Odell Beckham Jr.'s grab leaves Antrel Rolle speechless

Anything that leaves Antrel Rolle at a loss for words must be pretty special.

So when the always-talking safety came up to Odell Beckham Jr. on the sideline during Sunday night's game against the Cowboys and told him he didn't know what to say, that was a sign that what had happened was truly extraordinary.

Not that we needed Rolle rendered speechless to confirm what we saw for ourselves. Beckham made the kind of catch, on the kind of prime time stage, that people will remember forever. And if they don't, then the thousands of memes and Instagrams and Vines that poured onto the Internet will help them to.

"I've been in the game 10 years, that's the best catch I think I've ever seen in my years of playing," Rolle said when his vocabulary finally caught up to him following the game. "I will say it surprised me, but nothing surprises me with that guy. He's a phenomenal talent, it's something that he works on each and every day. He works on it in warmups, so for him it's just another day in the park. For us, it's 'Wow!' He's a playmaker, he's hungry, he has a lot of passion for the game. I don't see one guy stopping him."

The Beckham catch, a one-handed over-the-head grab that took place while he was leaping backwards and nearly parallel to the ground -- all while being fouled egregiously by Dallas cornerback Brandon Carr -- even did something that hardly anything in the known universe can: it brought a smile to the face of Tom Coughlin shortly after what he called a devastating loss.

"He's got a gift, there's no doubt," Coughlin said. "I've seen him make a lot of one-handed catches, to be honest with you. But none falling down like that, going away and being able to snatch the ball like that and then stay in bounds after being fouled. That was quite a thing."

That's what it was, "a thing." A living, breathing thing that has taken on a life of its own. Nearly every social media feed, every watercooler, every line at the coffee shop is filled with chatter about the catch.

For his part, Beckham played it cool.

"The ball couldn't have been placed better," he said. "It was a perfect spiral. With a ball like that, it makes it a lot easier to make a catch."

Did he just say it was easy?

"Not by any means," he chuckled. "Just the ball placement makes it a lot easier to do something like that."

Giants running back Rashad Jennings said it was like watching a human video game.

Eli Manning, who also chucked the iconic pass to David Tyree in 2007, joked that his own shortcomings as a quarterback made both plays possible.

"I guess you've got to throw it just bad enough where they've got to make a great catch," he said. "It was pretty spectacular to see his adjustment to the ball and getting held, to be falling backwards and just put one hand up there and snag it. That was pretty impressive."

The Cowboys, too, were impressed.

"The man's a monster!" said Dez Bryant, who caught two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including the game-winner with 1:01 remaining. "You have to give it to him. He's one of those guys who loves to play the game. You can tell. He jumps around. He wants to be out there and make a play. That catch? Outstanding! I was like 'Oof! Some of my work!'"

The shameful part was that Beckham could not enjoy the moment fully. He had to temper his enthusiasm because the Giants lost. It was not lip-service when he said that it "means nothing" due to the result of the game. That's not something Beckham is used to. In three years at LSU he lost seven games total. So far this season the Giants have lost eight.

"It's hard because at the end of the day all you want to do is win," Beckham said. "Everyone wants to be Super Bowl champions, go to the playoffs, and play as many games as possible. Losing is never fun. I don't think anybody accepts losing or wants to lose going on the field. We just have to find a way to put the pieces together...We're not making the right plays. We're not consistent enough to get victories."

Last night, one of them was. And it became a moment that will live forever.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.