Image via Complex Original
We promise that we're not trolling you here. Yes, we saw the amazing one-handed catch that Giants rookie Odell Beckham Jr. made last night. Yes, we thought it was every bit as incredible as you did. And yes, we're still trying to figure out how Beckham Jr. came down with the football in his hand for a touchdown. It's no doubt going to go down as one of the best catches EVER, so we don't want to give you the impression that we're hating on what he did. At all.
But was Beckham Jr.'s grab really the best catch in football history as some people are suggesting today? We think that's up for debate. Because while it was definitely an unbelievable play, we also have some other favorite catches that we think deserve consideration if we're talking best receptions of all time.
With that in mind, here are 10 catches that we think are better than the one Beckham Jr. made last night, as selected by various members of the Complex staff. Where do you think Beckham Jr.'s catch fits in?
Cris Carter's Sideline Catch
Game: Ohio State vs. BYU (1985 Citrus Bowl)
Date: 12/28/1985
Why it was better than Odell Beckham Jr.'s catch:
Two words: No gloves.
Recent Hall of Fame inductee Cris Carter has never been shy about saying he has the best hands in NFL history and catches like this make that arrogant claim hard to refute. While ODB's full-extension, three-finger job was impressive, we must remember that he was assisted by the most modern glove technology available. Making spectacular catches while wearing Nike Vapor Jet 3.0s with "MagniGrip CL" technology is obviously easier than making them with bare hands using "skin" technology. When you look in slow-motion, you can see Cris even stops for a second in the air to think about what he's going to do before snagging the ball with a single paw and landing with both toes inbounds.
Additionally, Carter was notorious for having serious drug and alcohol problems around this time in his life (that he would later clean up), so who knows? He might have even been hungover for this game. Legend status.—Maurice Peebles (@tallmaurice)
Rob Gronkowski's Left-Handed Catch
Game: New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos
Date: 11/2/2014
Why it was better than Odell Beckham Jr.'s catch:
Oh, how quickly people forget. Beckham's catch was absolutely stunning. Based purely on athletic ability, it's hard to say it gets any better. But how have peoples' short memories already forgotten this insane grab Gronk made just three weeks ago? The level of difficulty and body control involved in this catch is slightly higher. Where Beckham basically just had to jump as high as he could and reach back, Gronk was not only in the middle of running a route with a defender all over him, but he also had to reach back across his 265-pound body. One-handed grabs are made multiple times per year, but this should hold a higher spot than Beckham in history.—Tony Markovich (@T_Marko)
Dwight Clark's "The Catch"
Game: San Francisco 49ers vs. Dallas Cowboys (1982 NFC Championship Game)
Date: 1/10/1982
Why it was better than Odell Beckham Jr.'s catch:
Legend has it that Clark and Joe Montana practiced this pass and catch almost every single day during the 1981-82 NFL season. And we believe it. Because if they hadn't tried this pass prior to the 1982 NFC title game, there's a chance that Montana would have thrown it too low and risked throwing an interception or that Clark would have jumped too early and had the ball sail over his head. But neither of those things happened as a result of their preparation and we were treated to the very first "The Catch" in NFL history. There have been many other receptions that have tried to adopt the name "The Catch," but this is the original. And even though there have been many other important catches since, this still stands the test of time and is one of the best catches that we've even seen.—Chris Yuscavage (@CYuscavage)
Edwin Baptiste's Backflip Catch
Game: Morgan State vs. Winston-Salem State
Date: 10/20/2008
Why it was better than Odell Beckham Jr.'s catch:
There isn't as much excitement around Division I-AA football as there should be—sorry, FCS!—but there have been plenty of players from the subdivision who have excelled in the NFL. Morgan State's Edwin Baptiste is, unfortunately, not one of them. But there's at least one reason he'll go down in the annals of college football history: He made arguably the best catch of all time at any playing level.
In similar fashion to Beckham Jr.'s grab from last night, Baptiste leaned back and snatched quarterback Carlton Jackson's throw from mid-air. But instead of hauling in the completion and falling back, Baptiste's leap caused him to do a backflip and, somehow, he was able to hold on to the ball. The level of difficulty on the catch was infinitely more treacherous than Beckham Jr.'s. He risked a broken neck to make everyone ooh and ahh at his highlight reel.—Matt Welty (@MatthewJWelty)
Aaron Dobson's Backhanded Catch
Game: Marshall vs. East Carolina
Date: 11/26/2011
Why it was better than Odell Beckham Jr.'s catch:
A game between Marshall and East Carolina is little regarded, even for the most dedicated college football fan. So when any player manages to turn a matchup like that into headline-worthy material, you know someone must have done something BIG. In this case, it was Marshall's 6-foot-3, 204-pound wide receiver Aaron Dobson. Now with the Patriots, the former member of the Thundering Herd outmuscled a Pirates cornerback on the play here, jumped up, and then simultaneously extended and rotated his arm to snag the football out of the defender's path, in spite of the fact that Dobson's body was going one way while his arm was going the other. Working against every conceivable law of nature and physics, the ball stayed in his outstretched palm.
Beckham Jr.'s catch was great, and I'm convinced that his fingers (which bore the brunt of the reception) could crush steel. But, in this moment, Dobson's hand had its own gravitational pull. —Gus Turner (@gusturner1)
Jordan Westerkamp's Behind-the-Back Catch
Game: Nebraska vs. Florida Atlantic
Date: 8/30/2014
Why it was better than Odell Beckham Jr.'s catch:
Beckham Jr.'s catch was superhuman; Westerkamp's was supernatural.
With his hands behind his back, the sophomore Cornhusker managed to pull down a tipped ball, secure the reception, and then keep his feet inbounds, showing off an awareness that's normally associated with comic book heroes and Harry Potter. Yeah, it was a Week 1 tune-up game. Yeah, it happened against Florida Atlantic. But who cares? Entering last night's game, the Giants were 3-7 in a stacked NFC. Does Beckham Jr.'s catch really mean so much more?—Gus Turner (@gusturner1)
Tyrone Prothro's Behind-the-Defenders'-Back Catch
Game: Alabama vs. Southern Mississippi
Date: 10/10/2005
Why it was better than Odell Beckham Jr.'s catch:
Oh, I dunno, maybe because HE CAUGHT IT BEHIND ANOTHER MAN'S BACK! Not behind his own back, mind you, someone else's.
This is the greatest catch in football history. Beckham Jr.'s was fantastic, but what Prothro did on fourth-and-12 against Southern Miss was [uses thesaurus to find words better than "fantastic"] phantasmagoric. If any play in football history has made me question whether or not sorcery has a role in American sports, this is the play. Beckham Jr. made me question my eyes. Prothro made me question my religion.
Prothro won the catch, the wrestling match, and the argument with the refs. AND 'Bama went on to win a close game. This is the G.O.A.T., folks. There is none better.—Maurice Peebles (@tallmaurice)
Santonio Holmes' Tightrope-Walking Catch
Game: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals (Super Bowl XLIII)
Date: 2/5/2009
Why it was better than Odell Beckham Jr.'s catch:
The stakes don't get any higher in football than they did for Holmes and the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII. On third-and-goal and trailing by three points with just 35 seconds left on the clock, Pittsburgh needed a touchdown to seal a victory over Arizona. And Ben Roethlisberger uncorked undoubtedly the best pass of his career. But Holmes still had plenty of work to do to haul in Big Ben's TD pass.
While he had the benefit of using two hands, Holmes also had to keep his eye on the ball as it sailed through two defenders' hands, maintain his balance enough to get both feet on the ground with just centimeters between his toes and the sideline, and keep control of the ball as he hit the ground with a defender all over his back. If he hadn't been able to do it, the Steelers might not have lifted their sixth Lombardi Trophy—and that's way more important than catching a touchdown pass in the second quarter of a regular season game that doesn't have much meaning to your 3-7 team.—Doug Sibor (@dcsibor)
Elvis Akpla's Behind-the-Back, Against-the-Helmet Catch
Game: Montana State vs. Sam Houston State
Date: 12/10/11
Why it was better than Odell Beckham Jr.'s catch:
By now, we've shown you a variety of amazing catches. But what if we took almost all of those catches…and combined them into one? It'd probably look a little bit like this catch that Akpla made during an FCS quarterfinal playoff game a few seasons ago. First, the Montana State wide receiver jumped over a defender's back to make a catch. Then, he secured the football against his helmet as he was falling to the ground. And finally, he brought the ball behind his own back—and more importantly, avoided touching the ground with it—once he was down. How did this guy not make it in the NFL?—Chris Yuscavage (@cyuscavage)
David Tyree's Helmet Catch
Game: New York Giants vs. New England Patriots (Super Bowl XLII)
Date: 2/3/2008
Why it was better than Odell Beckham Jr.'s catch:
I've had more than six years to try and process this catch in my head, and I still can't do it. I remember watching it live and not being able to believe that it actually happened—that Eli didn't get sacked, that Eli didn't throw the ball 10 feet over Tyree's head, that Eli didn't do some other totally Eli thing to give the Patriots the ball—and I still can't shake that feeling. Like, sitting here today, watching the YouTube video that we've included here, I still expect something to go terribly wrong. But it doesn't. TYREE MAKES THE CATCH EVERY TIME!
Beckham Jr.'s catch was incredible and involved a lot more skill than Tyree's did. But I can't wait to have grandkids one day just so that I can tell them about this catch. Maybe by then, I'll be able to believe that it happened.—Chris Yuscavage (@CYuscavage)