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Odell Beckham Jr. in tears after breaking ‘Drake curse’ in Super Bowl

The Super Bowl was a rollercoaster of emotions for Odell Beckham Jr. and he broke down after consigning a sporting curse to history.

Matthew Sullivan
2 min read
February 14, 2022 - 5:41PM

Odell Beckham Jr. finally has a Super Bowl ring.

Beckham Jr, or OBJ as he’s known, joined the Los Angeles Rams last year on a one-year deal and the move has proved a masterstroke.

The athletic wide receiver burst onto the NFL scene in his debut season in 2014, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year.

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He made three Pro Bowl appearances during his five-year stint with the New York Giants before switching to perennial battlers the Cleveland Browns.

The 29-year-old, renowned for his acrobatic one-handed catches, scored his first career playoff touchdown this season and played a key role in helping the Rams reach the Super Bowl.

He was just as pivotal in the biggest game of the year, scoring a touchdown early on against the Cincinnati Bengals to get the Rams off to a flyer.

But disaster struck when Beckham Jr. collapsed to the turf in the second quarter when he appeared to injure his knee while attempting to change direction and catch a pass.

He was ruled out of the game, forcing LA to direct most of their offence through teammate Cooper Kupp, who starred and was awarded Super Bowl MVP.

Odell Beckham Jr. finally has a Super Bowl ring. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Odell Beckham Jr. finally has a Super Bowl ring. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

A visibly shaken Beckham Jr. could barely watch from the sidelines as his team overcame a gutsy Bengals team to claim the 23-20 victory courtesy of a late Kupp touchdown.

OBJ broke down in tears of joy as he celebrated the Super Bowl with his Rams teammates and finally got a ring from a career that has showed so much promise.

They might have also been tears of relief for the 29-year-old after Canadian rapper Drake heaped the pressure on him with a string of eye-watering bets pre-match.

Drake put A$550,000 on OBJ to score a touchdown and A$550,000 for him to run more than 62.5 yards.

Beckham Jr. scored a touchdown but only had 52 yards before he got injured, but Drake can’t complain too much after making more than a million from the touchdown and the Rams winning.

OBJ was asked about the wagers before the match and said “Man, I’ve got to come through for him”.

In light of the Rams win, NFL fans joked the “Drake curse” — where a sporting team he bets on loses a high-stakes game — was finally over after the Rams’ Super Bowl triumph.

The NBA team Drake supports, the Toronto Raptors, were believed to be cursed after a string of horror playoff runs before they eventually broke through for their maiden NBA championship in 2019.

Beckham Jr. also shared an emotional embrace with his family and heavily pregnant partner on the field after the game.

Fans were ecstatic he had finally achieved the ultimate success in the NFL after being subject to much scrutiny about his personal conduct throughout his career.

Originally published as Odell Beckham Jr. in tears after breaking ‘Drake curse’ in Super Bowl

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