He remembers him as a game-breaking receiver and cornerback, and high-flying (40-inch vertical) starting basketball player who "dunked left and right" while averaging about 15 points per game.
He remembers thinking Beckham would surely excel at football at the college level, but beyond that. …. "Who he is now? That, I could have never predicted. Who could have?"
Beckham, better known as OBJ, is in his eighth NFL season and Sunday he plays in the world's biggest football game. His Rams host Cincinnati in
Super Bowl LVI on Sunday when perhaps for the first time a player — OJB — is as cool as the halftime performers, in this case Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar.
"He's kind of a big deal," Atkinson said. "He's not just a great NFL receiver but culturally, his persona is sort of iconic."
Atkinson's business is in building young talents toward stardom. He's the CEO of
Versatile Productions, a full-service video production company based out of Houston and New Orleans that specializes in high school sports documentaries and recruitment videos.
"We do it all, but that's one of our passions," said Atkinson, whose team produces team season and weekly highlights and year-end summaries with interviews of student athletes. "Sometimes it is the thrill of victory, sometimes the agony of defeat."
Beckham was one of his projects at Newman (see part of the highlights above). Atkinson spent three football and basketball seasons taping largely his every move. It featured almost exclusively the thrill of Beckham's victorious and sometimes spectacular routes to the end zone.
OBJ was the No. 55 recruit overall from the Class of 2011, according to 247Sports, and No. 10 wide receiver.
"Even as a skinny 5-foot-9 freshman he was balling out, making great plays," Atkinson said. "That's definitely one thing about Coach Stew (Newman coach Nelson Stewart): If you're good as a freshman, you'll play. He recognizes talent and rewards it."
Just like now.
Newman, a small (368 high school students) private Division III school, is most famous for producing the Manning brothers: Cooper, Peyton and Eli. They last three seasons it has featured the nation's No. 1 recruit from the Class of 2023,
Arch Manning (Cooper's son).
Stewart played with Cooper and Peyton and definitely recognized the skill set of Arch, who in three years as starter has passed for nearly 7,000 yards and 80 touchdowns.
Beckham was also productive at Newman, catching 95 passes for 1,743 yards and 29 touchdowns over his final two seasons, including 19 TDs (out of 50 catches) as a senior. Though his recruitment and future was at wideout, Atkinson remembered Beckham's "freakish" athleticism and versatility, starring also on defense and special teams.
In fact, his most vivid memory was a 97-yard interception return against Bogalusa.
"There was like eight seconds left in the half and the ball was at midfield," Atkinson said. "(Beckham) sprinted the 50 yards down the field with the receiver, intercepts the Hail Mary, sprinted back the other way, the horn had long since sounded, he had to cross back the field at about the Newman 20 and into the end zone.
"He could just do anything. He could literally play any position on the field. He played running back and quarterback. He could cover anyone on the field. He returned kicks and punts. To his credit, (Stewart) used him in every way possible."
Stewart told Atkinson a story of Beckham's humble and hard-working beginnings, long before "The Catch," the nearly miraculous, one-handed touchdown grab in 2014 against the Cowboys that turned him into a viral sensation virtually overnight.
It was the day after LSU lost 21-0 to Alabama in the 2011 game to decide the national championship. Beckham, who had 41 catches for 475 yards and two touchdowns that season at LSU as a freshman, was working out at Newman.
"He barely made a mark in that game (against Alabama)," said Atkinson, noting the five-catch, 38-yard performance. "He told (Stewart) he had to get better and he was starting that day. That really spoke to his dedication.
"People will see this gifted, larger-than-life person in OBJ at the Super Bowl Sunday, but they don't realize the huge work ethic he had to get there."
