Wide receiver Cole Beasley has decided to retire from the NFL after 11 seasons, his agent said Wednesday.
“He’s ready to be with his family after playing 11 seasons and it’s time to be a full-time father and husband,” agent Joel Turner told ESPN.
“His wife and children are still at home in Texas. They came out for the first game, went through the evacuation last week, which didn’t give the Tampa Bay organization nearly the credit it deserved for the way they handled it [Hurricane Ian] — nothing but first class from the Glazer family, [general manager] jason [Licht] and [coach] todd [Bowles]. He doesn’t want to be separated from them anymore. He loves his wife and children and wants to be with them.”
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Beasley, 33, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice team on Sept. 20 and was called to the active squad four days later. He saw action in two games — against the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs — with four catches for 17 receiving yards. Beasley said when he signed with the Bucs that he didn’t know if he’d ever get a chance to play again.
“For a young man coming out of SMU who wasn’t invited to a single All-Star game, who was preparing for his pro day by training alone on campus and joining 31 other teams in the NFL as an undrafted free Agent moved on only the Dallas Cowboys offered him a contract — he’s had an incredible career,” Turner said. “We couldn’t be prouder of him in every way and appreciate every organization he’s played for and allowed him to live the American dream to live. Cole always gave it his all.”
The Buffalo Bills had given Beasley permission to seek a trade in early March, but eventually released him.
Beasley finished the 2020-21 season with a career-best 82 receptions with the Bills, with whom he signed as a free agent in 2019. He was a critic of the league’s COVID-19 guidelines, which were relaxed that season. Beasley, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19, missed a game last season after testing positive for the virus.
He said last year that he had no problem with people being vaccinated or not, but that the ability to choose was important to him.
Beasley began his career with the Cowboys, signing as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He developed into one of the NFL’s better slot receivers due to his ability to find weaknesses in zone coverage while possessing a pace that made it difficult for him to be included in man-to-man insurance.
He finishes with 554 receptions for 5,726 yards and 34 touchdowns. He was never selected to a Pro Bowl, but was named a second-team All-Pro by The Associated Press in 2020 when he set career highs in receptions and yards (967).