Odell Beckham Jr. One-Handed Catch
Sports announcers regularly use hyperbole to describe the great plays of athletes, but when NFL color analyst Cris Collinsworth described this Odell Beckham, Jr. catch as “absolutely impossible,” he wasn’t exaggerating. It happened on a Sunday night in November of 2014, in a game between the Giants and Cowboys at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. It was the first play of the second quarter, and the Giants, winning 7-3, had the ball at the Cowboys’ 43 on first down and 10. Off of play action, quarterback Eli Manning threw one deep down the right sideline to Beckham, Jr., who was being closely covered and fronted by a Dallas cornerback, Brandon Carr. At the 5, with the ball still coming down, Carr locked ahold of Beckham Jr.’s arm; as Carr fell to the turf and pass interference flags flew, Beckham, Jr. reached way, way back with his right hand and – while falling backward in mid-air – caught the ball and brought it into his chest with his momentum carrying him into the end zone for a touchdown. The Giants would lose the game and their record would drop to 3-8, but the Beckham play would be the highlight in an otherwise forgettable Giants season.