SUPER BOWL: Beckham's journey west allows him to 'feel free'

Odell Beckham Jr.'s 2,000-mile trip on short notice allowed him to escape all the negative energy. Injury concerns? Hurt feelings? Off-the-field angst? On-the-field disappointment? They're long gone, left behind with all those No. 13 Cleveland Browns jerseys. Beckham sounds and looks like a different person in Los Angeles, where the Rams will face Cincinnati in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Fresh start? Maybe. Fresh perspective? No doubt. "You definitely feel free," Beckham said during a virtual media session this week. "When you erase, eliminate all of that, you just realize you were carrying other people's problems, things that they may need to work on with themselves, like you're carrying all that energy. "It just was weighing me down. I feel like it could have been the reason why I got injured time after time after time. There was a part of me that wanted to prove people wrong more than I just wanted to be myself and prove myself right. So I definitely feel a weight lifted off my shoulders, just less energy I'm carrying." The mercurial receiver, who battled injuries the past few seasons, was waived by Cleveland in November after a 2½-year relationship that turned rocky near the end. Both sides clearly wanted out, Beckham because he felt he wasn't being featured in the offense, and the Browns because they were getting more headaches than highlights in return for $7.25 million a year. Beckham cleared waivers and had plenty of suitors. The three-time Pro Bowler chose the Rams over Green Bay, New England, Kansas City and New Orleans. All-Pro cornerback and close friend Jalen Ramsey provided a big push, as did coach Sean McVay and fellow receivers Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods and Van Jefferson. No one knew exactly how Beckham would fit in with such a star-studded roster. Some thought he would be a distraction, others even labeled him a troublemaker. Instead, by all accounts, he's been a model teammate. Beckham caught 27 passes for 305 yards and five touchdowns in eight regular-season games with the Rams, providing a much-needed fill-in after Woods tore a ligament in his left knee in practice a day after Beckham's arrival. Beckham has been even better in the playoffs, with 19 receptions for 236 yards and a score in three victories. He had nine catches for 113 yards against San Francisco in the NFC championship game two weeks ago. He takes no solace in proving anybody — or just about everybody — wrong. "A younger me definitely would have," he said. "But I just feel like I've come so far. I really know who I am. I know myself. I know what I can bring. I know all of the stories and all that. … I'm just happy that I'm in the position I am in, playing in a Super Bowl and hopefully being able to give one last effort, everything I have for this team to bring home that trophy." Beckham once thought playing in Cleveland would give him a good chance of getting to the Super Bowl. But his relationship with the city soured, in part because of injuries that limited him to two 100-yard performances in 29 games. It got so strained near the end of his time there that his father, Odell Beckham Sr., posted a social media video of plays in which Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield didn't throw the ball to his son. Beckham hinted at mistakes he made but stopped short of taking any blame for how things unfolded in Ohio or with the New York Giants, who drafted him 12th overall in 2014. "I always talk about living life without regrets," he said. "So for me it's been about the lessons and how do you learn from those lessons to benefit you in the future? … There have been a lot of moments in my career that I can look back on now and ask myself how could I have handled that better? Just know that there is a lot of moments where I look back as a 29-year-old and reflect like how could I have been better in this situation? "I wish I could give you one, but I don't want to throw myself under the bus right now." Beckham remains one of the NFL's most popular players, fame that skyrocketed after a spectacular one-handed touchdown catch against Dallas during his rookie season. He has 15.2 million followers on Instagram and 4.2 million on Twitter. Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin as well as Jarvis Landry – they were college teammates at LSU and reunited with the Browns — dropped into his Zoom session to shower him with praise for showing such resilience. Fans across the country are on "baby watch" for Beckham and his girlfriend, singer/fitness trainer Lauren Wood. Their first child is due any day now. Beckham doesn't even want to talk about the possibility of Wood giving birth during the big game. He doesn't want "to put the energy in the air." It's a lesson he's embraced since that move west. "Literally my phone is right here just in case, so I'm on call," he said. "I'm on watch. I'm on standby." ----- LOS ANGELES RAMS (15-5) vs. CINCINNATI (13-7) TIME/TV: Sunday, 6:30 p.m., NBCVENUE: SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CaliforniaBETTING LINE: Rams by 4, according to FanDuel SportsBookSERIES RECORD: Bengals lead 8-6LAST MEETING: Rams beat Bengals 24-10 on Oct. 27, 2019, in LondonLAST GAME: Rams beat 49ers 20-17; Bengals beat Chiefs 27-24, OTTURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Rams plus-2, Bengals 0RAMS PLAYER TO WATCH: DT Aaron Donald. The game's most dominant defensive player over the last eight seasons gets another chance to shine on the big stage. Donald has 1 1/2 sacks and 16 pressures in three games this postseason but was unable to make a big impact in his first Super Bowl appearance three years ago. The 2021 unanimous All-Pro should have a better opportunity against an overmatched interior offensive line. BENGALS PLAYER TO WATCH: QB Joe Burrow. Burrow has gone from No. 1 overall pick to starting QB in the Super Bowl faster than anyone else by getting here in his second season. Burrow's presence has transformed a struggling franchise. Burrow has 15 TD passes and just two INTs in his last seven games, while averaging 331.1 yards passing per game. KEY MATCHUP: Rams CB Jalen Ramsey vs. Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase. The NFL's top cornerback faces off against the most productive rookie receiver since the merger in a matchup that could determine the winner. Ramsey made his third All-Pro team after intercepting four passes and having 16 passes defensed. Chase's 1,455 yards receiving in the regular season were the most for a rookie in the Super Bowl era and his seven receptions in the regular season and playoffs are tied for second most for any player in the past 30 seasons.KEY INJURIES: Rams TE Tyler Higbee (knee) and T Joseph Noteboom (chest) are not expected to practice all week but haven't been ruled out for Sunday. ... Los Angeles RB Darrell Henderson (knee) and DL Sebastian Joseph-Day (pectoral) are expected to come off IR in time to play. ... Bengals TE C.J. Uzomah said he expects to play after leaving the AFC title game early with a knee injury. ... Cincinnati DT Josh Tupou (knee), OL Jackson Carman (back) and DE Cam Sample (groin) are also dealing with injuries.SERIES NOTES: The teams met once under the current coaches with the Rams winning 24-10 at Wembley Stadium in London in 2019. ... Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor spent two seasons on Sean McVay's staff on the Rams. ... Rams LT Andrew Whitworth spent his first 11 seasons with the Bengals and his 168 games for Cincinnati are 14th most in franchise history. STATS AND STUFF: The Rams are 1-3 all-time in Super Bowls, while the Bengals have lost their only two trips. ... This is the youngest coaching matchup in Super Bowl history and the first time both coaches were younger than 40. ... Burrow and Rams QB Matthew Stafford will be the 10th and 11th QBs to start a Super Bowl after being drafted first overall, Stafford in 2009, Burrow in 2020. ... This is the second matchup of two former No. 1 pick quarterbacks, with Peyton Manning beating Cam Newton six years ago in the other. ... Stafford's 49,995 yards passing and 323 TD passes are the most for a QB making his first Super Bowl appearance. ... Rams WR Cooper Kupp has 2,333 yards receiving in the regular season and playoffs, the most in a season in NFL history. ... Kupp's 20 TD catches are tied for fourth most behind only Randy Moss (24 in 2007) and Jerry Rice (22 in in 1987 and 1989). Kupp's 13 100-yard receiving games are the most in a season. ... The Rams were third in the NFL with 50 sacks in the regular season. ... The Bengals are the fourth team in NFL history to make it to the Super Bowl a year after winning four or fewer games. The 1999 Rams are the only one of those teams to win it. ... Burrow is the first QB to make the Super Bowl after getting sacked the most times in the regular season. His 63 sacks in the regular season and playoffs are tied for eighth most in a season in NFL history. ... Bengals rookie K Evan McPherson has gone 4 for 4 on field goals in all three playoff games, tying Adam Vinatieri for the most career playoff games with at least four made field goals. McPherson's 12 makes so far this postseason are two shy of Vinatieri's single-year record set in the 2006 season.