Odell Beckham Jr

Beckham attended Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, where he competed in football, basketball, and track. In football, he played wide receiver, quarterback, running back, and cornerback. As a senior, he recorded 50 receptions for 1,010 yards and 19 touchdowns, rushed for 331 yards and six touchdowns, and returned punts at an average of 30.0 yards per return.

His parents were also athletes at Louisiana State University. His father, Odell Beckham Sr., played running back for LSU, while his mother, Heather Van Norman, was an All-American track athlete and national champion relay runner. Beckham chose LSU over scholarship offers from several other colleges and also played in the 2011 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Beckham played for the LSU Tigers from 2011 through 2013. He made an immediate impact as a freshman, starting nine of 14 games and finishing the season with 41 receptions for 475 yards and two touchdowns. He was named to the SEC Coaches’ All-Freshman Team.

As a sophomore, Beckham became an important return specialist as well as a receiver. He returned punts for touchdowns against North Texas and Ole Miss, including an 89-yard return against Ole Miss. In 2013, he formed a highly productive wide receiver duo with Jarvis Landry, becoming part of the first LSU receiving pair to exceed 1,000 yards in the same season.

Beckham’s 2013 season included 59 receptions for 1,152 yards, eight touchdowns, 160 punt-return yards, and 845 kickoff-return yards. His 2,315 all-purpose yards set an LSU single-season record, and he won the Paul Hornung Award as college football’s most versatile player. He also earned first-team All-America honors as a kick returner and entered the 2014 NFL draft after his junior season.

The New York Giants selected Beckham with the 12th overall pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. After missing the first four games with a hamstring injury, he made his debut against the Atlanta Falcons and went on to produce one of the most celebrated rookie seasons in NFL history. In a November game against the Dallas Cowboys, he made a one-handed touchdown catch while falling backward, a play that became known as one of the greatest catches in football.

Beckham finished his rookie season with 91 receptions, 1,305 receiving yards, and 12 touchdowns in 12 games. He set numerous Giants and NFL rookie records and won the Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year award. In 2015, he became the fastest player to reach 100 career receptions, doing so in his 14th game. In 2016, he reached 200 receptions in 30 games, an NFL record at the time, and helped the Giants return to the playoffs.

Injuries affected several later seasons. He fractured his left ankle in 2017, missed the final four games of 2018 with a quadriceps injury, tore his ACL while playing for the Cleveland Browns in 2020, and suffered another ACL tear during Super Bowl LVI. Beckham joined the Browns in 2019, the Los Angeles Rams during the 2021 season, the Baltimore Ravens in 2023, and the Miami Dolphins in 2024.

With the Rams, Beckham scored the opening touchdown of Super Bowl LVI against the Cincinnati Bengals before leaving the game with his knee injury. Los Angeles won 23-20, giving him his first Super Bowl championship. After missing the 2022 season while recovering, he returned to the NFL with Baltimore, later played for Miami, and rejoined the Giants in 2026.

Beckham was selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first three NFL seasons and was named second-team All-Pro in 2015 and 2016. His rookie campaign included the most receiving yards by a Giants rookie, while his early career produced league records for reaching 100, 150, and 200 receptions at unusually fast rates.

He also became the youngest player to appear on the cover of Madden NFL 16. In January 2015, Beckham and Drew Brees established a short-lived world record by making 33 one-handed catches in one minute. The record was later surpassed by CFL receiver Andy Fantuz.

Beckham has a younger brother, Kordell Beckham, and a younger sister, Jasmine. Kordell became the winner of the sixth season of Love Island USA in 2024. Beckham and Lauren Wood welcomed their son, Zydn, in February 2022.

Beckham is a Christian and was baptized in the Jordan River in 2018. He has also supported cancer-related causes, hunger relief, hurricane recovery, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and flood-repair efforts in Louisiana.

Beckham’s screen work includes the television movie Catching Odell, the television series Code Black, and three episodes of Ballers. He appeared as himself in the 2023 film House Party and served as an executive producer on the short film I Am Who I Am.

He has also appeared in music videos including Fabolous, Velous, and Chris Brown’s “Flipmode,” Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande’s “Bed,” and Drake featuring Lil Durk’s “Laugh Now Cry Later.”