously that would be a goal and that would be the dream. At that age it would have been hard for me to leave my family and just go.

"I played every other sport, soccer, basketball, baseball, football. And I just said, 'I don't think I can leave my family.' So that's when I kind of put the soccer dreams aside and stuck close to home with the other sports."

Beckham then added that his playing style is similar to that of Neymar and Lionel Messi

The former first-round pick also spoke about his spectacular one-handed catch and how he adjusted to different coverages throughout last season.

"I was getting a corner and safety over the top, a linebacker dropping underneath," Beckham said. "I almost had three guys spying on me or covering me at the same time. I saw a lot of things I was not expecting to see in my first year but it was good I got that I saw them so early and I will be able to prepare for it next year and the years to come."

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