On Tuesday, the San Francisco 49ers officially announced the signing of safety George Odum to a three-year deal, as reported last week. Following the announcement, the team made Odum available to 49ers reporters for the first time.
Odum revealed that he allowed his agent to handle most of the discussions with the 49ers because he recently became a father. His child is 12 days old.
"Other than the property [costs], places to stay out here, everything else is fine," Odum admitted. "It's lovely out here. Beautiful weather, it never snows, doesn't get too cold, doesn't get too hot. That's perfect for me."
Below are some of the other topics Odum discussed during the over 10-minute Zoom discussion with the media.
Origins of his pride in tackling
"The crazy thing about it, I never played safety until I got to the NFL," Odum revealed. "I only played outside linebacker. They used to call me 'The Animal' in college (Central Arkansas). One of my coaches called me 'The Animal' because I'm always hunting on the field."
Role with the 49ers
"They brought me in to better the room, compete [at safety]," Odum said. "At the end of the day, they want me to compete and to take a spot. I'm going to do my very best, give it a go every single day. And also for special teams.
"The leadership in the room, just being another vet in the room, showing the way of my success rate right now, and moving forward from there. Just trying to help each player get better, help me get better, the room get better, help the room improve. I guess that's the main reason I came in, just to try to help the organization as a whole.
"Whether it's special teams or safety, I'm willing to do whatever it takes."
NFL mindset
"My mindset always been a dog," Odum said. "I'm always going to hit. I'm never afraid of hitting. I'm never slowing down at the point of contact. I'm not going to slow down."
Odum has played every game through his four NFL seasons. That's 68 games, counting the playoffs. He is proud of that statistic and has worked to be a durable asset in the league.
"In reality, it's all about recovery," Odum explained. "I can run through somebody six or seven times a game as long as I'm recovering throughout the week and actually getting my body right. I mainly focus on recovering my body. That's the most important thing—recovery—because I've never missed a game before in my life."
What he learned from DeForest Buckner
Coming from the Indianapolis Colts, Odum was a teammate of former Niner DeForest Buckner. The safety feels he learned a lot from the defensive lineman and can bring some of that to the 49ers.
"You can feel DeFo when he comes in the room," Odum said, "just how massive he is, and how his presence is in the room. Just watching him on the film, he's just relentless. That's what I get from him, just a relentless effort to get better.
"I never really experienced that from other players, but him, a relentless effort to get better. I guess I can take that, and bring it back to over here also, and help not just only myself, but everybody else around me."