re: OBJ Wins AP, SNews & PFWA Off. ROY, Play of Year, Jersey in HOF

OBJ and his ridiculous handsPre-game: Beckham caught a punt with his left hand, kept the ball in that hand while catching another punt with his right. Then he threw one ball to a teammate with his right hand and one to another teammate with his left. Someone threw Beckham a pass and he caught it between his legs." He said he and Jarvis Landry practiced one-handed catches everyday at LSU to see who could make the most one-handed catches. "Catching the ball with one hand is something you just have to practice, because the opportunity sometimes presents itself and you want to be prepared," Beckham said. "Jarvis Landry and I would do that every day in practice. We would see who could make the most ridiculous catch. He has some of the best hands I've been around, hands down." Malachi Dupre can be seen in a spring practice film catching leaping one-handed back shoulder fade endzone passes, so the tradition continues. LINK


Mom says OBJ hit the genetic jackpotHis mother, Heather Van Norman said in 2013 that her son, Odell, had "hit the genetic jackpot,'' in reference to her and his father, Odell Sr., a former LSU football player. "In the 8th grade Heather finished third in the state varsity Class A 200 and 400. For the rest of her high school career, Heather was unbeaten – as a freshman, as a sophomore, as a junior and as a senior. She won the 100, 200 and 400 meters in the Class A meet all four years; the "quadruple triple". She finished her high school with a winning streak of 147 races. "The high school kids here like to hang their medals on their letter jackets," Don Van Norman said. "If Heather pinned her medals on her jacket, she would be bulletproof." On June 15, 1993, 7 months after having Odell, Heather was on the LSU 400 meter relay team that ran the fastest time in the world: 43:35 that year. Now in her second season as the women’s track and field and cross-country coach at Nicholls State, she lives in NOLA with 11-year-old daughter Jasmyne. “What makes me proud of Odell is the way he goes about being a talented athlete,” she said. “He truly is a humble person. He is as excited for the success of a teammate as he is for himself.” And she does not think he can beat her in the 40 yd dash. The race was originally planned after the combine, but with his hamstring injury, he may have to concede. Mom just finished her first NY Marathon with OBJ running part way and she looks young and fit, more like a sister than a Mom.