Odell Beckham is just 23-years old and was catapulted into stardom due to his incredible one-hand catches and his elite play as a wide receiver for the New York Giants.  Though he’s become a big star, he’s still on a rookie contract and hasn’t made superstar money yet.  He spent his offseason house-sitting for Drake and learned a lot about having real money and superstardom, and what it takes to get there.

Via GQ:

Beckham passed many hours this spring lying out by that pool, meditating on what it takes to live like this, to own it, to earn what it represents. And he decided that he wasn’t doing enough yet. He noticed the team of people who managed Drake’s house and his affairs, how they made it all work. He noticed his host’s work ethic, the will to keep going even after you’ve already got this. Mostly he noticed the ruthlessness with which Drake iced out the things, and the people, in his life that didn’t matter. Beckham definitely wasn’t doing that yet.

“I’ve made mistakes,” he says. “Like bringing people to your level who don’t deserve to be there. They’re trying to bite off your so-called fame, make a name off of you. I think I did a lot of that—allowed people to be relevant in my life who really aren’t relevant to me at all.” That sort of thing won’t fly if you’re trying to make the leap to Drake’s level. So Beckham has been thinking a lot about shrinking his circle, and what that requires. Who he would need to become.

“It’s about being rougher than you ever really thought you had to be,” he says. “Losing people you were close to for reasons that are nothing more than they’re not doing anything to better you. It’s to say, ‘Yeah, it’s great to have friends, it’s great to be cool with people. But that’s not going to get me exactly where I want to go.’ ”

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