Before Odell Beckham Jr would join the Cleveland Browns after signing a $95 Million dollar
5 year contract with the Giants the year prior.
Before Odell Beckham Jr would clock in over 13 Million followers on IG and go viral for
his version of the “In My Feelings” challenge and would land himself on the cover of Madden
NFL 16.
Before Odell Beckham would go viral in his Rookie Year with a one hand catch many have
credited as being the greatest catch ever made.
From the age of 4, Odell knew he was going to be in the NFL. The only son to professional
athletes young Odell flourished on the field in football, basketball, track and field and
soccer. Growing up his childhood hero was another Beckham but eventually he would decide
to shift all his focus into football and transition from Quarterback to wide receiver.
What's going on guys? It's your boy Michael McCrudden back at it with another Before They
Were Famous video. You guys seemed to really enjoy our recent drop on Odell with his The
Rich Life. Football season is in full swing and there are a ton of players we can cover
but I'll need your requests in the comments down below. Aright, let's get into this video.
Odell Beckham Jr was born on November 5th, 1992 in Baton Rouge Louisianna. His parents
were both star athletes at Louisiana State University at the time of his birth and although
the two never married they made sure they passed on their athleticism to their young
boy. His father Odell Beckham Sr was from Texas and grew up best friends with Shaquile
O'Neil, his dominance on the football field led to him being mentioned in the book Friday
Night Lights and he went on play as a running back for Louisiana State University where
he met
His mother, Heather Van Norman, was a professional sprinter. She was actually pregnant with little
Odell while still at school training for the 1992 Summer Olympics. When she found out she
was gonna be a mom, she kept on sprinting for 6 months into the pregnancy. By the end
of her career, Heather was a six-time All-American, leading LSU to three straight NCAA outdoor
titles from 1991-93 and two indoor national titles in 1991 and 1993. After he was born,
Heather brought him along to her classes, so the guy was pretty much an honorary Louisiana
State star from day one!
Over on IG Odell frequently shout outs both his mom and dad:
Happppy bornn day bloood!!!! I love u man! On god #WhyUletMehavetheseBraids
His mom gets extra love: To MY QUEEN... I love u 2 death... I could
never thank u enough for what Uve sacrificed for me. I could never imagine what it’s
like giving ur baby boy to this cold world, so I thank u for always bein there to pick
me up when I fall, and to keep my humble when I’m up at my highest point. Without u, a
lot of this wouldn’t be possible. That’s why everyday I get up to go do this for u!
I love u wit my entire soul! So today I just wanna say happy 29th bday Mommma.
I love u I love I love u and I hope today goes welll! #MommasBoy ?￰ﾟﾘﾂ
#29nFine #LoveUtoTheMoonNback
His mom would later marry Olympic athlete Derek Mills giving him another pro athlete
as a role model. His mom would also go onto give him younger siblings with broth Kordell
and sister Jasmine. His mother has said it herself, that their boy hit the genetic lottery
and it was a no-brainer that Odell would become a super star athlete, but even his parents
were surprised at how soon he took to it. By the age of 4 he was playing with footballs
around the house and practicing for Sundays. When they asked him what he wanted to be he
said:
“I’m going to be in the NFL!”. I said it with such conviction, that everyone around
me had no choice but to believe me. That’s what my dream always was, and that’s been
my goal.”
But it wasn’t just football the little guy excelled at. He was a talented soccer player
scoring 5 goals a game at the age of 5 and his childhood idol was of course David Beckham.
(Soccer Photo in DB)
From five to 12 OBJ showed so much potential as a young soccer star that his coach believed
that he not only had what it took to play on the national junior team they believed
that he could be one of the greatest American born soccer players in the world. He was also
obsessed with winning, his soccer coach recalled:
“Even when he was younger and he lost, I'd pull him aside -- say 'Hey, it's alright man.'
He'd go 'Coach, don't even try to talk to me right now. These fools have been fouling
me.' He'd have none of it. You'd have to understand and agree with him.
To further pursue his soccer potential Odell would have to spend time overseas which was
something he wasn't interested in doing so eventually any soccer dreams would fall to
the waste side. OBJ attended Isidore Newman School, whose alumni include Cooper, Eli and
Peyton Manning.
Odell quickly made the varsity football, basketball and track teams. With such a versatile set
of skills, Odell proved to be every bit of the athlete his parents were, and then some.
In basketball he was the all-district selection in both his junior and senior years, and in
track and field competed in long jump, 200 meter dash, and 100 and 200 meter relay teams.
But it was football that proved to be Odell’s calling. Initially he played quarterback,
running back, corner back and wide receiver, but knew he needed to pick a position he could
become NFL caliber at. His buddy wanted to be quarterback, so Odell opted for receiver
instead.
Drawn towards the high level of precision running the position needed, he started running
his routes obsessively. While studying other greats like Victor Cruz of the New York Giants
and DeSean Jackson of the Washington Redskins, he picked up on some valuable skills. He had
an impressive junior year on the team, then surpassed it in his senior year with 19 touchdowns
and 50 catches for over 1000 yards, a feat matched only by Cooper Manning years earlier.
OBJ was awarded offensive MVP At the end of his high school career Odell was the #6 wide
receiver and #40 overall player in the country. When it came time to choose which University
he would play for, he went down the same road as both his mother and his father, joining
the Louisiana Tigers at LSU.
For his freshman year in 2011 he was put in for just 9 of their 14 games, but proved himself
to be a force on the field by ending up with two touchdowns, and 41 receptions for 475
yards and earned himself a freshman all SEC selection. The next year he played in 12 of
the 13 games.
In 2013 he teamed up with Jarvis Landry and together they became one of the best wide-receiver
partnerships college football had ever seen. Then in a 2013 game against the University
of Alabama, Beckham pulled a move that would catch everyone’s attention with a 109 Yard
Field Goal Return Touchdown.
That year Beckham won the Paul Hornung Award, an honor reserved for the most versatile talent
in major college football. He finished the 2013 season with 57 receptions for 1,117 yards
and eight touchdowns. He led the SEC with 32 kickoff returns for 845 net yards in the
2013 season and was ranked as a four star recruit by scouts. When it was time for the
NFL draft in 2014, Beckham was the New York Giant’s first round pick and twelfth overall.
He was actually the third wide receiver selected after Sammy Watkins and Mike Evans, two dudes
I ain't even made a Before They Were Famous video on. Going into the 2014 season fans
would have to wait to see OBJ take the field due to a hamstring injury but when he got
out there in Game 4 he didn't disappoint with four receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown.
It wasn't long before his one handed touchdown would be hailed as the catch of the year.
It also inspired internet memes for “Thing's Odell Could Catch".
Odell picked up the Offensive Rookie Of The Year Award and beat out Rob Gronkowski for
the cover of Madden NFL 2016. Odell quickly became as a big of a star off the field as
he was on it with many citing him as the most influential rookies in the history of the
franchise. He sparked up a close friendship with Drake and is a regular at award shows
and walking red carpets. He was linked for sometime to dating Khloe Kardashian, Amber
Rose and Zendaya.
Odell also became the highest paid Wide Receiver in the league with his final contract with
the giants listed as a $85 Million dollar contract with $65 Million guaranteed. I'm
not entirely sure how that work out now that he's with Cleveland but we talk about this
in greater detail in our The Rich Life video from last week.
As for the rest of the story, well we are gonna wrap this one up here because this is