'Hard To Live With!' Ravens' Odell Beckham Jr. Shares Super Heartbreak

“It’s hard when you get to the pinnacle of success in this sport and feel like it was something that was taken away from you,” Ravens receiver Odell Beckham Jr. says of his Rams' Super Bowl bittersweetness. “It wasn’t something that was easy to live with. It was very hard to go through that.”

Odell Beckham Jr. is all the rage at Baltimore Ravens minicamp, with QB Lamar Jackson declaring that OBJ "is him!'' ... a newfangled way to declare an athlete's best-in-the-game brilliance.

But this isn't OBJ's first go-'round with that status. He was thought of that way early in his career as a drama-seeking and drama-delivering member of the New York Giants. 

And he felt that way about himself before the Super Bowl while a member of the Los Angeles Rams ... before suffering the ACL tear in that game that has kept him off the field ever since that fateful day.

“It sucks,'' OBJ said this week, via the Baltimore Sun, reflecting on the bittersweet outcome - the Rams winning while he was heading toward a surgery that would keep him from being himself for almost two years. "I watched plenty of Super Bowls and finally, it was my opportunity and I was so locked in. I could feel it that day when I woke up. I knew that I was probably going to be the best person on the field that day. I just wanted to have that moment.”

The wide receiver was, for a moment, prescient. In that game, he'd already registered a 17-yard touchdown catch and had another reception for 35 yards. Who knows? Maybe he would have on his mantle today a Super Bowl MVP trophy.

But instead, he's got conflicting emotions ... and a heartbreaking feeling that doesn't seem to be leaving him.

“It’s hard when you get to the pinnacle of success in this sport and feel like it was something that was taken away from you,” Beckham said. “It wasn’t something that was easy to live with. It was very hard to go through that.”

Beckham is now seemingly fully healthy as he launched into his first season with the Ravens. ... and one that Baltimore fans hope might end with OBJ being a part of Super Bowl sweetness - no bitterness allowed.

Follow the Baltimore Ravens Daily Blitz Podcast

Follow Raven Country on Twitter and Facebook

Ravens Alert! Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Baltimore Ravens?