New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. had a standout rookie year and the school where he plied his trade collegiately honored him in Times Square.
New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. earned Offensive Rookie of the Year honors at Saturday night’s NFL Honors awards show and the school he played for in college paid tribute to him with a Times Square billboard.
.@LSUfball congratulated @Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr., the #NFL Offensive ROY, with a billboard in Times Square. pic.twitter.com/FGZfZpZtEE
— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) February 2, 2015
Beckham was an All-SEC selection as a junior at LSU in 2013 and was named to several All-America teams, including third-team by The Associated Press as an all-purpose player.
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He was also the Paul Hornung Award winner in his final year with the Tigers as the nation’s most versatile player.
As a junior, Beckham had 59 receptions for 1,152 yards and eight touchdowns, but it didn’t stop there. He also averaged 26.4 yards per return on 32 kickoff returns and 8.9 yards a pop on 18 punt returns, racking up a school single-season record 2,315 all-purpose yards.
His 4,118 all-purpose yards in his three-year career place him fifth on LSU’s all-time list.
For his career, he caught 143 passes for 2,340 yards and 12 touchdowns and scored twice on punt returns—both as a sophomore in 2012.
That set the stage for a phenomenal rookie year. Despite missing the first four games of the season with a hamstring injury, Beckham still finished with 91 catches for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns, leading the NFL with 108.8 receiving yards per game.
He had four games with at least 10 receptions and topped the 100-yard mark seven times in 12 games, including a career high 185 receiving yards in the season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Beckham became just the fourth rookie receiver in NFL history with at least 90 catches, joining Anquan Boldin (101 with the Arizona Cardinals in 2003), Eddie Royal (91 with the Denver Broncos in 2008) and Terry Glenn (90 with the New England Patriots in 1996).
Similarly, he is the fourth rookie in NFL history to top 1,300 receiving yards, putting himself on a list with Bill Groman (1,473 with the 1960 Houston Oilers), Boldin (1,377 in 2003 with the Cardinals) and Randy Moss (1,313 with the Minnesota Vikings in 1998).
Beckham and Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers became the eighth and ninths rookies to catch at least 12 touchdown passes.
The others include Moss (17 with the Vikings in 1998), Billy Howton (13 for the Green Bay Packers in 1952), John Jefferson (13Â with the San Diego Chargers in 1978), Mike Ditka (12 for the Chicago Bears in 1961), Groman (12 with the Oilers in 1960), Bob Hayes (12 for the Dallas Cowboys in 1965) and Harlon Hill (12 for the Bears in 1954).
Beckham’s 108.8 yards per game broke the record for first-year players set by Groman (105.2).
Historical data via pro-football-reference.com.
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