Prior to sustaining an injury during Super Bowl LVI, Odell Beckham Jr had been celebrating his big game appearance with a pair of $200,000 diamond-encrusted cleats.
On Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams wide receiver, 29, took to the field to warm up before the face off against the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, in the bedazzled shoes, according to People.
According to the outlet, the shoes were created in collaboration with Dominic Ciambrone, otherwise known as “The Shoe Surgeon” and jeweller Jason of Beverly Hills, with TMZ reporting that the goal was reportedly to create “the most expensive cleat ever”.
Beckham Jr wore the shoes, which were created in the Rams colours of royal blue and gold and featured a gold trim, during his warm-up before the official kick-off, People reported.
In addition to the gold detailing, which included 150 grams of 14 karat yellow gold, the shoes also featured 1,494 individual round, brilliant white diamonds.
However, according to Ciambrone, it wasn’t about making the most expensive cleats, but rather about fashion and standing out.
“It’s not about making the most expensive cleat,” Ciambrone told People. “Odell’s not only a top player, but he’s a big personality and he likes fashion and he likes to stand out and that’s what I like. So it just kind of all came together.”
When Beckham Jr took to the field for the actual game, he appeared to be wearing a pair of normal cleats. However, after scoring the first touchdown of the game, the wide receiver was injured in the second quarter of the 2022 Super Bowl on Sunday.
The injury appeared to impact the same knee that Beckham Jr tore his ACL in in 2020, with the latest injury forcing the wide receiver to be walked off the field into the medical tent.