Odell Beckham Jr. might’ve been on his way to winning Super Bowl LVI before getting hurt against the Cincinnati Bengals two years ago. He already scored a touchdown and had 52 yards receiving, helping provide a spark for the Rams offense.
Unfortunately, he tore his ACL in the first half and has been out ever since, a devastating moment in the receiver’s career. His teammates and coaches were there for him in the moment, but so was general manager Les Snead.
During an interview on the EconTalk podcast, Snead shared the story of how he consoled Beckham in the locker room after Odell got hurt, missing the start of the second half to be with the receiver.
“He was having a personal moment in the locker room where he was devastated,” Snead recalled. “And, our athletic trainer – he’s our director of athletic performance – he needed to go back out to the game. OBJ was really struggling. I said, ‘You know what, Reg? You run back out to the game. Send one of your assistant trainers in. I’ll hang with Odell during these moments.’ So, I did.”
By the time Snead got back up to the owner’s suite with Stan Kroenke, the Bengals had scored 10 straight points to take a 20-13 lead over the Rams, a complete shock to Snead after seeing the scoreboard.
“I get back up – I sit with our owner – so I get back up to the owner’s suite. And, in that moment, Cincinnati has already, on the first play of the second half, thrown a deep ball touchdown; and we have just thrown an interception,” he continued. “And, Cincinnati got the ball. Point being: By the time I get up, Cincinnati scored 10 points that I didn’t see. We’re down. And I’m like, ‘Wow, I was not expecting this.’ And from that moment, I was on edge.”
Snead felt it was important to be there for Beckham during a difficult time. Beckham joined the Rams to win a Super Bowl and getting hurt early on was a devastating blow for not only the team, but particularly for Odell himself.
Snead was glad he spent those moments with Beckham instead of rushing back to the owner’s suite, and he’s not necessarily upset about missing two scores by Cincinnati.
“And the neat thing is you try to sympathize a lot of things as like, ‘Okay, this is a big moment for Odell Beckham Jr.’ It’s also a big moment for Les Snead personally. But, oh, by the way, I am into my 50s. I do have some wisdom experiences that he doesn’t. And you try to sympathize in those moments that, ‘You know what, at the end of the day, whether we win or lose this game, there’s definitely going to be some extreme emotions of fulfillment, disappointment, regret – whatever the case may be.’
“But, you’re only going to get that moment, right, with another human being who is maybe taking it tougher than you are, because, guess what? He was actually on the front lines, in the front lines making a difference in whether the Los Angeles Rams are going to win that Super Bowl or not.”
Snead is seen as one of the better general managers in the NFL and not just because he’s good at acquiring talent for the Rams. He puts his players and coaches first, which has earned him an overwhelmingly positive reputation around the NFL.
This is just one example of the person he is beyond just the architect behind a Super Bowl-winning team.
