One of the most iconic catches in NFL history — a play that would change Odell Beckham Jr.’s life — started with a misunderstanding and a poor route. Eli Manning is quick to remind his former New York Giants receiver of both whenever the play comes up.

And it always does. It’s one of the more indelible moments in the NFL over the last decade.

“It was kind of like bad, bad, bad … unbelievable. Or, oh, no, no, no … great job,” Manning said. “We laugh more about that. I recognize how good it was and eventually get to (acknowledging) that point, but with your pals, it’s always good to give them a little heat about what it could have been. It could have been a walk-in: double move, beat him by 5 yards, nice easy catch and cruise in for an easy touchdown.

“But that’s not the Odell way.”

For weeks during the 2014 season, Giants players and coaches learned about the “Odell way.” They watched a precocious rookie in practice snatch balls out of the air with a swipe of his hand. They saw him throw, punt and kick field goals, effortlessly launching footballs to improbable depths. They witnessed him nonchalantly perform eye-popping, athletic feats as if he had been doing them all of his life. His former Giants teammate, inside linebacker Jameel McClain, remembers watching Beckham and thinking, “Man, God really did a number on him.”

On Nov. 23, 2014, a MetLife Stadium crowd of more than 80,000 and a prime-time NBC television audience learned what the Giants already knew: Beckham was capable of the extraordinary. His one-handed — check that, three-fingered — 43-yard touchdown catch against the Dallas Cowboys on a ball that sailed behind his head electrified the world and transformed Beckham from an exciting, talented rookie into a sports phenom.

“During the moment, I didn’t know the magnitude of what actually happened,” Beckham said. “I only know the aftermath. It’s been my life ever since.”

The Catch That Broke the Internet.

Odell Beckham Jr. catches a one-handed touchdown and it is arguably one of the most iconic catches in NFL history. (via @nflthrowback)pic.twitter.com/SAchXm5uCv

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) December 22, 2019

Beckham says that with a tone of acceptance, but also a tinge of regret. He appreciates the fame and fortune that the catch helped generate. He also resents that the catch is used to minimize the other accomplishments of his career. In many ways, Beckham and his most celebrated play have a love-hate relationship.

He’s 32 now, no longer a phenom but a veteran of 10 NFL seasons. The Miami Dolphins are his fifth team. He is closing in on 600 career catches, 8,000 receiving yards and 60 touchdowns. He might have been the MVP of the Los Angeles Rams’ Super Bowl LVI victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in February 2022 had his left knee not given out, forcing him to miss the rest of the game and the entire next season, altering his football future.

Yet, the one play that has largely defined his career happened exactly 10 years ago Saturday. Beckham’s catch while being interfered with by Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr adorns countless highlight reels and is commemorated on T-shirts and posters on the walls of sports bars and man caves. It inspired scores of imposters and flashy one-handed catches to come.

A decade later, his connection with Manning is typically the yardstick for which all other acrobatic one-handed catches, such as the one Garrett Wilson of the New York Jets made late last month, are measured.

CATCH OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE FROM GARRETT WILSON

@nyjets pic.twitter.com/A3efxJMIiF

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) November 1, 2024

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“There’s always something about the original, and it was the first time I had seen something like that,” said Cris Collinsworth, the longtime NFL receiver who was in the NBC booth providing color commentary with Al Michaels for the Giants-Cowboys game. “Today, between the gloves, the balls aren’t as slick and these guys are freakier athletes. These guys are 6-4, 225 pounds, and they run 4.3 (seconds in the 40-yard dash). It’s just insane what they are able to do, so I try not to get so freaked out about it anymore.

“But yeah, when it happened, I thought (Beckham’s catch) was the best thing that I’d ever seen.”

It’s stood the test of time, too.

Beckham remembers it vividly. He was playing for LSU against Auburn in 2013 when he soared above the far sideline and tried to make a one-handed snag. He couldn’t haul it in, but he vowed that he’d make that play the next time the opportunity arose.

His inspiration came from LSU teammate Jarvis Landry. The two would spend hours outside their college dorm, throwing footballs to each other and practicing one-handed catches.

“That’s really how it came about,” Beckham said. “It really was a lot of Jarvis’ doing as far as the way he took me being a kid who was going to be good to understanding that I want to be a legend. I want to be remembered forever.”

The 12th pick of the 2014 NFL Draft, Beckham didn’t get  his professional career off to a great start. A hamstring injury sidelined him for much of training camp and the first four games of the regular season.

“He had a rocky start, and that New York media wasn’t friendly to him,” McClain said. “I remember having so many different conversations with him, like, ‘All of this is going to pass by, and the time that the world sees who you are is going to come.’”

In his regular-season debut, Beckham caught the game-winning touchdown pass against the Atlanta Falcons. Two weeks later, he had two touchdowns against the Cowboys. In the three games after that, he totaled 21 catches for 357 yards.

Beckham already had caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Manning midway through the first quarter in the rematch against the Cowboys in Week 12 on “Sunday Night Football.” The Giants had designs on more when they had a first down on the Cowboys’ 43-yard line. It was the area of the field where Giants offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo liked to take deep shots, and the offense had been working extensively on different throws off bootlegs. One, in particular, called for Beckham to make an out-and-up move down the sideline.

As the first quarter ended, the coaches and Manning discussed the merits of a deep shot. Giants head coach Tom Coughlin wasn’t sure it was the best time to try it. Beckham pleaded with Coughlin to keep the call.

“We were trying to figure out what shot to take, and that was one of the shots on the menu,” McAdoo said. “Good thing we didn’t talk ourselves out of that one.”

As Beckham jogged back on the field, it was either Coughlin or Manning who said, “Don’t rush the route.” It, however, was the last three of those words that stuck in Beckham’s head as he lined up outside and to Manning’s right: rush the route.

“We wanted to get a little comeback and go, and we were a little worried if we just did a straight fake and rollout, it would bring the safety over. So, we just kind of did a half roll,” Manning recalled. “I want to take my eyes to the middle safety, hold him a little bit and have a backside post. Pretend that you’re looking at that and then gear up, and you’re throwing the comeback and go no matter what. If we’re getting high (safety), it should be one-on-one. We got the look that we wanted.”

Beckham, indeed, rushed the route and didn’t sell the comeback. Carr wasn’t fooled, either. He was stride-for-stride with Beckham tracking the flight of Manning’s pass.

“Definitely not one of my best routes,” Beckham said. “He tried to squeeze me to the sideline, and I kind of did a basketball move. If somebody is posting you up, you pull the chair. I just kind of pulled the chair. The rest was history.”

Beckham slipped inside Carr, who grabbed the front of the receiver’s jersey and was immediately flagged. Beckham then elevated, reached his right arm well behind his head and secured the ball with three fingers before tumbling into the end zone.

“You can’t see where the ball is, and to still get your hands and fingers on it and somehow be strong enough in your fingers to hold onto that thing and pull it in while falling backward?” Manning said. “It doesn’t quite make sense. One of the all-time great catches.”

In three decades as a broadcaster, Collinsworth remembers two instances where he had to pause because he was stunned by what he witnessed. There was the interception by New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler at the goal line in the final seconds of Super Bowl XLIX, and there was the Beckham catch.

When he spoke about the latter, he told the television audience, “That may be the greatest catch I’ve ever seen in my life.”

To which Michaels replied, “It’s in the conversation.”

“It was just special,” Collinsworth told The Athletic. “There’s some things that the more you slow it down, the better it gets. I thought that was one of those. It was like, ‘Oh, he did that?’ And then he got his feet in and he only got three fingers on it. It just kept adding up. It’s great to have those moments.

“When I was a kid, I can remember things that inspired me to want to play football or sports in general. I’m glad it happened. I’m glad there are Odell Beckhams in the world who can do things that other mere mortals can’t.”

McAdoo still recalls the look of astonishment on the face of the normally stoic Manning as he came to the sideline with the crowd buzzing after the catch. It never subsided throughout a game Dallas won 31-28.

“It was electric,” McAdoo said. “I’ve been a part of some big games, whether it was the Super Bowl, whether it was Aaron (Rodgers) and Brett (Favre) playing for the first time in the Metrodome. The buzz in the stadium after that happened lasted the whole game. It’s going to be hard to beat that catch.”

In many ways, the catch was buoyed by the perfect storm. It was a prime-time Sunday game, and NBC had a multitude of camera angles to do it justice. The game featured two big market teams with deep fan bases.

Beckham’s catch generated oohs and aahs from the crowd as it was shown across the stadium. The gasps kept coming as fans turned to their phones to keep watching clips of the reception.

“We’ve never had a play, I think in sports history, that went as viral,” said former Giants guard Geoff Schwartz, one of the first players to greet Beckham in the end zone. “That was sort of the start of social media being such an important part of our lives. Odell went from a first-round pick to a celebrity overnight.”

Said McClain: “That was one of those defining moments where it was like, ‘OK, world, welcome your new star.’”

Baltimore Ravens top receiver Zay Flowers was 14 when Beckham made the grab. Growing up in South Florida, Flowers saw a replay of the catch on his phone and went around showing his friends the highlight.

“I thought it was fake,” Flowers said. “I remember watching it over and over for like two weeks straight.”

Flowers and Beckham were teammates last year in Baltimore, and Flowers said the play briefly came up in conversation. When it did, Beckham told his teammate that the catch “changed his life.”

Zay Flowers’ locker is right next to Odell Beckham Jr.’s in the Ravens locker room. 😈 pic.twitter.com/9DeM8OvQBi

— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) September 7, 2023

Beckham immediately achieved almost mythical status in New York, his every move garnering attention and headlines.

“It was like Bon Jovi coming back to the Meadowlands,” McAdoo said. “There was always a vibe about him and he was a performer.”

For Beckham, the true impact of his catch resonated when he’d see young athletes practicing one-handed grabs at schools and at football camps. He has traveled extensively overseas and been asked about the catch in Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands.

He’s flattered that it has inspired others, and he understands that his immense popularity around the globe — his 17.5 million Instagram followers were the most of any NFL player as of earlier this year — traces back to that November 2014 night, when he corralled a ball that seemed destined for out of bounds.

“In the most humble way, I can go almost anywhere in the world and people, for the most part, kind of remember that moment,” Beckham said. “Even people who don’t know football know me, which is a blessing. But, it’s honestly something that I never really foresaw. It came with that moment.”

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The way Beckham sees it, Michael Jordan had his crossover and game-winning shot against the Utah Jazz in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. LeBron James had his chase-down block against the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

He has the one-handed catch against the Cowboys.

“People want to amount my entire career to just one catch, but there’s so many other plays that happened and things that I did, where it’s just hard to be like, ‘Yeah, he only had one catch,’” Beckham said. “I’ve caught the ball multiple times with one hand. Everything in life is about timing, and it was pretty crazy timing. ‘Sunday Night Football.’ New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys. It’s something that I’d never trade for the world.

“Here I am today. It’s taught me the hardships, the good times, all of those things.”

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos: Al Bello / Getty Images)

CITY SECTION

SEMIFINALS

OPEN DIVISION

Narbonne 27, Birmingham 7

San Pedro 40, Carson 34 (OT)

DIVISION I

Palisades 63, Eagle Rock 45

King/Drew 35, Kennedy 23

DIVISION II

South Gate 62, Arleta 43

Chatsworth 21, Sylmar 20

DIVISION III

Panorama 22, Los Angeles 6

Van Nuys 17, Fulton 12

SOUTHERN SECTION

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

SEMIFINALS

DIVISION 1

Mater Dei 36, Corona Centennial 7

St. John Bosco 20, Orange Lutheran 17

DIVISION 2

Murrieta Valley 55, Oaks Christian 52 (OT)

Newbury Park 20, Yorba Linda 14

DIVISION 3

Simi Valley 28, Loyola 25

Edison 42, Vista Murrieta 14

DIVISION 4

St. Bonaventure 20, Apple Valley 13

Oxnard Pacifica 28, Thousand Oaks 16

DIVISION 5

La Serna 34, Summit 22

Palos Verdes 27, Foothill 24

DIVISION 6

Murrieta Mesa 31, St. Francis 28

Glendora 25, Dana Hills 21

DIVISION 7

Rio Hondo Prep 42, West Torrance 21

Warren 41, Yucaipa 17

DIVISION 8

Serrano 10, Lancaster 0

St. Pius X-St. Matthias 21, Salesian 14

DIVISION 9

Highland 27, Quartz Hill 14

Long Beach Wilson 32, Great Oak 13

DIVISION 10

St. Anthony 17, Garden Grove Pacifica 14

Silverado 58, South Pasadena 7

DIVISION 11

Portola 30, Baldwin Park 14

El Rancho 28, San Gorgonio 21

DIVISION 12

Palmdale 33, Mary Star of the Sea 27

Carter 70, Hacienda Heights Wilson 48

DIVISION 13

Gahr 28, Anaheim 12

Pasadena 37, Lynwood 0

DIVISION 14

San Gabriel 44, Duarte 22

Pioneer 49, Ganesha 28

8 MAN

DIVISION 1

Finals

California School for the Deaf 44, Flintridge Prep 42

DIVISION 2

Semifinals

Lancaster Baptist 38, Thacher 18

BOULDER, Colo. — Terrell Timmons Jr. was, like so many now, sold on the grandiose vision. The transfer wide receiver was convinced Colorado would make a stunning charge toward a conference title not just because of the Buffs’ famous coach — but powered by his new quarterback, Shedeur Sanders. Sanders had a direct hand in swaying many key players to take the risk.

“Two is going to take us there,” Timmons said before the start of the season.

A guarantee that, at the time, could’ve seemed a smidge idealistic.

But three months on, Colorado is not hard to find at 8-2, ranked No. 16 in the College Football Playoff rankings and in control of its own destiny in the shortening race toward a Big 12 Championship Game appearance. A Colorado win over Kansas on Saturday inside Arrowhead Stadium combined with No. 16 BYU beating No. 21 Arizona State on the road and Utah beating No. 22 Iowa State at home Saturday would clinch the Buffaloes a shot at the conference crown. They can also get there by winning out, including against Oklahoma State on Black Friday.

Yes, the Buffaloes are headlined by their effervescent head coach, Deion Sanders, the Heisman Trophy front-runner in two-way rarity Travis Hunter — and their quarterback. Shedeur Sanders is a pretentious lightning rod to some, a celebrity athlete with a celebrity father to others, and is in contention to be the first quarterback selected in next year’s NFL Draft. He has thrown for 3,222 yards and 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions through the first 10 games and is completing 72.9 percent of his passes, tied for second place in the FBS with Ohio State’s Will Howard.

But to get to where they are now, the Buffaloes needed much more. Shedeur, teammates say, knew it, which is why he went to work.

Beyond the endless reels of social media interview clips, beyond being one of the most efficient quarterbacks in college football for a second consecutive season, perhaps Shedeur Sanders’ most impressive feat was his role in aiding in building this Buffs roster.

His stardom helped lure a likely successor, too. On Thursday, Colorado landed a commitment from five-star quarterback Julian “JuJu” Lewis, a former USC commit. During Lewis’ first visit this summer to Boulder, he posed in a Colorado uniform on a gold throne as Shedeur handed him a set of keys, signifying what he would be inheriting.

Deion Sanders made no bones about flipping rosters if something isn’t up to snuff. He’s cleaned house at a historic rate. And after a humbling 4-8 season in 2023, Colorado had no choice but to beef up its offensive line and add to an already talented wide receivers group that featured Hunter, Jimmy Horn Jr. and Omarion Miller. Shedeur Sanders went recruiting, too.

Timmons said Shedeur reached out on social media to gauge interest after Timmons entered the portal from NC State last December.

“I would say 2’s approach is a very pro-mindset,” Timmons said when asked to describe working with him now on a day-to-day basis. “He’s very detailed with everything he does in the film room, on the field, off the field, everything. He’s very intelligent. You can tell he really looks up to Tom Brady with just the way he moves and operates.”

When former Ohio State running back Dallan Hayden was in Boulder on his official visit after entering the portal in April, Hayden said Shedeur wanted to sit down with him and explain what this year’s offense would need.

In January, Shedeur came across tape of former FAU wide receiver LaJohntay Wester, who had entered the portal a few weeks earlier.

“I pulled up his film, and I was recruiting him myself,” Shedeur said in April. “I pulled it up myself and was like, ‘Nah, we need this guy. This is the guy we want, this is the guy we need on the field.’”

Like his dad, Shedeur sold Wester on the vision of what it could look like if it all came together in Boulder. In his first year with the Buffaloes, Wester has nine total touchdowns and has been one of most dynamic receivers in the conference. In last week’s 49-24 win over Utah, Wester had a 76-yard punt return for a touchdown.

“He’s just a complete quarterback,” Wester said of Shedeur last month. “I’m glad to be on his side.”

LaJohntay Wester (10) has been a key addition for Colorado this season. (Ron Chenoy / Imagn Images)

Another new wideout, former Vanderbilt transfer Will Sheppard, caught two touchdowns against Utah. At 6-foot-3, Sheppard is Shedeur’s most physically imposing receiver, an ideal complement to the all-around skill of Hunter and the speed of Wester and Horn.

While the receiving corps was boosted in the offseason, Hunter remains Shedeur’s go-to option. Hunter leads the team with 74 receptions, 911 yards receiving and nine receiving touchdowns.

The pair spoke of the chemistry they’ve developed earlier this month on Shedeur’s podcast “2Legendary.”

“You’ve just got to have that brotherly bond, even outside of football,” Hunter said. “If you trust me outside of football, of course you’re going to trust me on the field.”

For this pass-happy offense to reach its apex, more trust was needed elsewhere, too. As stellar as the second year in Boulder has been for Shedeur, the first was equally maddening.

Despite being one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the country and having a 27-to-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio, he was also the most sacked quarterback in college football. He was sacked 52 times in 11 starts.

Shedeur called former Indiana right tackle Kahlil Benson after he went into the transfer portal last November to introduce himself. That same day, former UTEP guard Justin Mayers went into the transfer portal, and he had five missed calls from the same number. The guy who kept trying him? His future quarterback. A few months after he signed at Colorado, Mayers posted a video on his own YouTube channel of Colorado’s offensive linemen snowmobiling in the mountains above Breckenridge, Colo., with Shedeur.

One of those linemen was former five-star left tackle Jordan Seaton, who jokingly jumped out of his blocking stance shin-deep in snow with Shedeur laughing nearby. Shedeur, Seaton has said in various interviews, was one of the main reasons he chose the Buffaloes. As the race for Seaton’s signature heated up last December with other high-profile programs vying for his talent, Shedeur FaceTimed Seaton showing off his pricey diamond necklace and said, “We can shine together.”

Seaton was a mandatory blindside addition for the Buffaloes to try to keep Sanders upright. Still, the Buffaloes rank 94th in allowed pressure rate in 2024 (33.6 percent), only slightly better than last year’s brutal year in which they were 110th (36.7 percent). Shedeur and the line also have allowed 31 sacks through 10 games, which is 17 fewer sacks than this point a year ago.

Seaton said Shedeur’s desire to dissect defenses from the pocket and not overreacting to mistakes has helped his learning curve as a true freshman left tackle.

“Having a calm quarterback makes me more calm,” Seaton said last month. “It’s like Mike and Ike with me and Shedeur.”

Clint Trickett knows the range of Shedeur’s magnetism. Now Georgia Southern’s pass-game coordinator, Trickett recruited Shedeur while an assistant at Florida Atlantic four years ago. Before Shedeur joined his dad when Sanders took the Jackson State job in September 2020, Shedeur had committed to FAU.

“You want to have a quarterback who is your lead recruiter and who is that driving force, but at the same time, to have one that makes people want to come play with him, that’s not common,” Trickett said. “Most quarterbacks are all about going and getting it, but most don’t have the star power to bring them in the boat. That’s what makes him special.”

Colorado’s ambitious plan is working.

Yet Shedeur’s approach to leadership has been called into question by some. After Colorado was smoked by Nebraska in Week 2, his postgame comments about being sacked five times in comparison to none taken by Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola appeared to some like he was pointing blame at his own offensive line. In September, The Athletic’s Jim Trotter spoke to two former NFL general managers about how Shedeur’s personality and leadership style may impact how he’s viewed throughout the rigorous draft process.

“The stuff about the comments and things like that, people will worry about that a little bit, but the work ethic is the thing,” one former GM said.

On the first play of the game against Utah last week, Shedeur telegraphed a pass that was intercepted. He responded by going 30 of 40 for 340 yards, three touchdowns and completed 73 percent of his passes. Critical of himself afterward, Shedeur said he needed to “take over a little bit more” and was going to apologize to the rest of the offense.

“I can’t put the team in that type of situation,” he said. “I’m thankful for the defense. I may need to take them out to dinner this week for saving me and saving the team.”

His father has routinely said that if Shedeur is given adequate protection from his offensive line, he is good enough to win games with his talent. Deion recently said he will “privately” have a hand in which teams draft Shedeur and Hunter, speaking specifically to Shedeur on FS1’s “Speak” sports show, he wants an organization “that can handle the quarterback he is.”

The duo strolls the sidelines together before every game as Deion bestows advice on his son. “Show them who you are,” he said before the win over Utah.

Shedeur has been known to clap back at those who speak disparagingly of the Buffaloes or flaunt any number of his ritzy possessions — diamond-encrusted watches, cars, you name it — in the general direction of detractors.

Teammates say they don’t see that side of him as being a true representation of who he is. They chose to listen to what Shedeur Sanders was pitching because it’s playing out just the way he said it could. Or, in the parlance of his father, the way it always would.

“You know, he’s all on social media and famous, but he’s really a normal person,” Timmons said. “He’s not Hollywood. He’s a normal person like me and you. He’s just really good at what he does.”

 (Top photo: Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)