CLEVELAND — The only time Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. shared a football field with the Baltimore Ravens, it was memorable for him and changed how defenses have approached preparing for his teams ever since.
Beckham Jr. reached a career high when he converted eight receptions into 222 yards and two touchdowns in helping the New York Giants to a 27-23 victory over the Ravens at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on October 16, 2016.
“They played a lot of one-high man-to-man,” Beckham Jr. recalled. “That’s why that doesn’t happen much. I’m just too confident in me, like, ‘I’m going to win, and if you play me man-to-man all game…’ The worst part about me is you could do great all game, and then, one play, it’s going for 90, and that hurts.”
Since that Ravens game, Beckham Jr. has seen plenty of double teams, both with the Giants and after joining the Browns this offseason.
“Teams don’t play that a lot,” Beckham Jr. said. “It’d be nice.
“Of course, I’d love to come out every Sunday and think that I’ve got a good chance to do well and help a team out, but that’s just not the coverage. Teams have found a way to put two-high safeties, put them over the top and kind of eliminate the deep and have someone under the intermediate route, so it’s tough.”
Late in the third quarter against the Ravens, Beckham Jr. caught a 75-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Eli Manning, but he was not done with the second-half heroics.
With less than 90 seconds remaining in regulation and the Giants down by a 23-20 count, Beckham Jr. caught a pass and took it 66 yards to the end zone for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown.
Not bad for a player who suffered a hip injury early in the game, and as Browns receivers coach Adam Henry once described, probably should not have been on the field for the final score.
“I went up for a free-play ball,” Beckham Jr. said. “I jumped and kind of had my legs taken out underneath me a little bit and I landed straight on my hip. My whole hip swelled up. This side was six-pack and this side was like beer belly. I went to the locker room and I tried to shake it off.
“I remember playing through the game, all the adrenaline. When I’m out there and the crowd is there, adrenaline, all those other things go out the window. I remember it got to the fourth quarter, the last two minutes, and it was cramping so bad, I was on the sideline before the play like in the fetal position.”
Despite the pain, Beckham Jr. summoned the strength and courage to take the field for the play and scored a memorable touchdown, which was something he would not have missed for the world.
“He asked me if I’m going in. I said, ‘There’s no chance I’m not going in. It’s the last drive. We need a win,’” Beckham Jr. said. “I caught a fourth-and-one slant and took it to the house. The next week, literally, this whole side was swollen.
“We were traveling to London, and I remember I didn’t run a single route. I didn’t walk faster than two miles an hour until right before kickoff. It was a game-time decision, and I just said I was going play, wrapped it up and just kept playing. I’m going to play through whatever it is unless I really can’t play. That’s just the bottom line.”