OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Odell Beckham Jr. is thriving. Of confidence, and as the Baltimore Ravens training camp approaches, Beckham is banking on that confidence now, just as he did at the biggest point of his career.
Beckham remembers waking up on Sunday, February 13, 2022, feeling like he was going to be the MVP of Super Bowl LVI. Finally, at the end of his eighth season, and first with the Los Angeles Rams, will be his chance to lift the Lombardi Trophy.
Beckham’s mother, Heather Van Norman, told him, “I’ve never seen you like this before the game.”
Beckham thought he was on his way to earning Super Bowl MVP honors as he caught two passes for 52 yards and scored the first touchdown of the game on a 17-yard reception in the first quarter. Then, with 3 minutes and 50 seconds left in the second quarter, Beckham ran a shallow pass before again catching a pass from Matthew Stafford, who was slightly behind him. Nobody was hurt. Beckham, who fell to the SoFi pitch, grabbed his left knee.
His Super Bowl is over.
“She sucks. There’s no way around it,” Beckham said recently. “I couldn’t live in that moment. This is really something that I’ve dedicated my whole life to – this game, this sport – and I just wanted to have that moment.”
The Rams went on to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20, but for Beckham, it was bittersweet.
“It’s hard to reach the pinnacle of success in this sport, and feel like it’s been taken away from you,” he said. “It wasn’t easy to live with him.”
Beckham, who signed a one-year, $15 million contract with Baltimore in April, has not played since. When he lines up for the Crows in September, it will be his first game in 574 days.
His long-awaited return is fueled by his desire to relive that shattered moment. Beckham never again wanted to taste what he described as bitter champagne.
“I’m excited, but also very determined and hungry,” Beckham said. So through the smiles there’s still this, ‘I really want this bad. “I am ready to be great, ready to be great again.”
Known for his impressive one-handed fist while with the New York Giants in 2014, Beckham is looking to dazzle the soccer world again, but history suggests it won’t be easy. Only five wide receivers in NFL history have produced 1,000 receiving yards after missing an entire year, according to ESPN Stats & Information Research. No wide receiver has accomplished this since Jordy Nelson seven years earlier.
“Doubts are for those who have them, but they are not what enters my mind and body,” Beckham said. “I know what I can do.”
Crows believe in Beckham. They showed it with their wallet—it was the largest one-year push for a wide receiver in franchise history, and the pursuit of OBJ was so important it included a rare free agent call from Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti.
The Ravens signed Beckham while quarterback Lamar Jackson was deciding whether he wanted to return to Baltimore. The acquisition was seen as a way to help entice Jackson to stay.
Asked if the signing move was a gamble, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta explained how the team has recovered other players from this type of injury and thrived. He pointed to Beckham’s performance at such a high level in the Super Bowl and how he had played huge games against the Crows in the past.
Remember the game [in 2016]It was a tough match [coach] John [Harbaugh] DeCosta said… I don’t know how many yards he had, but it was probably about 200.”
Harbaugh quickly added, “He remembers Odile. He reminded me.”
Beckham recorded a career high 222 yards receiving against Baltimore in 2016, and scored the winning 66-yard field goal for the Giants with 1:24 remaining.
But it was interactions with Beckham over the past year, after he became a free agent, that convinced the Crows, as well as Beckham, that this was the ideal choice for both sides.
Their flirtation with Baltimore began last October, when team officials first spoke to Beckham’s agent, Zek Sandow, about a deal. The Crows then spoke with Beckham after the season, but nothing came of it.
On March 11, the Ravens were among the 11 teams that attended Beckham’s private practice in Arizona. Team officials later watched a video of Beckham running. They dissected his explosiveness, agility, and conditioning.
“What we saw was very encouraging,” D’Costa said. “Maybe that’s the thing we’re most excited about. We’re getting someone who’s ready to explode again.”
Two weeks later, DeCosta spoke with Beckham at a league meeting, where it was immediately confirmed that Beckham would be 100 percent invested in the team and its culture.
“I have to tell you, after two minutes of sitting in Arizona across from the table from Odell, I had no doubt that this was the guy for the team,” D’Costa said.
As for Beckham, he was eventually persuaded to come to Baltimore by another conversation. Bisciotti made the uncharacteristic move of reaching out, which caused Beckham to gloat about the opportunity to play with Baltimore.
“It made me feel like someone wants to be here, wants me to be great, wants me to be part of this team and this organisation,” Beckham said. “And at this point in my life, that’s all I need—to be wanted—and that’s pretty much the story for me.”
After speaking to Bisciotti, Beckham texted his agent: “I want to be a crow.”
Two weeks after signing with Baltimore, Beckham faced Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey in a boxing match in Las Vegas.
Instead of rehashing their on-field brawl a few years ago, they talked about winning the Super Bowl.
“I know his mind is right,” said Humphrey.
But is his body? If Beckham wants to lead another team to the Super Bowl, it’s all about where he is physically. The injury in 2022 was not the first to his left knee.
In October 2020, while with the Cleveland Browns, Beckham suffered a season-ending injury to his left knee while tackled by a Bengals defender after an interception by Baker Mayfield. But he said the surgery was not successful.
After being released by the Browns and signing with the Rams in November 2021, Beckham said he was told by the Rams’ team doctor that he did not have the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Beckham refused to repeat the surgery. He said he told the doctor, “I came here to help win the championship.”
After reattaching his ACL, Beckham returned to the training field with the Ravens for the first time in mid-June for a minicamp, and he trained on a limited basis for two of the three days. He did not create any immediate highlights, catching one pass from Jackson during the team’s practices. But the most important conclusion: Beckham ran without any problems.
“He’s at a place in his career where I feel he has a lot to prove,” Harbaugh said. “I think he feels like he’s going to be in his healthiest shape in a few years. So, let’s go.”
After his first practice with Beckham, Jackson referred to him as a “legend” for what he had done with the Giants. Beckham spent five 1,000-yard seasons during his first six years in the league, becoming one of the most popular players in the league. But he hasn’t had a 600-yard receiving season since 2019.
Beckham will turn 31 in November, which raises more questions about whether he can become a Pro Bowl wide receiver again.
“If you can play, you can play,” Beckham said. “It’s more of a mentality, and this might just be trying not to get old, but that’s exactly how I feel.”
One quote emphasized by Beckham is “You’re only as good as your last game.”
Beckham said, “I’m not worried about coming back from this because I’ve come back before, and now I’m past the mental part of, ‘Am I going to be OK? ‘” “At the end of the day we can write all the stories in the world, but it all comes down to what you do on the field during the season.”