OBJ celebrates birthday with first TD since SB LVI

BALTIMORE — Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. celebrated his 31st birthday on Sunday by catching his first touchdown pass in 21 months.

Midway through the fourth quarter of a 37-3 win over the Seattle Seahawks, Beckham pulled in a 6-yard pass from Tyler Huntley in the corner of the end zone, which became the biggest highlight in a disappointing first season with the Ravens. This marked Beckham’s first touchdown since he won Super Bowl LVI with the Los Angeles Rams on Feb. 13, 2022.

“It feels good to finally get that one off you,” Beckham said. “From a personal standpoint, God’s got a sense of humor for it to come on my birthday. I mean, it couldn’t be a better gift.”

Beckham became the first player in Ravens history to catch a touchdown pass on his birthday. Until Sunday, there wasn’t much for Beckham to celebrate.

After sitting out all of last season while recovering from a second surgery to his left knee, Beckham averaged a career-low 27 receiving yards per game though the first eight weeks. A week ago, he was held without a catch for only the second time in his nine-year career.

On Sunday, Beckham rebounded by recording a season-high five catches for 56 yards.

“It’s been a long journey for me since February 2022 all the way until now,” Beckham said. “It’s been a very long, long journey. Tough days, dark days, hard days [and] some good in there.”

When Beckham scored, the entire Ravens sideline erupted in celebration. Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson, who had been pulled at the start of the fourth quarter in the blowout, leaped in the air several times. Jackson had been vocal about getting Beckham a touchdown.

“It definitely was special,” Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen said. “We know he’s a baller. Everybody knows he’s a superstar. We’ve just got to get him the ball and let him be him.”

The Ravens are off to their first 7-2 start since 2019, when they earned the AFC’s No. 1 seed for the only time in franchise history. Baltimore shares the best record in the AFC with the Kansas City Chiefs and improved to 3-0 against teams that had winning records at the time, outscoring them 103-12.

Beckham was asked if the Ravens have the same culture as the Rams’ Super Bowl team that he played for two years ago.

“One thousand percent,” Beckham said. “Winning a Super Bowl, I know what the atmosphere was like and the energy in the locker room in the day-to-day and the team and the players. So this is definitely that. At the end of the day, that’s the goal. We don’t have to speak about it all the time, but that’s obviously the goal.”