It may be the lone bright spot in what has been a dismal 2014 season for the New York Giants — their No1 draft pick, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr, making NFL history with his heralded catch on a dreary Sunday night in the Meadowlands. When NBC’s Cris Collinsworth said, “You have to be kidding me, that is impossible!” he wasn’t kidding. Never mind the catch itself — how does an arm even get to that position in the first place? It’s really not supposed to, but it did, and now the rookie has carved out a little place in highlight heaven, just weeks into his NFL career.
I suppose we should have seen it coming — Giants fans were already familiar with his pre-game theatrics, so perhaps it was only a matter of time.
And his LSU fans knew full well what Beckham Jr was capable of pulling off. Usually it takes a three-year-old with a doll to get an arm into these kind of positions.
So, now that the internet is bowing down to Beckham Jr, let’s see how these other great NFL catches measure up.
David Tyree
Since we’re already on the subject of great Giants moments, let’s go straight to the grandaddy of them all — Eli Manning to David Tyree in a mind-scrambling catch that saved Super Bowl XLII for New York against the then-undefeated New England Patriots.
Marty Booker
Of course, as Beckham Jr showed us, great catches don’t always come in big spots. Marty Booker made this grab off a Kyle Orton throw in an ordinary game in October of 2008 for the Chicago Bears at Ford Field in Detroit. As Larry David would say, “pret-ty good”.
Troy Polamalu
With his patented free-flowing locks, Troy Polamalu always looks good on a football field, but he looked particularly spectacular against the San Diego Chargers in 2008. After a strike from Phillip Rivers bounced off receiver Vincent Jackson, the menacing defensive back swooped in to make this wow of a one-handed interception.
Franco Harris
Sticking with the Steelers, every list must include the “Immaculate Reception” of 1972. In the AFC Divisional Playoff Game, time was running down on Pittsburgh with the Raiders holding a 7-6 lead. On 4th and 10 with 22 seconds remaining, Bradshaw scrambled out of pressure and fired a pass that bounced off Oakland’s Jack Tatum and into the hands of Franco Harris, who ran it in for the winning touchdown. It’s just the kind of play that makes you say, “You can’t make this sh*t up” — and for exactly that reason.
Dwight Clark
Another mainstay on any Top 10 NFL catch list is “The Catch.” Not only did Joe Montana’s famed touchdown pass to Dwight Clark in the back of the endzone beat the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, but it kickstarted the San Francisco 49ers’ NFL dynasty. As a bonus, here’s the call from legendary broadcaster Vin Scully.
Rob Gronkowski
Here is a catch from just a few weeks ago — a one-handed snatch by Rob Gronkowski against the Denver Broncos. It was so good that Tom Brady had to ask the obvious question:
It’s a reasonable query considering …
Antonio Freeman
It looked like another careless Brett Favre chuck, and everybody thought it was incomplete, except Antonio Freeman. On a Monday night in 2000 in overtime against the Minnesota Vikings, Chris Dishman looked like he broke up the pass play. No. The ball bounced off the back of Freeman, who was already on the turf, and the Packers wideout reached out and pulled the ball in with his right hand. Then he was smart enough to get up and run into the endzone — game over. It sent Lambeau Field and the broadcast booth into hysterics, while even the bedazzled referee had to smile.
Pierre Garçon
Then with the Indianapolis Colts, this 2010 one-handed Pierre Garçon catch against Washington is of the Odell Beckham Jr variety. As NBC’s Al Michaels said, it was “like he had a cesta in a jai-alai fronton”, which seems fairly accurate. Apologies for the wildly bizarre music at the top of the clip — luckily it goes away quickly.
Edwin Baptiste
I know, I know — we said NFL, but how can you have a list of great football catches and leave this one out? Edwin Baptiste of Morgan State made this catch, headlines and highlights reels back in 2008 against Winston-Salem State.
