Police responded to a “medical emergency” Sunday morning at Miami International Airport involving free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr., who was eventually asked to leave a flight to Los Angeles.
Miami-Dade police said they were dispatched to the airport at around 9:30 a.m. after a flight crew became concerned over the health of Beckham, who was a passenger on the flight. Per police, the American Airlines crew attempted to wake Beckham to fasten his seatbelt, but he “appeared to be coming in and out of consciousness, prior to their departure.”
Police said the flight crew feared that Beckham, 30, was “seriously ill, and that his condition would worsen” over the course of the flight, which was scheduled to take five hours. Attendants called for police and fire rescue and, upon arrival, the flight crew asked Beckham “several times to exit the aircraft, which he refused,” per police.
According to the statement, all passengers were asked to deplane and officers asked Beckham to exit the plane, which he did “without incident.” Per police, Beckham was escorted to a non-secure area of the terminal, where “he made other arrangements.”
Police said Beckham was not detained or cited for the incident.
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In a statement emailed to USA TODAY Sports, Beckham’s lawyer, Daniel Davillier, addressed the matter, calling it “unnecessary” and blaming it on an “overzealous flight attendant.”
Davillier said the flight was delayed after it had boarded prior to takeoff, and that Beckham fell asleep with his blanket over his head during that time.
“He was awakened and told that the plane was back at the gate and that he needed to get off the plane because he did not put his seatbelt on when asked,” Davillier wrote in the statement. “He responded that he was asleep, and that he would put his seatbelt on at that time. He was informed that it was too late, and that either he would have to get off the plane or everyone would have to deplane.
“The overzealous flight attendant refused to simply allow Mr. Beckham to fasten his seatbelt and proceed with the flight and instead immediately removed everyone from the plane.”
Davillier added that Beckham was “at no time … disruptive or combative” and that he was “willing to comply … but the flight attendant wanted to prove that he had the authority to have Mr. Beckham removed from the flight.”
Davillier also said that the airline sent Beckham’s luggage to Los Angeles without him.
In a series of tweets around the time of the incident, Beckham alluded to an incident, but did not offer specifics.
“Never in my life have I experienced what just happened to me,” Beckham wrote in a tweet posted at 10:07 a.m. “I’ve seen it alll..”
One minute later, he added: “Never. In. My . Life” and 11 minutes after the first post: “I COULD NEVER MAKE THIS UP.”
In a tweet posted at 10:20 a.m., Beckham appeared to downplay and criticize the response to the matter by writing: “😂 comedy hr.”
A Twitter user by the handle @TheMalibuArtist replied to that message and posted a video of Beckham being escorted from the gated area at the airport.
“Forcing us off the plane because you were unresponsive and unruly is not comedy to the hundreds of folks trying to get home dude,” the user, whose name is listed as CG in his profile, wrote. “Not cool man.”
Beckham is set to court interest from various NFL contenders looking to add a veteran receiver prior to the end of the season. He had suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament while a member of the Los Angeles Rams during the first half of the team’s victory in Super Bowl 56.
