It is one thing to debate from the couch or at the bar about the magnitude of a spectacular sporting action and another to try to argue it scientifically. This November 23, 2024 marks ten years since one of the most amazing actions in NFL history. That Sunday afternoon rookie Odell Beckham Jr. (OBJ), NY Giants wide receiver, caught an ‘almost’ impossible ball to complete a legendary touchdown. It seemed that quarterback Eli Manning had lost his hand with a very powerful missile. But OBJ managed to arch his body and stretch out his right arm to grab the ball with three fingers before it went away, when it was no longer in his field of vision.
Despite his struggle with Dallas Cowboys defender Brandon Carr – the nearest referee threw the yellow foul flag – Beckham Jr managed to fall backwards into the end zone with the ball already secured in his lap.
Odell Beckham catches the ball to score a touchdown against Brandon Carr on 11-23-2014AL BELLO
“The best in history,” commentators and fans were quick to rate him during the slow-motion replays during the broadcast. But there are too many variables involved, starting with the level of the match or the consequences of the play on the final result. That action occurred in the second quarter of a regular league game that ended in a defeat for the Giants.
Message from Lebron James on Twitter after witnessing the play.
LeBron James, extraordinary NBA player, but simple NFL fan, wrote euphorically on his Twitter account (now X): “I just witnessed possibly the best reception ever made, by Odell Beckham Jr.!”
“I haven’t done anything that compares to this in my entire career,” said former player and commentator Randy Moss, who held the same position as OBJ for 14 seasons with 982 receptions and 156 touchdowns. He was already, at least, a starting point from the experts in the game themselves.
For others, however, it was an insult to equate this ‘inconsequential’ action with, for example, David Tyree’s reception at the 2008 Super Bowl, which the Giants won in a fictional Hollywood ending. That backup receiver completed Manning’s last extremely forced pass attempt by resting the ball on his helmet as he fell on his back. Four plays later, his team scored the winning touchdown, denying the Patriots a record that the Dolphins still hold since 1972: winning the title without losing a game.
Tyree’s helmet catch in the 2008 Super Bowl final.
It is not uncommon to see one-handed receptions in the NFL, one of OBJ’s skills as demonstrated by some video from his college days. “I guess I have to thank my mom for the long fingers,” he joked after that 2014 game against Dallas.
I guess I have to thank my mom for the long fingers.
OBJ, after the touchdown in 2014
But that action in his debut year as a professional had more than just a genetic issue. Some media asked physicists, engineers and scientists for analysis based on the monitoring of the images.
An NFL ball must weigh between 396 and 425 grams. According to the testimony of John Eric Goff, professor of Physics, author of The Gold Medal Physics: The Science of Sports – collected by The New York Times -, Eli Manning’s pass traveled 55 yards (50 meters) in total because it was open to a corner. To stop an object of that weight flying at 74 km/h, Beckham had to exert an average of 4.5 kilos of force – with his index fingers, middle fingers and right thumb – during the two tenths of a second in which he controlled the object. ball, explained the New York newspaper.
“It’s simply incredible,” another Physics professor Chang Kee Jung, from Stony Brook University, said on NBC, pointing out the fact that an American football spins in the air at a speed of between 400 and 500 rpm. “He managed to catch it by its widest part.”
The precision of the spiral and the direct contact with the leather of the ball, instead of the seams that are just opposite the hand, facilitated the friction necessary for the catch. In addition, his left foot on the ground prevented excessive rotation, other experts added to the NY Times.
NFL dedication to Beckham Jr after winning the Super Bowl with the Rams in 2022
“I hope it’s not the best catch of all time,” Beckham Jr confessed after that match in which he was already beginning to break records for precocity, but which ended in defeat. Although his career was greatly affected by injuries years later, he won a Super Bowl in his only season with the Los Angeles Rams, in 2022. After two receptions and a touchdown in the decisive game against the Bengals, Beckham Jr had to leave the game injured on the knee. Afterwards, he cried with the final victory and the NFL gave him a beautiful dedication for his first major title. “OBJ, SuperBowl champion,” wrote the official account of the competition about a recreation of the 2014 capture, but with the colors and number of the Rams.
The oldest post on OBJ’s IG account is also ten years old.
From ten years ago it is also OBJ’s first message on his Instagram account (17.5 million followers). Along with the photo of his spectacular reception with the Giants, the now Miami Dolphins player typed his rookie ambition in four words: “I’m just trying to be legendary.”