Super Bowl 2022: Odell Beckham Jr. injures knee, catches TD pass as Rams win

Odell Beckham Jr. was off to a great start in his first Super Bowl, but he ended up watching the second half from the sideline.

Beckham injured his left knee in the second quarter Sunday night. He wore a white hoodie and had his knee in a brace after halftime. When he was shown on the NBC broadcast, his eyes were filled with tears.

And those tears were flowing at the end of the game. Beckham was crying tears of joy after the Rams beat the Bengals, 23-20.

"It’s an emotional moment for him," Rams outside linebacker Von Miller said. "He was on his way to having a Super Bowl MVP-type of performance. But he got a ring. That’s what we all came here for."

"THIS WAS EXACTLY GODS PLAN," Beckham tweeted late Sunday night.

Beckham had two catches for 52 yards — a 17-yarder for a touchdown that gave the Rams a 7-0 lead and a 35-yarder that helped set up a touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp as the Rams went ahead 13-3.

He certainly would have preferred to finish the game, and the Rams missed his presence until the final drive, when Kupp caught the winning 1-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford with 1:25 to go.

Beckham got injured on a non-contact play. He was wide open while running across the middle when he crumpled to the turf after dropping a pass from Stafford.

Beckham immediately reached for his left knee, appeared to be in serious pain and needed to be helped off the field.

He went in the blue medical tent and then headed to the locker room with trainers.

Beckham tore his left ACL in 2020, also against the Bengals, while he was with the Cleveland Browns.

He began this season with the Browns but was released in November amid controversy. After Beckham had one catch in a loss to the Steelers, his father posted videos on social media of times when quarterback Baker Mayfield didn’t throw him the ball.

The Browns tried to trade Beckham, and when they couldn’t, they worked out a settlement and released him.

Beckham chose to sign with the Rams and became a big part of their offense after they lost Robert Woods to a torn ACL. Beckham caught five touchdown passes in his first seven games with Los Angeles after scoring none in six games with the Browns.

In the playoffs, Beckham caught a touchdown pass in the wild-card round against the Cardinals and had nine grabs for 113 yards against the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.

The Giants drafted Beckham 12th in 2014, and his career got off to a spectacular start.

Beckham caught 91 passes for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns and was named Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Over the next two seasons, Beckham averaged 98.5 catches, 1,408.5 yards and 11.5 touchdowns, but things started to go south in that third season.

Beckham threw a temper tantrum on the sideline during a game and smacked a kicking net with his helmet. It ended up snapping back and hitting him in the side of the face and neck.

In the playoffs that season, there was the infamous boat trip before the Giants’ wild-card playoff loss to the Packers. Beckham dropped several passes, including one in the end zone, and reportedly punched a hole in the wall outside the locker room afterward.

Beckham fractured his ankle the next season and played only four games. In 2018, he missed the last four games with a lingering quadriceps injury.

That ended up being his last with the Giants. He criticized the Giants’ offense and Eli Manning in an ill-advised ESPN interview.

The Giants traded him in 2019 to Cleveland, where things ended similarly.