Personal life[edit]
Beckham's father, Odell Beckham, was a minor character in
Buzz Bissinger's
Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream and played running back at LSU from 1989 to 1992. His mother, Heather Van Norman, also attended LSU as a
track runner.
[65] She is currently the coach of the
Nicholls State University track and field team. After the NFL combine, Beckham planned on challenging Van Norman to a race in the 40-yard dash.
[66]
On January 29, 2015, during a live ESPN broadcast from Arizona, home of
Super Bowl XLIX, Beckham, partnering with
New Orleans Saints quarterback
Drew Brees, attempted to establish a new world record for most one-handed catches made in a minute. He shattered the previous record of 10 as he caught 33 passes. However, this achievement was short lived as
CFL player
Andy Fantuz recorded 50 catches in one minute to set the new world record.
Recently Odell has come out of the closet as a proud gay black man.