Odell Beckham Jr. Kicked Off Plane at Miami Airport After Reportedly Being ‘In and Out of Consciousness’ and Refusing Seat Belt
Screenshot via Twitter.
Free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was kicked off a plane at the Miami airport Sunday after reportedly being “in and out of consciousness” and refusing to put on his seat belt.
During his NFL career, Beckham has racked up some big accolades, including 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year and being named to the Pro Bowl three times. He was a key part of the Los Angeles Rams’ Super Bowl-winning 2021 season, but left the big game during the second quarter with a torn ACL.
Beckham has spent the offseason healing from his knee injury and remains a free agent. NFL Network reported earlier Sunday that he had decided on a travel schedule to meet with prospective teams that might want to sign him, planning to visit the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, and Buffalo Bills.
But today’s travel itinerary was disrupted when flight attendants on a Sunday morning American Airlines flight from Miami to Los Angeles reportedly became “concerned” about Beckham’s behavior.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweeted a statement released by the Miami-Dade Police Department. According to the police, MDPD officers were “dispatched to a medical emergency” on the flight around 9:30 am ET.
“The flight crew was concerned for a passenger (Mr. Odell Beckham), as they tried to wake him to fasten his seat belt, he appeared to be coming in and out of consciousness, prior to their departure,” the statement said. The flight crew feared Beckham was “seriously ill, and that his condition would worsen throughout the expected 5 hour flight,” so they “called for police and fire rescue.”
When the officers arrived, the flight crew asked Beckham “several times” to exit the plane, but he refused. “The aircraft was deplaned,” and the officers asked Beckham again to exit the plane, and this time he “did so without incident.” He was then “escorted to the non-secure area of the terminal” to make other travel arrangements.
Beckham seemed to indirectly reference the incident in several tweets he posted late Sunday morning, writing that “never in my life have I experienced what just happened to me,” and “comedy [hour]” along with a laughing emoji.
Another passenger apparently didn’t find the situation very comedic, posting a video of Beckham getting escorted off the plane in response to his “comedy hr.” tweet.
“Forcing us off the plane because you were unresponsive and unruly is not comedy to the hundreds of folks trying to get home dude,” the Twitter user @TheMalibuArtist wrote. “Not cool man.” Airports across the country are experiencing delays with the high level of Thanksgiving weekend traffic, complicated by adverse weather conditions in multiple cities.
FoxSports reporter Andy Slater posted additional reporting on the incident, saying that the flight was delayed because of Beckham.
UPDATE 4:15 pm ET: American Airlines released a statement confirming that Flight 1228 from Miami to Los Angeles “returned to the gate before takeoff due to a customer failing to follow crew member instructions and refusing to fasten their seatbelt. The customer was removed and the flight re-departed at 10:54 a.m. local time.”
Beckham “was not detained or charged by police, and officers did not indicate any investigation was being conducted into the incident on the airplane,” according to Miami ABC affiliate WPLG reporter David Dwork.
