Odell Beckham Jr. on Thursday signed with the Los Angeles Rams following his release by the Cleveland Browns. But if you saw the news, then got up for an afternoon snack break and refreshed Twitter, you may have wondered if you made up the whole thing entirely.
At the end of the day, Beckham did in fact end up joining the Rams. But not before conflicting reports, a mysterious disappearing announcement from the team and a welcome from NBA legend LeBron James. Yeah, it was a weird one. Here’s how it all went down:
3:43 p.m. ET: NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Kim Jones, citing sources, reported Beckham was “narrowing down his choices” and had settled on either the Rams or Green Bay Packers.
3:44 p.m.: ESPN’s Adam Schefter, citing sources, reports the Beckham and the Rams are “finalizing a deal.”
3:46 p.m.: The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue reported “the deal is done” and Beckham would join the Rams.
3:49 p.m.: CBS Sports and USA TODAY’s Josina Anderson said she spoke to Beckham, who said he still was “on the fence” regarding his decision.
3:50 p.m.: Jones shares a similar sentiment to Anderson, reporting Beckham is “on the fence.” Maybe it was a group text.
3:54 p.m.: Rodrigue posts that the Rams, on their official website, posted an announcement and sent a push notification with the news.
3:59 p.m.: The post on the Rams’ website comes down, according to Rodrigue.
4:07 p.m.: Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James welcomes Beckham to Los Angeles.
4:22 p.m.: Rams officially announce signing of Beckham, 38 minutes after Schefter’s original report.
Everything seems to be set now, but it was quite the whirlwind. And you have to wonder where the discrepancies came from. In a moment like this, is it more important to be first or to be correct?
