Days before the official start of his season free agency tour, Odell Beckham Jr. was grounded, literally. Scheduled to travel from Miami to Los Angeles, the wide receiver was removed from an American Airlines flight Sunday after an incident with the flight crew, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department, by NFL media. Officers were first sent to the airport for a ‘medical emergency’ with Beckham appearing to ‘float in and out of consciousness’ as he sat on the plane ahead of the scheduled take off. Eventually the plane was disembarked and Beckham was escorted – and through the airport – without incident.
The American Airlines crew were “concerned about … Beckham as they attempted to wake him up to fasten his seatbelt,” police said, according to NFL Media. “Fearing that Mr Beckham was seriously ill and that his condition would worsen during the planned five-hour flight, the attendants called the police and fire brigade. Upon arrival, officers reportedly repeatedly asked Beckham to step off the plane, and the wide receiver refused. After all the other passengers were disembarked, however, Beckham agreed to go out and was seen walking with a police escort out of the boarding area and into the terminal, “where he made other arrangements”.
Beckham has not been officially cited or detained in connection with the incident. Several people claiming to be on his flight, however, complained on social media about his behavior causing a delay. American Airlines has since issued the following statement: “Flight 1228, with service from Miami to Los Angeles, returned to the gate before takeoff because a customer did not follow the instructions of the crew members and refused to fasten his seat belt. The customer was removed and the flight departed at 10:54 a.m. local time, about an hour and a half after its scheduled takeoff.
Beckham only addressed the events indirectly via Twitter, tweet on sunday: “Never in my life have I experienced what has just happened to me… I have seen it all.”
The off-field controversy comes days before his scheduled visit with the Cowboys, who have publicly courted his services as he plans a return to the field. The former Rams star, who has yet to play in 2022 due to a torn ACL suffered in February, is also expected to visit the Giants and Bills in the near future.
