"NFL's equivalent of a Harlem Globetrotter" - Skip Bayless reckons Odell Beckham Jr. is an icon of the league
Odell Beckham Jr. has been one of the most polarizing and exciting NFL players to watch since entering the league in 2014. He had multiple 1,000+ yard seasons with the Giants, had a 1,000+ yard season with the Cleveland Browns, and won a Super Bowl last season with the Los Angeles Rams.
Perhaps OBJ's most memorable career moment came when he made the catch of his life against the Dallas Cowboys in primetime football in 2014. Life-long Cowboys fan and analyst Skip Bayless spoke about the play that Beckham made on his podcast, The Skip Bayless Show. He thinks Odell Beckham Jr.'s career was born from that moment on.
Here's what Bayless said:
"Odell was born to play in New York, then in Los Angeles and, I believe, in Dallas. The Hollywood of the NFL. Sunday night, November 23rd of Odell's rookie year in New York. Odell took maybe the biggest bite out of the Big Apple that any athlete ever has. Early in the second quarter of a solo stage Sunday night game on NBC."
He continued:
"Odell Beckham Jr. rose up into the night at Giants Stadium. And as you will remember, he one-handed as he was falling backward. What Cris Collinsworth immediately proclaimed the greatest catch ever, 43 yards from Eli Manning. Odell was even interfered with on that play by Brandon Carr. Who played for my Dallas Cowboys. That is correct. Blessed again was Odell Beckham Jr."
Bayless then claims that OBJ became the equivalent of an NFL Harlem globetrotter following his famous catch:
"If that play had happened against, I don't know, Jacksonville or Tennessee or name somebody else, that catch would not have detonated. Detonated nationally, anywhere near the magnitude that it detonated. What? Oh, my God. Because it came on Sunday night against America's team, the world's most valuable team, the NFL's most watched team."
Bayless continued his reverie:
"And on what was really the Cowboys stage on Sunday Night Football while playing in New York for the Giants, it just doesn't get any better than that. Odell shot like a comet across the night sky. And yet, by the way, just a quick footnote, my Cowboys would come back to actually win that football game 31 to 28. So the greatest catch ever came in a losing cause. Yet Odell soon became the NFL's equivalent of a Harlem Globetrotter."
High praise indeed from the Cowboys fan, although he couldn't resist mentioning who won the game that fateful night.
An Odell Beckham Jr. decision could come any day, with multiple teams fighting for his signature
Will it be the Buffalo Bills, the Kansas City Chiefs, or could it be the New York Giants? The long-asked question of who will sign OBJ could come to an end any day as the receiver is finally healthy enough to get back on the field.
The main reason Odell Beckham Jr. isn't signed to a team is that he has been recovering from an ACL injury he suffered in the Super Bowl. Beckham Jr. became a free agent following the 2021-2022 season after winning the Super Bowl with the Rams.
He decided to wait until he was healthy before thinking about signing with a team. Now that OBJ is fully cleared to participate in on-field activities, he could sign with a team any day now.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit The Skip Bayless Show and H/T Sportskeeda.