From LSU to Super Bowl 2022: Odell Beckham Jr. salutes Joe Burrow and JaMarr Chase

LOS ANGELES — LSU will be well-represented in Super Bowl LVI, with Odell Beckham Jr. of the Rams facing off against Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase of the Bengals. As far as Beckham is concerned, it’s time for payback of sorts.

"Definitely a big LSU weekend," the Rams receiver said Monday during his Super Bowl media availability. "I feel like they got their rings, their trophies. This is one the Rams need."

The ring Beckham referred to was LSU’s national championship bling from the Tigers’ 42-25 win over Clemson on Jan. 13, 2020, in New Orleans, a game in which Burrow capped his Heisman Trophy season and Chase had 221 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

"They’re born winners," Beckham said of Burrow and Chase. "I always knew we would see ’em again. Never could it be better than this."

Beckham was involved in controversy after that game, when he was seen on the field handing out cash to some LSU players. He received a two-year ban from the school.

"I got in a little trouble at the national championship," he said. "I was banned from LSU, so they got their rings and all that. Now it’s our turn to get ours. That’s the mindset I have to have all week. This is not going to be an easy task."

Beckham found a new home with the Rams after being released by the Browns in November. Several teams were interested in the 29-year-old receiver before he settled on Los Angeles. Among the teams to recruit him the most: the Packers, the Patriots and Kansas City.

"Just something about this place that called," he said. "It just felt right in my heart. Just knowing that I’m going to come here and we’re going to the Super Bowl when you get there, it’s still a little surreal and mind-blowing. Yep, we really are here. Now the ultimate focus is one game."

Beckham has played in the NFL’s two largest markets — Los Angeles and New York. He was drafted by the Giants and enjoyed a meteoric rise but also experienced plenty of controversy with his on- and off-field antics. Which place is more intense?

"New York is a different fan base than L.A. is," he said, "so it could be more in New York."

But Beckham also acknowledges he’s calmer now than he was during his Giants career.

"You were carrying other people’s problems, and it was weighing me down," he said. "It could have been the reason I got injured time after time. There was a time when I tried to prove people wrong instead of proving myself right. Just less [negative] energy I’m carrying."

By Bob Glauber

Special to NewsdayBobGlauber

Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”