Odell Beckham Jr.
Odell Cornelious Beckham Jr., commonly known by his initials OBJ, is an American professional football wide receiver. He played college football for the LSU Tigers and was selected by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. He has played in the NFL for the Giants, Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Ravens, and Miami Dolphins.
Beckham started the 2012 BCS National Championship Game in his first year playing at LSU, and won the Paul Hornung Award following his junior season in 2013. In his first season with the Giants, Beckham broke numerous NFL rookie receiving records, despite missing the first four games of the season due to injury. Beckham became the first player to record more than 75 receptions, 1,100 yards, and ten touchdowns in a rookie season, and broke the rookie record for the most average receiving yards per game. During Week 12 of his first season, Beckham came to national attention when he made a one-handed touchdown catch while falling backwards in a Sunday Night Football game against the Dallas Cowboys, which numerous pundits and athletes called the greatest catch ever made. Beckham won the 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
In 2016, he became the fastest player in NFL history to reach both 200 career receptions and 4,000 career receiving yards. In 2016, he recorded his first 100-reception season and reached the NFL playoffs for the first time in his career, after helping the Giants to an 11–5 season record. Beckham was named to the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons and has been named a second-team All-Pro twice. After a stint with the Cleveland Browns, Beckham was signed by the Los Angeles Rams midway through the 2021 season. Beckham and the Rams went on to win Super Bowl LVI. He spent the 2022 season out of football while rehabbing an ACL injury he sustained in the Super Bowl before signing with the Baltimore Ravens in 2023. He left Baltimore for the Miami Dolphins in 2024 and mutually agreed to be released in December 2024.
Early life
Beckham was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He attended Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was a letterman in football, basketball, and track. In football, he played wide receiver, quarterback, running back, and cornerback for the Greenies football team. As a junior, he caught 45 passes for 743 yards and 10 touchdowns, while also adding three more scores on the ground. As a senior, he hauled in 50 catches for 1,010 yards and 19 touchdowns, joining Cooper Manning as the only two players in school history to record 1,000 receiving yards in a season. In addition, he rushed for 331 yards and six touchdowns, passed for 90 yards and a score and also averaged 30.0 yards per punt return. He was named to the Times Picayune 2011 Blue-Chip list and to the Louisiana 2A All-State first-team as a wide receiver, while he also earned District 9-2A Offensive MVP honors and a spot on The Advocate's Super Dozen.In basketball, Beckham lettered all four years and was an all-district selection his junior and senior years. As a standout track & field athlete, Beckham followed in his mother's footsteps to excel in the sprinting and jumping events while at Newman High. He took silver in the long jump event at the 2010 Newman Invitational, with a career-best leap of 6.83 meters. At the 2010 LA 2A State Meet, he earned sixth-place finishes in both the 200-meter dash, with a PR time of 22.31 seconds, and in the long jump, with a leap of 6.71 meters. He was also a member of the Newman 4 × 100 m and 4 × 200 m relay teams.
Beckham also played soccer growing up and considers English player David Beckham his childhood idol. His soccer club coaches offered Beckham a chance to try out for a junior national team program, but he did not want to spend the required time overseas considering his talents in other sports at home.
Regarded as a four-star recruit by both Rivals.com and Scout.com, Beckham was rated as the No. 6 wide receiver and as the No. 40 player in the nation. He chose Louisiana State University over scholarship offers from Ole Miss, Nebraska, Tulane, and Tulsa, among others. He also played in the 2011 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
College career
2011 season
As a true freshman at LSU in 2011, Beckham started nine of 14 games. He made his collegiate debut on September 3, 2011, against the #3 Oregon Ducks. Against the Ducks, he had two receptions for 10 yards in the 40–27 victory. Against the #16 West Virginia Mountaineers on September 24, Beckham scored his first career collegiate touchdown, a 52-yard reception from Jarrett Lee, in the 47–21 victory. In the SEC Championship against the #12 Georgia Bulldogs, Beckham was held without a catch but did have two punt returns in the 42–10 victory. The Tigers finished with a 13–0 record and made the BCS National Championship game in Beckham's freshman season. In the game, which was a rematch against the Alabama Crimson Tide, Beckham had five receptions for 38 yards in the 21–0 defeat. Overall, in his freshman season, Beckham finished second on the team with 41 receptions for 475 yards and tied for third with two receiving touchdowns. He was named a freshman All-SEC selection.2012 season
As a sophomore in 2012, Beckham started 12 of 13 games for the Tigers. In the season opener against the North Texas Mean Green, he had his first collegiate career punt return touchdown, a 70-yard return in the first quarter of the 41–14 victory. On September 29, he had his first career collegiate game with over 100 yards against the Towson Tigers. He had five receptions for 128 yards and two touchdowns in the 38–22 victory over the Tigers. On November 17, against SEC West rival Ole Miss, he was held to only two receptions for 13 yards, but he had an 89-yard punt return touchdown in the fourth quarter help tie the game late. The Tigers would end up beating the Rebels by a score of 41–35. In the regular season finale against the Arkansas Razorbacks, he had four receptions for 112 receiving yards in the 20–13 victory. LSU finished with a 10–2 record and qualified for the Chick-fil-A Bowl against Clemson. Beckham had three receptions for 40 receiving yards as LSU lost 25–24 on a game-winning field goal by Clemson as time expired. He finished first on the team in receiving yards with 713, second in receptions with 43, only behind Jarvis Landry's 56 receptions, and third on the team with two receiving touchdowns.2013 season
As a junior in 2013, he combined with Jarvis Landry to form one of the most productive wide receiver duos in college football. On August 31, in the Tigers' regular season opener, he had five receptions for 118 receiving yards in the 37–27 victory over #20 TCU at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. On September 7, in the game against UAB, Beckham had five receptions for 136 yards and three touchdowns in the 56–17 victory. In the same game, he returned a failed field goal attempt for a record-long 109 yards and a touchdown, and this record would be tied by Auburn's Chris Davis later that year against the Alabama Crimson Tide. On October 5, against SEC West rival Mississippi State, Beckham had nine receptions for a then-career high 179 receiving yards with two touchdowns in the 59–26 victory. Against the Furman Paladins on October 26, Beckham had six receptions for a collegiate career-high 204 yards and two touchdowns in the 48–16 victory. He was a first and second-team All-Southeastern Conference selection. In his role as a wide receiver and return specialist, Beckham was named the winner of the 2013 Paul Hornung Award, presented annually to the most versatile player in major college football. He finished the 2013 season with 57 receptions for 1,117 yards and eight touchdowns. He led the SEC with 32 kickoff returns for 845 net yards in the 2013 season.After the season, he decided to forgo his senior season and entered the 2014 NFL draft.
College statistics
Professional career
New York Giants
2014 season
Beckham was selected by the New York Giants with the 12th overall pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. He was the third wide receiver to be selected that year. He signed a four-year contract with the Giants on May 19, 2014. The deal was for $10.4 million with a $5.88 million signing bonus.After missing a majority of the training camp, preseason, and the first four games of the season because of a hamstring injury, Beckham made his debut on October 5, 2014, in Week 5 against the Atlanta Falcons recording four receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown in the 30–20 victory. In his first Monday Night Football game against the Indianapolis Colts, Beckham caught eight passes for 156 yards in the 40–24 loss. Against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 10, he caught seven passes for 108 yards in the 38–17 loss. On November 23, 2014, during a game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, Beckham had 10 catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns, including a one-handed touchdown reception hailed as the "catch of the year", with Cris Collinsworth, Tony Dungy, Victor Cruz and LeBron James all saying that it was one of the best catches ever. Beckham made this catch despite a pass interference penalty called on Dallas cornerback Brandon Carr while diving backwards with full extension of his right hand using only three fingers. The Giants still lost by a score of 31–28 due to a late fourth quarter touchdown throw from Tony Romo to Dez Bryant. On December 8, 2014, the Pro Football Hall of Fame put Beckham's game-worn jersey from his famous one-handed catch game against Dallas on display.
Beckham finished November with 38 receptions, 593 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He had at least 90 yards receiving in all five games in November, setting an NFL rookie record for a calendar month. He also broke Bill Groman's and Randy Moss's rookie record for consecutive games with 90 or more receiving yards in a season. In Week 14, Beckham extended his 90 receiving yard streak to 6 games, recording 11 receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown in a 36–7 victory over the Tennessee Titans. He also joined Bill Groman as the only rookies to have over 700 receiving yards in a six-game span.
On December 14, 2014, Beckham became the first NFL rookie with at least 12 catches, 140 yards, and three scores in a game racking up 143 receiving yards, 12 catches and three touchdowns. With his 12 receptions, Beckham tied former Giants tight end Mark Bavaro for the most in a game by a Giants rookie; Bavaro had 12 catches against the Cincinnati Bengals on October 13, 1985. Beckham's 143 receiving yards marked the fifth time he topped 100 receiving yards during the 2014 season, extending his own Giants record and setting an NFL rookie record of over 90 receiving yards in seven straight games. With 61 catches over seven games, Beckham also set the record for most ever receptions by an NFL rookie in a seven-game span. On December 21, 2014, Beckham extended his streak of 90 or more receiving yards in game to 8 when he racked up 148 receiving yards on 8 receptions and also hauled in 2 touchdowns vs. St. Louis Rams, including an 80-yard score, the longest touchdown reception by a Giants rookie in franchise history. He also extended his streak of games with 130+ receiving yards and at least one receiving touchdown to three.
In the regular season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles, Beckham had a career-high 185 receiving yards, which was the most in a game by a rookie in franchise history. Mark Bavaro previously held the record when he had 176 receiving yards against the Cincinnati Bengals on October 13, 1985. Beckham also had 12 receptions and a receiving touchdown against the Eagles, which tied Torry Holt for most games with at least ten receptions, 100 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown in a season with four. Beckham finished his impressive rookie campaign with 91 receptions, 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns in just 12 games. He's the fourth rookie in NFL history to have at least 1,300 receiving yards in a season, and the only rookie to have at least 90 receptions and 10 receiving touchdowns in a season. Beckham was named a first-alternate for the 2015 Pro Bowl. On January 7, 2015, Beckham replaced Calvin Johnson in Pro Bowl due to injury. He was the first Giants rookie wide receiver in franchise history and the first Giants rookie since Jeremy Shockey in 2002 to make the Pro Bowl. He was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team.
Beckham revealed after the Pro Bowl game that during the 2014 season he suffered from two hamstring injuries before the season, one occurring in an early-offseason workout and another in a preseason game. Beckham stated, "I was never fully healthy, I was just trying to manage it and maintain it, It's still not right. still working on it."
Beckham earned numerous accolades after the season, which sportswriters hailed as one of the greatest ever by a rookie. On January 31, 2015, Beckham was named Offensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press. He was also awarded the 2014 Pro Football Writers Association Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.