Odell Beckham Jr. to play in Pro Bowl: Report

Odell Beckham Jr. is going to the Pro Bowl.

The Giants' rookie receiver was bumped up from first alternate to team player on Wednesday after Lions receiver Calvin Johnson backed out of the game with an injury.

"It's definitely awesome," Beckham said in a statement. "It's something that means a lot to me, and I'm definitely going to cherish the moment. I'm very excited to be going to the Pro Bowl."

Beckham is the first Giants rookie receiver to appear in the game. He's the first rookie Pro Bowler at any position for the Giants since tight end Jeremy Shockey in 2002.

It caps a record-setting season for Beckham, who had 91 catches for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns despite playing in only 12 games after missing all of training camp. His incredible one-handed catch against the Cowboys is considered by many to be the best play of the 2014 NFL season.

The other wide receivers scheduled to play in the Pro Bowl are Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown, Dallas' Dez Bryant, Cincinnati's A.J. Green, Indianapolis' T.Y. Hilton, Green Bay's Jordy Nelson, Atlanta's Julio Jones and Denver's Demaryius Thomas. 

The game will be played on Jan. 25 in Glendale, Ariz., site of this year's Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1.

"It's exciting just being able to learn from them and see them every day," Beckham said of his fellow Pro Bowlers.

"They are some of the best in the league, and it is definitely going to be an experience that is going to be one to remember."

Brent Grimes says his one-handed INT was better than Beckham Jr.'s catch (VIDEO)

New York Giants rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.'s incredible one-handed catch Sunday night is being called the greatest catch of all time but, at least one NFL player is claiming he made a better grab just two weeks before.

That's right. Dolphins cornerback Brent Grimes thinks his similar leaping interception robbing the Lions' Calvin Johnson of a touchdown during Week 10 deserves as much consideration as Beckham's widely publicized play — and maybe more.

"It was a cool catch. I may be biased, I think mine was better," Grimes joked, via ESPN’s James Walker. "I jumped and everything. I was on defense. They weren't throwing me the ball. That was a great catch, though."

Here's Beckham's fantastic catch ... again:



Let's make it simple and separate Big Apples from Orange Bowls by calling it like it is: Best Catch and Best Interception — respectively.

Settled.

Miguel Cabrera completes baseball pass to Calvin Johnson (VIDEO)

When Calvin Johnson visited Comerica Park with a few of his Lions teammates on Tuesday night, Miguel Cabrera welcomed them by tossing a friendly pass in Megatron's direction.

Call it Miggy to Meggy:

You didn't expect Johnson to drop it. I know NY Giants fans didn't.

Rex Ryan, NFL stars to be featured in Nickelodeon cartoon series

The New York Jets already had an Al Toon.  Now it has Rex Ryan the toon.

The Jets head coach has always had an animated side to his larger than life personality — whether it was cursing on the sidelines or wearing a blond wig to a press conference — but now the slimmed down Ryan will be joined by other NFL stars as animated characters in the new Nickelodeon series, "Season of the Guardians."

The cartoon series — based on NFL RUSH ZONE, the league's online site for kids — will also feature Drew Brees of the Saints, Calvin Johnson of the Lions and DeMarcus Ware of the Cowboys as some of the animated characters in the half-hour series set to premiere in November.  It is the first-ever original animated series developed by a major U.S. sports league and a cable network.

"Season of the Guardians" is about a group of kids — led by the protagonist 10-year-old Ishmael — who team up to save the NFL from a master villain.  As far as we know, the Patriots' Bill Belichick or  the Cowboys' Jerry Jones are not involved.  Hell, the Jets themselves are good for about a half-dozen bad guys.

If the NFL is involved with the show, maybe the kids are looking for the scourge of the league —  bounty hunters. First, Little Ish and his group might want to start by eliminating the NFL of replacement refs.

While the new well-behaved version of Ryan seems right for prime-time Nickelodeon, the old profane head coach would have been perfect for Adult Swim.