Odell Beckham Jr. first received Peter King's vote for greatest catch of all time. Now he has it for Offensive Rookie of the Year.
In a recent feature in Monday Morning Quarterback, King provided his picks for the upcoming awards season. And while the actual winners won't be announced until the night before Super Bowl XLIX, King says the top rookie on offense is the Giants' first-round draft choice, who racked up 91 receptions for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns in 12 games this season.
Beckham was part of a productive rookie class at wide receiver but distanced himself down the stretch, tying Hall of Famer Michael Irvin's 1995 NFL record of nine consecutive games with at least 90 receiving yards.
Beckham's season launched into another stratosphere with his fingertip catch while arching backwards in Week 12 against the Dallas Cowboys.
In King's column the next day, he said it was the best one he’s seen, even compared to David Tyree's in Super Bowl XLII.
"My take: The Tyree catch is the most significant, great, unique and improbable catch I've ever seen," wrote King (who picked Oakland linebacker Khalil Mack for Defensive Rookie of the Year) in late November. "The theater of it is absurd—the catch was the most important single play in the Giants' shocking win over the previously 18-0 Patriots, and David Tyree never caught another pass in the NFL after that one. So how does a catch top that?
"But for athleticism and degree of difficulty, the Beckham catch is the greatest catch I have ever seen. I still don't think he saw the ball clearly, and he was fending off a physical cornerback, and his arm looked like it had extenders on it to reach back and get the ball, and he kept tight possession of it as he crash-landed on his back."
The night before Super Bowl XLIX, the NFL will salute its best players and plays from the 2014 season with "NFL Honors," a star-studded football and entertainment event. The two-hour prime time awards special from Symphony Hall at the Phoenix Convention Center will air nationally on Jan. 31, 2015 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC with red carpet coverage beginning one hour before on NFL Network.
