If you’re a Giants fan—full disclosure: I am—there’s nothing that you’d like to see more right now than Odell Beckham Jr. dancing. The Giants wide receiver suffered a high ankle sprain during training camp in August, and ever since then, he’s struggled to jog, much less dance, which has prevented him from practicing much and held him out of the Giants’ first game of the 2016-17 NFL season. So when I—and many other Giants fans—first heard a report this week about how OBJ supposedly had a "dance-off" with Russell Westbrook at a Wyclef concert last week in the days leading up to the Giants’ Sunday Night Football game against the Cowboys, my first thought wasn’t, "How could he?!" It was, "Well, maybe that means he’ll be back for Week 2 against the Lions?"
As it turns out, the report about OBJ and Westbrook squaring off on the dance floor might have been a liiiiiiitle exaggerated. OBJ was asked about it on Thursday, and he downplayed the whole thing by going the sarcastic route with reporters. "It was a full-on dance battle, man," he said. "We were in there break-dancing. I had the little beanie with the [propeller] swinging on my head. It was incredible to be able to do something like that with Russell. It was everything to me."
But if the report about the alleged dance-off did turn out to be true, would you even be surprised? Outside of making amazing one-handed catches and revolutionizing the way a bunch of athletes wear their hair, OBJ has also made a name for himself through his first three seasons in the NFL with his dance moves. From dancing in the end zone to dancing at the club to dancing in a certain famous rapper’s backyard, the guy has made headlines over and over again and been involved in some pretty strange stories involving his dancing. While we all (impatiently!) wait for OBJ to put his moves on the football field back on display, let’s take a look back at a few of the most notable instances.
Watch Him Whip
OBJ has been making headlines for his dance moves since he scored his very first NFL touchdown. He broke out "The Whip" after reaching the end zone during a game against the Falcons in October 2014 and later admitted he did it because he promised a group of friends from Atlanta he would use it if he scored that game. He continued using that particular TD celebration for much of the beginning of his career, but his TD celebrations have since evolved over time:
Do It for Drake
OBJ spent the 2016 NFL offseason living in Drake’s house. And apparently, he made himself right at home, dancing to Young Thug’s "With Them" all over Drizzy’s backyard. We still don’t really know why he decided to be a part of this routine, but he clearly enjoyed himself. He also showed off a few moves to Young Thug’s "Memo," too, because, well, why not?
Dancing With the Star
Dancing With the Stars fans have clamored for OBJ to make an appearance on the show for years now. He still hasn’t shown up on it in an official capacity, but back when Von Miller was on DWTS, OBJ did hijack one of Miller’s practices to dance all over the room to—who else?—Young Thug. By the end of the practice, OBJ was also spotted giving pointers to Miller’s dance coach. Just invite him on the show already, ABC!
Bombs Away
It’s not a surprise to see OBJ dancing on the football field. But it was a surprise to see him pop up behind this Fox reporter and videobomb her with his dance moves. As she delivered a relatively generic pre-game report, OBJ did what he does best in the end zone.
Ring Off
When OBJ hits the strip club, he usually does more than just sit and watch. He’s also been known to get up and show off a few of his own moves, which ended disastrously during a trip to an NYC strip club in November 2016. OBJ was dancing when a pinky ring worth upwards of $25,000 flew off his finger and got lost. It was just about the only thing that got him to stop dancing—for a few minutes, at least—over the course of the last three years.
