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After being traded to the Los Angeles Rams in November 2021, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. played in the NFL playoffs for just the second time in his career and he helped the Rams make Super Bowl LVI after catching nine passes for 113 yards against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. His NFL career has taken him from a first round draft pick by the New York Giants to the Cleveland Browns, Rams, Baltimore Ravens and most recently, the Miami Dolphins.
Before Beckham became one of the biggest names in the NFL, he was one of the most versatile college football players in the country, while playing for LSU.
Here’s everything you need to know about Odell Beckham Jr.’s college career.
Schools: LSU
Position: Wide receiver
Height: 6-0
Weight: 193 pounds
Years active: 2011-13
Here are Odell Beckham Jr.’s career receiving stats in college. You may need to scroll to the right to view the complete stats.
Beckham attended LSU, which he chose over reported scholarship offers from Mississippi State, Nebraska and Ole Miss, according to 247Sports.
“This is definitely where he wanted me to be,” Beckham Jr. told Louisiana Gannett News of choosing LSU, to the approval of his father, a former LSU tailback. “He just had my best interest in mind, so you’ve got to trust him and know that we made the right decision. He was always telling me about how the feeling of playing in Tiger Stadium is like no other, and he knows I’m going to love it and everything.”
According to his 247Sports recruiting profile, Beckham, who attended Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, was a four-star recruit ranked as the No. 135 prospect nationally and No. 20 wide receiver in the 2011 recruiting class.
In high school, he played quarterback, running back, wide receiver and cornerback, and as a senior, he had 50 receptions for 1,010 yards and 19 touchdowns, according to 247Sports. He competed in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
The excerpt below comes from The Daily Advertiser.
👀 COLLEGE CAREERS OF NFL STARS 🏈
2023 NFL Draft: Bryce Young | C.J. Stroud | Anthony Richardson | Zay Flowers | Bijan Robinson | Will Anderson Jr.
2022 NFL Draft: Christian Watson | Brock Purdy | Bailey Zappe | Skylar Thompson | Isiah Pacheco
2021 NFL Draft: Trevor Lawrence | Trey Lance | Ja’Marr Chase | Justin Fields | Mac Jones | DeVonta Smith
2020 NFL Draft: Joe Burrow | Tua Tagovailoa | Jordan Love | Tee Higgins | Jalen Hurts
2019 NFL Draft: Kyler Murray | Deebo Samuel | Gardner Minshew II | Miles Sanders | A.J. Brown
2018 NFL Draft: Lamar Jackson | Baker Mayfield | Josh Allen | Darius Leonard | Fred Warner
2017 NFL Draft: Patrick Mahomes | Deshaun Watson | Christian McCaffrey | Cooper Kupp
2016 NFL Draft: Jared Goff | Carson Wentz | Jalen Ramsey | Chris Jones
2015 NFL Draft: Stefon Diggs
2014 NFL Draft: Aaron Donald | Odell Beckham Jr. | Khalil Mack | Jerick McKinnon | Jimmy Garoppolo
Legends: Tom Brady | Jackie Robinson | Deion Sanders | Cam Newton
More: Matthew Stafford | Travis Kelce
Here are some of the notable records and statistical rankings set by Beckham in college:
An excerpt from the FBS record book.
Here are some of Beckham’s most notable performances in college:
LSU 38, Towson 22 | Sept. 29, 2012
Beckham’s first 100-yard receiving game came at an important time in the 18th game of his career. As Towson led LSU 9-7 late in the second quarter, LSU quarterback found Beckham for a 27-yard touchdown, which put the Tigers ahead for good. He scored again in the fourth quarter on a 53-yard touchdown pass, as he finished the game with five receptions for 128 yards and two touchdowns.
LSU 37, TCU 27 | Aug. 31, 2013
In a season opener that doubled as a top-25 matchup, Beckham posted 136 yards from scrimmage and 136 yards in the return game to finish with 272 all-purpose yards — 118 receiving yards on five catches, 18 rushing yards on two attempts and 136 kick return yards on four returns.
LSU 56, UAB 17 | Sept. 7, 2013
This was Beckham’s most prolific game in an LSU uniform. He finished with 331 all-purpose yards (third in school history), four total touchdowns (tied for fourth in school history), and a 100-yard missed field goal return for a touchdown (tied for the longest return touchdown in school history). Beckham scored twice in the first quarter and twice in the third quarter, as LSU put up 21 points in both. He finished with five catches for 136 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns, plus four combined kick or punt returns for a combined 80 yards.
Georgia 44, LSU 41 | Sept. 28, 2013
Georgia won a shootout over LSU in Athens, Georgia, thanks to a fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Aaron Murray to Justin Scott-Wesley, but Beckham had a standout performance with 289 all-purpose yards, which ranks ninth in school history. He caught six passes for 118 yards, while taking seven kick returns for 175 yards — an average of 25 yards per return.
LSU 59, Mississippi State 26 | Oct. 5, 2013
A week after Beckham had 289 all-purpose yards against Georgia, he one-upped that performance. Literally. He had 290 all-purpose yards against Mississippi State, including game highs with nine catches for 179 yards and two touchdowns, plus five kick returns for 111 yards. He scored on a 14-yard touchdown reception just before halftime, and he broke open a 31-26 game in the fourth quarter with a 33-yard touchdown reception as part of a 31-0 LSU scoring run to end the game.
LSU 48, Furman 16 | Oct. 26, 2013
GEAUX TIGERS: Relive LSU’s 2019 National Championship run
Here are the awards and honors Beckham won in college:
Then-LSU coach Les Miles, on how Beckham, as a freshman, could help fill in for injured LSU wide receiver Jarvis Landry (from The Times): “I think Odell Beckham is a guy that will step through some of that.”
Miles, during camp of Beckham’s freshman year (from The Daily Advertiser): “My impressions of Jarvis and Odell Beckham are they are guys that are going to play in games really right away. I think they’re competitive physically. I think they’re competitive mentally, and they have skills. And I think we have a good freshman class, but I think that those two guys by need will step onto the field. And they won’t play like freshmen. They’ll play very competitively and big physically, and look for big plays out of them.”
Miles, in August 2011 (from The Daily Advertiser): “I think Beckham really is a very difficult man to touch. There’s real elusiveness.”
Louisiana Gannett News’ Glenn Guilbeau, in October 2011: “Beckham, who leads the Tigers with 20 catches on the season and is the first LSU player to have 50-plus-yard touchdown receptions in consecutive games in six years, got his peripheral vision, moves and football intelligence from his father. Odell Beckham played tailback at LSU from 1990-92 after a stellar career at Marshall High in Marshall, Texas, that gained mention in the prep football book, ‘Friday Night Lights’ … Beckham Jr. got his 4.4 speed in the 40-yard dash and training ethic from his mother — track star Heather van Norman, a six-time All-American sprinter who was at LSU from 1991-93 and was part of three NCAA titles in the 4×400-meter relays and the 4×100-meter relays before coaching track at Tulane and Tennessee.
Beckham’s mother, Heather van Norman (from Louisiana Gannett News): “Track is very linear running. You run straight ahead with an occasional left around the track. Football is all over the place. He got both.”
Miles, on Beckham’s 51-yard touchdown reception against Kentucky: “I just kept thinking, he went back one more guy and one more guy. Oh, and he went back one more guy. There’s another guy, and, oh, he went back one more guy. If he would’ve had a wider field, it would’ve been a hell of a run.”
Beckham’s father, Odell Beckham (from Louisiana Gannett News): “Odell has that lateral movement and peripheral vision. He has great awareness and hands. And he’s got the intangibles that you just can’t teach. He got that speed and the long legs from his mom.”
Louisiana Gannett News’ Glenn Guilbeau, on Beckham’s 89-yard punt return touchdown against Ole Miss in 2012: “On Monday, Beckham was named the SEC’s special team player of the week after winning, or practically winning, the Ole Miss game Saturday with a spectacular 89-yard punt return for a touchdown that tied the game 35-35 with 9:10 to play. No. 7 LSU (9-2, 5-2 SEC) later won it 41-35 with a last-minute touchdown drive. (Les) Miles called the return the biggest momentum changer in a game that he has ever seen. Beckham, though, did not want to be interviewed after the Ole Miss game. The sport information department got a quote from him on the return, but he said he did not want to be interviewed after a bad game or after a good game.”
Miles, on Beckham’s 100-yard missed field goal return against UAB (from Louisiana Gannett News): “It was kind of like our team, as well as the opponent, wanted to know, ‘Which way is he going?’ When it was falling short, I’m sitting there going, ‘Yeah, this is going to be interesting because he’s a great return man.’ Once we got on pace and on page, I think we had some of the finest blocking in front of a return that I’ve seen. I don’t know if I can recall a field goal return for a touchdown. It was certainly something that I had never seen before live.”
Miles, when asked if opponents might start practicing their missed field goal return defense after Beckham scored on a return from the back of the end zone (from Louisiana Gannett News): “Yeah, absolutely. It’s not necessarily in virtually everyone’s game plan, but there’s a time for it. And certainly that time for us was last Saturday.”
Guilbeau, on the missed field goal return touchdown: “Unnoticed by many, Beckham dropped back to the goal posts in the South end zone of Tiger Stadium late in the third quarter of LSU’s 56-17 win over UAB last week as UAB’s Ty Long lined up to attempt a 59-yard field goal. Long’s kick was short, and Beckham’s return was long. Beckham started right, but quickly cut left at about his 20. At the 35, the only player with a real shot just missed him. Beckham tore it up the LSU sideline on the west side of the stadium for the touchdown.”
Miles (from Louisiana Gannett News): “We handed him the ball. He caught balls. He returned punts, and he returned a field goal. Nifty is a great word for him. Explosive is a great word for him. How about that? I guess it’s kind of nice to have a player that doesn’t fit the statistics.”
Guilbeau: “Somebody got cute in LSU’s sports information department this week. The depth chart released to the media before every Monday press luncheon with Coach Miles included the position, ‘Missed Field Goal Specialist’ above Odell Beckham Jr.’s name. Beckham returned a missed field goal 100 yards for a touchdown two games ago against UAB. That had not happened in college football since 1968, according to NCAA statistics.”
The Associated Press, before LSU played Texas A&M and quarterback Johnny Manziel: “LSU, which had a bye last week, also has been using explosive receiver and kick returner Odell Beckham Jr. as the scout team quarterback, whose job is to mimic the opposing team’s starter in practice against the first-team defense.”
Beckham (from Louisiana Gannett News): “I like being in the open field and making moves. It feels natural to me. I’ve been trying to do runs like that with my dad since I was 3 years old.”
Beckham, on his freshman season (from Louisiana Gannett News): “I’ve surprised myself. I worked hard to have this kind of season, but I didn’t know if it would happen. But going against defensive backs like Morris Claiborne and Tharold Simon and Tyrann Mathieu, you give yourself an opportunity to get better every day.”
Beckham, when asked about what it’s like to be LSU’s No. 1 wide receiver (from Louisiana Gannett News): “When you come to an SEC school like LSU, you come to play against the top competition in the country. If I am the No. 1 receiver, and I don’t know if I will be, and I get the No. 1 cornerback, that’s what I came here to do. I’ll take it as a compliment and go after it.”
Beckham, after his 100-yard missed field goal return for a touchdown (from Louisiana Gannett News): “At first what I wanted to do was block it. That’s why I went back there at first. I was hoping it would start to go just over the crossbar so I could jump up and block it. It ended up coming up short, so I caught it and it ended up working out better … I just started running. It was like everybody was kind of like, ‘What’s going on?’ I just kept running. When I got to the sidelines, everybody was celebrating and kind of wondering what happened. I just tried to lay down. I was out of gas and needed some oxygen.”
Beckham, on the precision required under then-offensive coordinator Cam Cameron (from the AP): “You can definitely sense it. If it’s a 12-yard route, it means it’s a 12-yard route. It’s not 10 1/2, not 11 3/4.”
Beckham, on playing Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel with the scout team in practice (from the AP): “It was fun pretending to be Johnny this week and running around, just trying to make plays, trying to give my defense the best look possible.”
Andy Wittry has written for Stadium, SI.com, Sporting News, the Indianapolis Star, Louisville Courier-Journal and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He is a graduate of Indiana University.
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