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Odell Beckham Jr.’s Strange Season Somehow Led Him To The Super Bowl

Odell Beckham Jr. made his return to the field on Sept. 26, 2021 in Cincinnati, 11 months after suffering a torn ACL. He registered five catches for 77 yards and got one rushing attempt for 10 yards, a promising return that figured to help open up the Cleveland Browns’ offensive playbook.

Those 87 combined yards proved to be the high mark for Beckham with the Browns in 2021, as frustrations mounted over the next five weeks, peaking in a 15-10 loss to the Steelers in which the star receiver had one catch for six yards. Two days after that loss, Odell Beckham Sr. made headlines when he posted a video — not one that he made, but a fan had weeks prior — showing Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield regularly missing his son running open. Beckham was excused from practice the next two days, and that Friday, word emerged that he was being released, although that wouldn’t become official until early the next week.

At that point, Beckham had 17 catches on 34 targets for 232 yards and no touchdowns with 14 rushing yards on two carries in six games for the Browns. The former Pro Bowl selection desperately was in need of a new home where he could hopefully reclaim his status as a productive NFL receiver, much less one of its best. With the receiver position as flooded with talent as it ever has been, Beckham needed to find a team that needed a receiver and ran an offense that would allow him to do what he does best: stretch the field vertically and be a red zone threat.

After debating between joining the Packers and the Rams, Beckham ended up in Los Angeles, which suddenly found themselves with a need at receiver when Robert Woods suffered a torn ACL that same week. In eight games with the Rams during the regular season, Beckham steadily built up a rapport with Matthew Stafford that, while not always consistent, showed that he still had some juice and could be a nice complement to Cooper Kupp. Beckham had 27 catches on 48 targets for 305 yards in the regular season, but was finally back to being used as a regular red zone target with five touchdowns. Across 29 games in three seasons with Cleveland, he found the end zone seven times.

Thus far in the postseason, Beckham has been the clear No. 2 target for Stafford, who still looks to Kupp first but has clearly become comfortable with his midseason addition. In the three playoff games so far, Beckham has 19 catches for 236 yards and a touchdown and had his biggest day in the Rams’ comeback against the Niners, with nine catches for 113 yards. It was something we hadn’t seen in a minute: Odell Beckham Jr., playing football with the ease and explosiveness that took the league by storm in New York.

Player fit — in a system, culture, and team hierarchy — is so hard to assess from the outside that it’s often overlooked when discussing an individual’s success or failure, but Beckham’s season is as good an example of its importance as there is. The Rams deserve credit for embracing his best qualities and not asking him to replace Woods by taking on his role and running a bunch of crossers, option routes, and pivots, but instead using him as the vertical threat opposite Kupp, one that stretches defenses, occupies safeties over the top, and works deep comebacks, posts, and drive concepts to take advantage of how DBs have to give him cushion and respect his speed. Beckham deserves credit for being, by all accounts, patient with his role and putting in the work to get up to speed with the offense and build the needed rhythm with Stafford for it all to work.

The result has been a steady integration into the Rams offense that is culminating in a terrific playoff run, and in the time-honored tradition of the NFL, as production increases for a star receiver, the diva talk has faded away.

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Billie Eilish Has Already Dyed Her Hair A New Color

Billie Eilish is known for many things when it comes to her music, like sweeping the Grammys with her debut album. And when it comes to her unique style, she’s known for spicing up her hair with vibrant colors. During much of her When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? era, Eilish sported her signature neon green roots. But upon announcing her sophomore Happier Than Ever release, she debuted a platinum blonde bob. The blonde didn’t last long, as one can imagine the upkeep, but Eilish has already changed her hair yet again.

The singer shared her new look on her Instagram page, and this time the change was much less drastic. The singer previously sported a dark brown bob, a color which only lasted about two months before she decided to take her hair in a slightly darker direction. Eilish posted a new selfie which showed she dyed her hair a jet-black color, matching the mask she’s wearing on an airplane.

The singer captioned the image with a simple black square, but she gave another look at her new hair on her Instagram Stories. “Did you miss me?” she wrote on a selfie showing off a cute pigtails.

Billie Eilish new black hair 2022
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Eilish’s hair changes usually means a new project is on the way. Other than hosting and performing on SNL, her brunette hair didn’t bring new music. But if a recent Instagram post is any indication, Eilish is planning on making an announcement this upcoming Friday — just days after debuting her new jet-black look.

Check out Eilish’s new haircut above.

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Alexander Skarsgård Got Even More Ripped For ‘The Northman’ Than He Did To Play Tarzan

You probably haven’t thought about The Legend of Tarzan, the one with Alexander Skarsgård and Margot Robbie, since it came out in 2016, if you thought about it all. But here’s a reminder of what Skarsgård looked like as Tarzan. Not too shabby — and all it took was two-a-day workouts, a 6,000 calorie diet, “and not a drop of alcohol.”

Impressively, Skarsgård got even more ripped to play a Viking warrior in The Northman. “The amount of discipline that Alex put into this role is crazy,” director Robert Eggers told Total Film. “He transformed his body more wildly than he did in Tarzan.”

Now that filming has been completed, Skarsgård can relax with a good book.

Eggers was “utterly terrified” to make The Northman, the third film in his “The” trilogy after The Witch and The Lighthouse. “But it’s a major privilege to be able to do something like this. It’s been exciting. The studio let me use all my head of departments from my last two films, and I was able to work with the top Viking historians in the world, which was incredible.”

The Northman, which also stars Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, and Willem Dafoe, opens on April 22.

(Via Total Film)

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Madison Cawthorn Is Suing His Own State To Try To Prevent Being Blocked From Running For Re-Election Due To Being A Proud Insurrectionist

Madison Cawthorn just can’t get out of his own way. The North Carolina congressman has been in office for just a little over a year now and has already become a household name, and most definitely not for any good reasons—unless you count setting a record for most votes missed by a newbie congressperson to be a positive. After 13 months of nothing but damning lies, conspiracy theories, siding with insurrectionists, fighting with fellow lawmakers, and marrying (then quickly divorcing) a woman who might very well be a Russian spy, the state of North Carolina has had enough of Cawthorn. And now he’s apparently had enough of them, too.

Given his already-polarizing tenure, a group of North Carolinians have been pressuring state officials over the legitimacy of Cawthorn’s ability to run for a second term in office. As the AP reports, they’ve pointed to many ways in which the 26-year-old has violated the 14th Amendment, which states that no one “who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same.”

As Politico reports, Cawthorn—perhaps not thinking all that clearly about the optics of it all—decided that the best way to respond to these voters (a.k.a. his constituents) would be to [checks note] sue the state! On January 10th, nearly a dozen voters filed a formal challenge to Cawthorn’s candidacy for reelection.

As Politico writes:

Cawthorn’s lawsuit, filed on Monday, denies that he participated in an “insurrection or rebellion” and maintains he is eligible to run for office under state law. The lawsuit also disputes the assertion that under the 14th Amendment he is ineligible for candidacy because of his involvement in a Jan. 6 rally.

“Running for political office is quintessential First Amendment activity and afforded great protection,” Cawthorn’s lawsuit read.

Suing the state you hope to continue representing is certainly an unusual political tactic. Only time will tell how it works out for him.

(Via Politico)

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Early Reactions To ‘Pam & Tommy’ Prove That People Can Barely Handle A Couple Of Scandalous Moments

To be very clear here: both Lily James and Sebastian Stan are phenomenal in the gloriously trashy Pam & Tommy on Hulu. The show takes viewers back to the days of the fledgling Internet, where it was practically unheard of for a newlywed couple’s stolen sex tape to be viewed by the masses, all at the click of a few buttons. This was a devastating development for them, and especially for Pam, and it all happened due to disgruntled contractor Rand Gauthier doing a truly bad thing and two men attempting to settle a beef while a woman’s agency transformed into collateral damage.

The show, however, does a fine job of toeing the line of being serious when appropriate but otherwise being a blast. Pamela Anderson did not co-sign this limited series that dramatizes and imagines what came after Gauthier’s heist, but the masses are already watching the first three episodes on release day. And while Lily’s receiving mad respect and accolades from critics, Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier fans were ready for this dumpster fire with Community-styled anticipation.

Sebastian’s Tommy is nearly as skeevy-hot as the original. And people were captivated by two key moments so far, including, well, this gross display of him licking Pam’s face upon their first meeting.

Clearly and as one Twitter user noted, Sebastian relishes “playing complete a**holes,” which he definitely does during MCU downtime. Not only did he play the corrupt sheriff in Devil All The Time and Jeff Gillooly in I, Tonya to a tee, but now, he’s having so much fun as the baddest dude in rock ‘n’ roll.

However, the other moment that people can’t stop watching is a doozy. Yep, we’re talking about the animatronic penis voiced by Jason Mantzoukas. No one can cope.

Again, these are early moments as people gobble up episodes, so expect more wildness in the coming weeks. In the meantime, let’s rock out.

‘Pam & Tommy’ is currently streaming three episodes on Hulu.

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Summer Walker Debuted A Radical New Hairdo And Fans Have Thoughts

Atlanta R&B singer Summer Walker ended 2021 on a high note, releasing her second studio album Still Over It and watching it debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, becoming the first album from a female R&B singer to do so in five years. In 2022, it looks like she wants to get a fresh start, which she did by following the time-honored tradition of acquiring a radical new hairstyle. Naturally, once she debuted it on social media, fans had thoughts, jokes, memes, and expressions of both horror and praise.

As you can see, the singer went for a high queue, shaving the majority of her hair off and leaving enough for a ponytail of braids. Declaring that she “legit wanted this hairstyle my whole life,” she popped several photos from different angles on her Instagram, opening the floodgates for fans’ comments. One of the more positive reactions on Twitter read, “One thing about Summer Walker… shawty gone do whatever the hell she want to. Hate it or love it, I gotta respect it. I love seeing black folks with agency. Even when we make think it’s ridiculous, as long as no one is harmed, do your thing.”

However, others found some comedic value in the unusual cut, comparing her to pop culture figures who’ve worn the style over the years including the sub-boss Goro from the Mortal Kombat video game franchise and the disgraced prince Zuko from the animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. It seems that whether fans approve or not, Summer Walker will keep giving them reasons to talk in 2022. She also has more room for tattoos now, so don’t be surprised if she pops up with some new ones in the available space. Check out more fan reactions below.

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Lucy Dacus Learns About Locking Lips On ‘Kissing Lessons’

A few days ago, Lucy Dacus debuted a new single, “Kissing Lessons.” Fans could listen to the song on their phone, not via their preferred streaming service, but via an actual telephone call. Dacus shared an image of one of the fliers she put up out in the world and tweeted, “I went out to get a single tomato from the bodega during a blizzard and happened to see this taped to my local Subway station?!? I was like no way this is a LD promo that would be too coincidental.. BUT IT IS CALL (804) 409-4451 TO HEAR KISSING LESSONS RIGHT NOW!!”

That was a fun way to promote a new song, but now, the tune has gotten a proper premiere on streaming platforms, as Dacus officially released the track today. It’s a brief one, clocking in at under two minutes, and Dacus uses that time to tell a story about learning the ins and outs of smooching from a childhood friend. The tale begins, “Rachel was a year older / When I was in the second grade / I thought she might know everything / I took her word like a golden ring / I asked her how to win my man / And she said, ‘I know just the thing’ / Gave me lipgloss and a hair toss / And, after school, a lesson in kissing.”

Watch the “Kissing Lessons” video above.

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Who Is Opening The Dua Lipa Tour?

Next month will mark two years since Dua Lipa released her sophomore album, Future Nostalgia, which became her most successful release, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. It also gave the singer her first Grammy Award after she won in the Best Pop Vocal Album category in 2021. All that was left to do for Future Nostalgia was to hold a tour. After the COVID pandemic pushed that back, Dua Lipa will finally kick off the Future Nostalgia Tour in March.

Who is opening the Dua Lipa tour?

Back in September, Dua Lipa announced that Megan Thee Stallion, Caroline Polachek, and Lolo Zouaï will serve as the opening acts on the Future Nostalgia Tour. Megan will have two albums’ worth of music to perform across North America, thanks to her platinum-selling debut album Good News and her most recent release, Something For Thee Hotties. Polachek has been fairly quiet over the past couple years as she’s sporadically released singles since her last album, Pang, arrived in 2019. As for Zouaï, she released a pair of singles in 2021, but her most recent release, Highs Highs And Lows Lows, also arrived in 2019.

You can view the full tour dates for the Future Nostalgia Tour below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

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‘The Book Of Boba Fett’ Gives Another ‘Clone Wars’ Favorite The Live-Action Treatment, But Who Is He?

WARNING: Spoilers for The Book of Boba Fett below.

Right from the start, The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 6, “From the Desert Comes a Stranger,” is already jam-packed with Star Wars cameos as the episode opens with Timothy Olyphant‘s Cobb Vanth before surprisingly continuing The Mandalorian story that started in Chapter 5. (Which brought even more cameos.) But just when you think The Book of Boba Fett can’t pull another trick out of its sleeve, a last minute character arrives in the final moments of Chapter 6, and his arrival will undoubtedly go over huge with Star Wars: The Clone Wars fans. But who the heck is this nameless blue alien in a cowboy hat?

It’s none other than the notorious bounty hunter Cad Bane.

First introduced in The Clone Wars animated series, which is set between the events of the prequel films Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, Cad Bane became the deadliest bounty hunter following the death of Boba Fett’s father, Jango Fett. Unlike Jango, Bane went toe-to-toe with the Jedi Knights and lived to tell the tale. He also has a sordid history with Book of Boba Fett‘s Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen). The two crossed paths in The Clone Wars spinoff, The Bad Batch, where Bane was shown to still be a force to reckon with after effortlessly gunning down one of the enhanced troops from Clone Force 99.

Cad Bane’s quick draw skills were once again on full display in The Book of Boba Fett, where he showed up to issue a warning to Olyphant’s Cobb Vanth on behalf of the Pyke Syndicate, who are making a move on Boba Fett’s territory. Despite being a seasoned gunslinger, things do not go well for Vanth, which puts Bane on a collision course with Boba and Mando going into the season finale.

(Via Wookieepedia)

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Drake’s Sourpuss Expression At A Raptors Game Generates His Latest Meme

For better or worse, Drake is a walking, talking meme — and he knows it, which means he often leans in, enjoying the chaos that results from his every facial expression or finicky habit. And because he’s such a huge hoops head, many of his finest moments are generated during NBA games while he’s supporting his precious Toronto Raptors or giving their rivals a friendly haranguing during games.

His latest is no exception. During last night’s game against the Miami Heat, Drake was caught by the TV broadcast’s cameras scrolling through his phone with a sourpuss expression on his face — which, of course, offered the perfect opportunity for speculation on what he was staring at that made him so grumpy. The timing — just a day after Rihanna announced her pregnancy with ASAP Rocky — was especially delicious for Twitter’s jokesters.

Drake notoriously had a huge crush on Rihanna and even dated her for a bit, but unfortunately for him, it seemed the burgeoning mogul preferred a “Rude Boy” after all. After dating Saudi billionaire Hassan Jameel for three years, Rihanna appears to have settled into a life of domestic bliss with “Fashion Killa” collaborator ASAP Rocky. The couple announced their baby blessing earlier this week with photos revealing Rihanna’s expanding bump, prompting many fans to tweet, “Someone check on Drake.”

In doing so, fans have found that the results are just about as funny as could be imagined — although plenty of the Drake jokes revolved around other potentially disappointing scenarios, as well. You can check out more Drake memes below.