Odell Beckham Jr. was one of the most important pieces of the Rams’ Super Bowl team in 2021. Though he wasn’t there for the entire season, he had a massive influence on their late-season push and eventual run in the playoffs.
That was all despite playing without an ACL in his surgically repaired knee.
When the Rams signed him, he took a physical that revealed he essentially didn’t have an ACL in his left knee. Los Angeles was still comfortable bringing him in, and thankfully the team did, but it was surprising news to the talented receiver.
Sean McVay shared the story of how the Rams found out about Beckham’s knee issue, telling the story on “The Pivot” podcast recently.
“He finally decides he’s gonna come to the Rams,” McVay said. “Well, you take a physical. After he had done the ACL, if your knee’s feeling good as you’re rehabbing and different things like that, you’re not getting another MRI to look at it to see if it’s stable. Well, part of the physical is the MRI. And so the MRI reveals basically, you don’t have an ACL. And so we gotta sit down – our team doctor, Neal ElAttrache, tells me, ‘Hey, we gotta sit down and let Odell know about this.’”
Snead, ElAttrache and Les Snead all sat down with Beckham after the results of his MRI came back and told him about the condition of his knee. And McVay will never forget the way he responded, telling the three of them that he was going to play until his knee gave out.
Unfortunately, it did in the Super Bowl, but not before he helped the Rams get their ring.
“We basically said, ‘You don’t have an ACL, but what you’ve done –‘ because it’s like, he’s like, ‘I don’t feel that. That’s so weird.’ Because he was so strong with the rehab program and the muscles and the support he developed around that leg, whether it’s his quad, his hamstring and some of those different things,” McVay continued. “He’s like, ‘Look, we’re going till the wheels fall off.’
“He sat there and said that. And what is so crazy to me is this guy made a commitment that, ‘Hey, I got an opportunity to be able to go be a part of something special, to have a tremendous influence on it.’”
McVay has always spoke very highly of Beckham, sharing his appreciation for what he helped the Rams accomplish in his brief time in L.A. And he’s continued to heap praise on the now-Ravens receiver, not only for his on-field talent but for his off-field intelligence and influence in the locker room.
McVay said that when the Rams went on a three-game losing streak after Beckham arrived, it was Odell who helped keep spirits high with his teammates – at one point even doing an impression of McVay to the team before a meeting.
Beckham’s time with the Rams was short, but he left a lasting impression on McVay and the rest of the team.
