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Lindsey ThiryESPN
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Los Angeles Rams receiver Odell Beckham Jr. caught a backward pass, shuffled, then planted his feet during a wild-card playoff game against the Arizona Cardinals, readying for something rare even for his famous skill set.
He launched a 40-yard pass to running back Cam Akers, who slowed to haul it in, as Beckham took a hit, jumped to his feet and threw his arms up in celebration.
“He could have led me a little bit,” a grinning Akers said. “Nah, I’m playing.”
“He made the throw right-handed,” quarterback Matthew Stafford pointed out. “He could probably do it left, too. He’s a freak.”
“That play was dope!” cornerback Jalen Ramsey chimed in. “It was a play that brought a lot of energy in the whole stadium.”
In L.A., where he signed a one-year, $1.25 million free agent deal in November, following his release from the Cleveland Browns, Beckham has rediscovered a joy in football that faded after five seasons with the New York Giants and 2½ in Cleveland, stops where he consistently attracted controversies: from sideline tirades, proposing to — and fighting — a kicking net, an on-field brawl with then-Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman to a Miami boat trip ahead of a wild-card playoff game.
Beckham’s uniform violations have ranged from a colorful watch — he literally wore an orange watch during a game — to Joker cleats that the NFL told him to change at halftime or not be allowed to return to the field. He handed out wads of cash to players after LSU won the 2019 national championship and was banned from his former university for two years as punishment. Most recently, he was released from the Browns after his dad released a video on social media criticizing quarterback Baker Mayfield not throwing the ball to Beckham.
But for Beckham, all of that is in the past, with only the slightest hint — when he wore orange cleats in the first half of the Green Bay Packers‘ contest — of prior drama (Beckham said he had yet to receive the proper studs to match his new uniform and changed into black cleats at halftime).
“It’s just great to just be having fun,” Beckham said. “I think we often forget, there’s business, there’s politics, there’s all of this in this game, but this is big kids at heart who love football and just being able to go out and lay it all on the line in defeat and victory.”
The Rams return to SoFi Stadium to face the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday for the NFC Championship Game (6:30 p.m. ET, Fox), an extra home game that once seemed improbable before the chaotic divisional round. The Rams took down the No. 2 seed and defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Florida while the No. 6 seed 49ers also pulled off an upset of the top-seeded Packers at Lambeau Field. That sets up a third matchup between the division rivals this season. The 49ers have won the previous six meetings against the Rams.
This will be the first conference championship game for the 29-year-old Beckham, who started his career with three consecutive seasons of at least 90 receptions, 1,300 yards and 10 touchdown catches from 2014 to 2016 with the Giants, not to mention a one-handed TD catch on Sunday Night Football as a rookie who captured the nation’s imagination.
In a season when it appeared his eight-year career would continue to decline, Beckham will get the chance to prove — with a Super Bowl trip at stake — that his career is not only alive, but thriving, while showing that his personality is certainly welcome in an NFL locker room.
“Odell has done an incredible job coming in here and learning as much as he has in such a short amount of time,” said Cooper Kupp, the NFL’s top receiver this season and the fourth-ever player to earn the league’s triple crown as its leader in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947) and receiving touchdowns (16). “He’s a huge asset to our receiver room, so we’re really happy to have him.”
Since the Rams signed Beckham after his Browns’ release, the social media darling — who boasts 19.3 million followers across his Twitter and Instagram platforms — has yielded the spotlight while playing an increasingly important role in the Rams’ No. 5-rated offense.
Thrust into the starting lineup four days after he signed with the Rams, Beckham caught 27 passes for 305 yards and five touchdowns in eight regular-season games.
He’s added 10 receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown in the playoffs.
All while proving that he’s perhaps — despite what some pundits insisted — he’s not such diva after all.
“The world needs to place their finger on something to feel comfortable with what it is and whenever it comes to me, they want to label me as this selfish, this, diva, blah, blah, blah. All of the things that are said, like I told you, mean absolutely nothing to me,” Beckham said. “I chose to come here because I [saw] a great opportunity and knowing that I’d be able to play great football — not come in here thinking I’m going to be the No. 1 receiver.
“The whole perception of me, it’s no offense to anybody, but I don’t really care because I just know who I am ultimately. And I know what kind of teammate I am, what kind of person I am.”
Revival mode
Beckham went up with two hands to pull down a 1-yard pass over Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Nevin Lawson in the end zone in Week 13.
It was his second touchdown in as many games after he broke a 10-game drought a week earlier with a 54-yard touchdown reception in Green Bay.
Beckham ran to Kupp, jumped for a chest bump, then immediately fell to the turf and appeared to jab himself.
.@obj with the dagger! 👀
📺 @nflonfox | #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/56LNtEHIIa
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 5, 2021
Kupp initially thought he was injured. Rams coach Sean McVay had no clue what was happening.
“I thought he was doing some ab crunches or something like that at first,” McVay said, laughing. “He definitely has a lot of swag, a lot of personality. I thought it was great.”
For Beckham, it was a planned celebration.
“It’s just from ‘Call of Duty,'” Beckham explained. “Sometimes you get down in life and it’s always good to have a self-revive.”
Self-revive, indeed.
A week later, Beckham caught a touchdown pass in a third consecutive game, broke out a reenactment of the viral “Detroit Urban Survival” meme and provided assurance that despite going on a hot touchdown streak unseen by him since 2015, he wouldn’t run out of unique celebrations.
“There’s no chance,” a grinning Beckham said. “There’s no chance.”
In a season of stockpiling star players to make a Super Bowl LVI run, the Rams brought in Beckham to play an important complementary role in a receivers group that featured Kupp, Robert Woods and Van Jefferson. They were fresh off releasing speedy deep-threat receiver DeSean Jackson, who requested to be allowed to explore trade options after he became unhappy because of a lack of opportunity in the offense.
The Rams weren’t mentioned among Beckham’s favorites, but a late recruiting effort by Ramsey and Von Miller, among others, helped win him over.