Odell Beckham Jr.’s week of crisscrossing the country as the NFL’s most wanted free agent began with getting kicked off an airplane.
Beckham “appeared to be in and out of consciousness” to an American Airlines flight crew that was trying to wake him to fasten his seat belt before takeoff from Miami to Los Angeles, according to a statement released Sunday by the Miami-Dade County Police Department . The crew was “concerned” for his safety and police were dispatched “to a medical emergency” at about 9:30 am.
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“Fearing that Mr. Beckham was seriously ill, and that his condition would worsen through the expected five-hour flight, the attendants called for police and fire rescue,” police said. “Upon the officers’ arrival, the flight crew asked Mr. Beckham several times to exit the aircraft, which he refused. The aircraft was deplaned, at which time Mr. Beckham was asked by the officers to exit the plane, and did so without incident.
Beckham, 30, was not arrested, detained or given a citation, according to the NFL Network.
The flight left nearly two hours after its scheduled 9:01am departure time and landed more than two hours late, according to American Airlines’ website.
Angry passengers posted social-media videos of Beckham being escorted through the terminal by three police officers and complained of the inconvenience of extended holiday-weekend travel because of his “unresponsive and unruly” behavior.
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The plane “returned to the gate before takeoff due to a customer failing to follow crew-member instructions and refusing to fasten their seat belt,” an American Airlines spokesperson said. “The customer was removed and the flight re-departed at 10:54 local time.”
“Mr. Beckham was escorted to the non-secure area of the terminal by the officers,” Miami police said, “where he made other arrangements.”
WHAT DOES HIS FUTURE HOLD?
Beckham is scheduled to be in New York on Thursday to visit with Giants brass about a potential reunion with the team that helped him become a Pro Bowl wide receiver and a pop-culture phenom from 2014-18. Sunday’s events are not expected to alter plans for a meeting.
Beckham will reportedly then travel to Buffalo for a meeting with the Bills before sitting down with the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 5.
Beckham, who has a son with longtime girlfriend Lauren Wood, and his confidants have painted a picture of a wiser version of the 20-something superstar whose immaturity led to his trade from the Giants in March 2019 — only months after signing a five-year , $90 million contract extension.
But Sunday’s story carried an air of familiarity to those who remember the 2018 social media video of Beckham in bed with a woman, a pepperoni pizza and two suspicious-looking substances (one was white powder) in France.
Or when he fought a field-goal net in a 2016 sideline tantrum. Or when he pretended to urinate like a dog in the Philadelphia Eagles’ end zone as part of a touchdown celebration in 2017. Or the non-team-sanctioned interview he gave to ESPN in which he criticized teammate Eli Manning.
After the plane incident, Beckham tweeted, “Never in my life have I experienced what just happened to me… I’ve seen it all. Never. In. My. Life. I COULD NEVER MAKE THIS UP.
“Boo… u got it all wrong,” he replied to one tweet accusing him of seeking attention. “Tf do I need more attention. Just gotta be ahead of the bulls***. Ulll see tho.”
His lawyer, Daniel Davilier, said in a statement, “The overzealous flight attendant insisted on removing everyone from the plane instead of simply allowing Mr. Beckham to fasten his seat belt and proceed with the flight. At no time was Mr. Beckham disruptive or combative. He was willing to comply with the seat-belt requirement, but the flight attendant wanted to prove that he had the authority to have Mr. Beckham removed from the flight. The airline proceeded to send Mr. Beckham’s luggage to Los Angeles without him.”
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MAKING HEADLINES
Beckham maintains an offseason home in Los Angeles but was spotted in Miami as recently as Nov. 14 at an NBA game. He won a Super Bowl ring with the Rams last season, but suffered a torn ACL during the game, which was the last on his contract.
His free agency has dominated the NFL news cycle for weeks leading up to his reportedly gaining medical clearance to return to the field and narrowing his field of suitors.
The Giants are desperate for a play-making receiver as they try to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The Bills and Cowboys are bona fide Super Bowl contenders just looking for another difference-maker.
This article first appeared on The New York Postand was reproduced with permission.
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