February 2022 changed the next year and a half for storied wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. During a moment that was supposed to be remembered for the Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl victory, Beckham, Jr. was left with memories of tearing his ACL in that game.
“I’ve watched plenty of Super Bowls, and finally, it was my opportunity, and I was so locked in,” Beckham Jr said. “And I could just feel it that day when I woke up; I knew that I was probably going to be the best person on the field. I had been feeling it all week. And it just sucks. I didn’t get to live out that moment”
The 360 days after that were about healing, getting back into football shape, and joining a team that still believed in him…the Baltimore Ravens.
“My impression of Odell Beckham [Jr.] has been nothing but I love the guy. He’s a pro. He’s what you would expect from a world-class athlete,” Coach Harbaugh said prior to Beckham’s first minicamp practice.
Since joining the Ravens, Beckham Jr. has done everything in his power to build a rapport with his teammates including joining Lamar Jackson along with fellow receivers Zay Flowers and Nelson Agholor in South Florida to workout before training camp.
While Beckham, Jr. is back on the field, the season hasn’t gone quite as planned. He missed two games with an ankle injury and he has only accumulated 19 receptions for 218 yards on 33 targets. But he is very aware there are a lot players on the field that want the ball.
“Obviously, I’m not where I want to be, but when I signed here, I said I wanted to come here, win a Super Bowl, and win, and we’re on the way to that, so we’ve just got to keep going. It’s a long season.”
When asked to further explain where he wants to be, Beckham shared: “I don’t know how to explain it, I’ve got high expectations, high standards, but ultimately, it’s a team game. For as much of a bad rap as receiver get, they’re actually the most selfless people on the field.”
That may be the case but Odell’s fortune changed this past Sunday when he pulled in a touchdown in the 4thquarter of the Ravens matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. The touchdown couldn’t have come at a better time…on his 31st birthday. He also made sure his celebration included an ode to Baltimore by hitting the Park Heights strut after the touchdown.
Throughout the season, Beckham, Jr. has openly discussed leaning on his faith, and only a higher power could allow a story to unfold in the way that it did.
“When the Super Bowl injury happened, and I went down, there were contemplations on whether I wanted to come back and do this all over again, and I just said to myself for any other kid out there who is watching and was once inspired, ‘What message would I send to give up?’…God had a sense of humor, and for it to come on my birthday, it couldn’t be a better gift.”
Not that that is out of the way, it’s only up from here for OBJ!