Cole Beasley, Buffalo Bills. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
Cole Beasley champions his full support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Cole Beasley realizes somethings are more important than catching footballs in the NFL.
The Buffalo Bills slot receiver has carved out a solid eight-year career after going undrafted out of SMU. As one of the better slot receivers in the game today, Beasley is one of the more recognizable players on Sean McDermott’s Bills. He is using his platform to speak out on social justice issues in the fight for racial equality in the very important Black Lives Matter movement.
On Wednesday, Beasley tweeted out a lengthy message on how he feels about these issues at hand. The aspiring rapper released a song titled “United Hates of America 2020” as a way he can affect change, with all the proceeds from the streams and downloads going towards 9inety-10, a non-profit that gives underprivileged kids access to living healthy through sports and exercise.
“Too long…for far too long in my life I have looked the other way,” Beasley said. “As a father of three bi-racial kids and as someone who loves to rap, I am embarrassed, really. Growing up as a white kid, I never had to go through the hardships that black people endure every day in this country.”
“One of the first steps to recovery is first admitting that you have a problem or that you were wrong. I have been wrong for a long time. I have remained ignorant as much as it kills me to say. Not only have I failed black people, but I have failed my sons and daughter up to this point by turning the other way.”
“This is too important of a time in our country to just sit by and scroll through everything that is happening before us. Every single person matters. No role is too small. Nothing you do is too little. Every bit is going to matter. Just please do something…#BlackLivesMatter.”
Cole Beasley is affecting change in the fight for racial equality.
Beasley plays in the same media market where police officers think it’s okay to shove a 75-year-old man to the concrete and watch him bleed profusely out of the back of his head continue on with their day. All major cities have been affected by the George Floyd protests of the last few weeks, but that Buffalo episode was a complete and total disgrace by law enforcement.
The Bills are everything in Western New York. Despite playing in one of the smaller media markets in the country, Buffalo should field one of the better teams in the AFC this year. Maybe the Bills will win the AFC East for the first time since Jim Kelly was still playing for them in the mid-1990s? If Beasley and the Bills offense matches the strong defense, this team could be very special.
Once again, somethings are bigger than football. Beasley admitting publicly that he’s been silent for far too long on the racial injustices in this country is a huge step in the right direction. He may not be the face of the Bills franchise, but he too has a platform where he can affect change right there in Buffalo, as well as his native Texas. Good for him to putting something positive in motion.
Beasley may have “looked the other way” before, but he knows somethings are too important.