Beckham’s last postseason run, which ended with an ACL tear in the Super Bowl, is inextricably linked to his current one in Baltimore.
Nic Hill went to a local gas station in the early evening hours of February 13, 2022, after leaving his family’s Phoenix house and sobbing. He sobbed at what he had witnessed, the significance of it, and the fact that it was Odell Beckham Jr. on the field at SoFi Stadium, holding his knee and unable to stand up during Super Bowl LVI.
“That was probably one of the lowest moments of my career, yeah,” Hill, a strength and speed coach for the high-performance training company Exos, said in a recent interview. He’d helped train the Los Angeles Rams’ superstar wide receiver for years. He was more than a client. “A special person,” Hill called him, “and like a brother to me.”
Hill got in touch with Beckham’s longtime physical therapist, Graeme Lauriston. He made contact with Beckham. “Hey, tell me,” he recalled saying to them.
“But we knew,” Hill said softly, the anguish still fresh. “We knew immediately that it was the ACL again.”
With that, one of the most well-known comebacks in recent NFL history got underway: a 19-month recuperation that took place over three seasons and multiple continents, driven by Beckham’s enduring passion for the game and funded by the enormous wealth it has brought him. It started with a Super Bowl victory and might end with another.
Beckham’s previous postseason experience is inextricably linked to his current one in Baltimore, which begins on Saturday with the Ravens’ divisional-round matchup against the Houston Texans. He did not have a functioning ACL going into the 2021 postseason. He has had his knee rehabilitated going into this postseason. After a season away from the game, many close to him claim he is stronger and more hungry today. The Ravens desired an OBJ like this one. This is also what he desired.
“It’s been a long 2 1/2 years, so it all boils down to this,” he said Tuesday before a crowd of reporters and cameras in the Ravens’ locker room, the center of attention once more. “We only have four or five days guaranteed left. Everything else, you earn after that. Everything else after that, you’ve earned. I don’t think anybody in this building takes it lightly. Such a long journey, and you’re getting towards the end. It’s like you might as well reap the benefits of all the hard work you put in.”
“I’m holding my breath.”
Beckham knew something was wrong with his left knee long before that pivotal second-quarter crossing pattern against the Cincinnati Bengals, long before his first Super Bowl participation ended in tears.
Following the Rams’ victory over the 49ers in the NFC championship game, Beckham recalled exchanging a perceptive glance with Cooper Kupp. The All-Pro wide receiver realized that his ACL had retracted, something that only a few people in Beckham’s inner circle knew. After Beckham arrived for the midseason, Rams club doctor Neal ElAttrache examined his knee and recommended that he have additional surgery. Beckham’s 2020 season was cut short just over a year prior when he suffered his first ACL tear in the same knee while playing for the Cleveland Browns.
Beckham would play again this time. Hill said that despite the injury, the knee was still functional since it had strengthened during his most recent rehabilitation. Beckham caught four catches for 54 yards and a score in the Rams’ decisive victory against the Arizona Cardinals in their postseason debut. He grabbed six receptions for 69 yards in a thrilling victory over quarterback Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round. He recorded nine catches for 113 yards against the 49ers, which was the highest he had ever had since 2019.
“Every kind of cut and turn, or anytime he went down funny,” Hill said, “I was always holding my breath, holding my breath.”
“I’m happy that this [Super Bowl] is our last game,” Beckham remembered telling Kupp after the NFC championship game, “because I couldn’t do another one.”
Because he believes in himself, Beckham stated. due to his belief in his physical form.