Rams Star Odell Beckham Jr. is ‘On Standby’ at Super Bowl LVI for Birth of First Baby

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is not only playing in his first Super Bowl Sunday, but he and his girlfriend Lauren Wood could welcome their first child together. Beckham said he will be “on standby” during the game, but he has not made a decision on what would happen if the baby comes while the game is going on. Beckham joined the Rams in November, days after the Cleveland Browns released him.

“I don’t need you to put that energy in the air about the Saturday night or the Sunday thing,” Beckham, 29, told reporters on Friday, reports the New York Post. “I think God has a different plan. I don’t need it during the Super Bowl. I want to see my child being born, so I’m on watch.” Beckham also told reporters he has his phone by his side “just in case.”

Beckham and Wood, a fitness instructor and singer, were first linked in November 2019 when she celebrated Beckham’s birthday, reports PEOPLE. They made their red carpet debut a few months later at Vanity Fair‘s Oscars party in February 2020. In late November, Wood, 28, announced she was pregnant by posting black and white photos from a maternity shoot. “Can’t wait, baby,” Beckham wrote in the post’s comments section.

Beckham spent his first four seasons with the New York Giants, who drafted him out of LSU in 2014. In 2019, he was traded to the Browns and missed part of the 2020 season with a torn ACL. In November, the Browns released Beckham after a messy split, and he signed a one-year deal with the Rams a few days later. During the NFC Championship Game, Beckham caught nine passes for 113 yards, helping the Rams defeat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17.

On Friday, Beckham said moving out west has helped him significantly. “You definitely feel free,” he said, reports the Associated Press. He later said the baggage from his Cleveland experience was “weighing” him down. “I feel like it could have been the reason why I got injured time after time after time,” he said. “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.”

After the Browns released him, there were several teams interested in him, Beckham said. He passed on a chance to join the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and New Orleans Saints. His friend Jalen Ramsey pitched the idea of joining the Rams, along with head coach Sean McVay and receivers Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, and Van Jefferson. The decision has worked out for the best, and now he has a chance at his first Super Bowl ring. The Rams will face off against the Cincinnati Bengals in their home stadium, SoFi Stadium, at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sunday.