Looking to latch on with a new team after missing the first 12 weeks of the season due to a torn ACL he suffered in Super Bowl LVI as a member of the Los Angeles Rams, Odell Beckham Jr. may have delayed his comeback plans following an incident on Sunday on an American Airlines flight in Miami that was set to depart for Los Angeles.
Flight 1228 to L.A. returned to the gate before takeoff “due to a customer failing to follow crew members’ instructions and refusing to fasten their seat belt.” That customer was Beckham and he was removed from the aircraft by police.
“Fearing that Mr. Beckham was seriously ill, and that his condition would worsen through the expected 5-hour flight, (flight crew members) called for police and fire rescue,” Miami Dade Police Officer Luis Sierra said in a statement following the incident on Sunday morning. “As they tried to wake [Beckham] to fasten his seat belt, he appeared to be coming in and out of consciousness.”
Beckham was not detained or charged by police and was allowed to make other arrangements and depart from the airport following the incident on the airplane. His lawyer, Daniel Davillier, released a statement to ABC News about the situation blaming what occurred on a flight attendant.
“The overzealous flight attendant refused to simply allow Mr. Beckham to fasten his seatbelt and proceed with the flight and instead immediately removed everyone from the plane,” per the statement. “At no time was Mr. Beckham disruptive or combative. He was willing to comply with the seatbelt 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. This incident was completely unnecessary. Sleeping on a plane should not be a cause for removal from a flight. If they could wake him up when the flight returned to the gate, then they could have done the same thing and woken him up to ask him to put on his seatbelt.”
It’s poor timing for 30-year-old Beckham as the incident comes as he is in the midst of attempting to potentially latch on with several NFL teams, including the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. While what happened in Miami likely won’t scare teams away from signing Beckham, it could have an impact on how much guaranteed money a franchise is willing to pay him for his services and the duration of his contract. He’s also in the middle of a lawsuit against Nike.
Wherever the three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver signs, it seems logical to expect the drama to follow.
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