Panini America Honors Odell Beckham Jr.’s Immaculate Reception . . . Virtually
It was the catch caught ’round the world. Odell Beckham Jr.’s reality-defying one-handed touchdown grab on Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys — while being interfered with, falling backward and seemingly using the matrix to come down in bounds — was quite possibly the greatest catch the world has ever seen.
The catch — and the world’s immediate reaction to it — created nothing less than a social media frenzy and turned the bionic Beckham into an international sensation almost instantly. The fact that Beckham Jr.’s New York Giants wound up losing the game, 31-28, did nothing to dampen a buzz that seemed to grow into the wee hours of Monday morning.
This wasn’t the Immaculate Reception, but make no mistake about it: This was an immaculate reception. What it lacked in big-game import or Super Bowl-clinching momentum, it more than made up for with an impossible degree of difficulty and superhuman athleticism.
It was the subject of 360-degree coverage from The New York Times; ESPN’s John Clayton ranks it the fourth-greatest catch of all time. For its part, Twitter fell head-over-heels in love with Beckham Jr.’s feat. Some examples . . .
What was everyone's favorite @OBJ_3 catch meme from last night? #ThingsOdellCouldCatch http://t.co/8kiHgaMMrw pic.twitter.com/QkWSmYzTiQ
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 24, 2014
The one ring, and other #ThingsOdellCouldCatch http://t.co/XTyZXdz8wI pic.twitter.com/8XBhLKK255
— Mashable (@mashable) November 24, 2014
Catch of the year: http://t.co/4t8SMUq4uz pic.twitter.com/i56VTNNOy3
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) November 24, 2014
Photo of the Night: Odell Beckham Jr. had the catch of the year with this amazing one-handed TD grab. pic.twitter.com/1W1V8Voxsk
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 24, 2014
Trust us, there were millions of additional reactions to Beckham Jr.’s one-handed heroics. Truth be told, all of us here at Panini America were mesmerized by the catch, too. In fact, we were so taken aback by a catch that defied reality that we decided to honor it . . . virtually.
At the top of this post, and again below, we’ve modified the Immaculate Moments insert from Panini America’s upcoming 2014 Immaculate Football to create two different virtual cards that pay tribute to Beckham’s remember-where-you-were-when touchdown grab.
Enjoy.