Beasley, of course, made headlines last week for his Twitter rant complaining about the NFL's new separate protocols for vaccinated and unvaccinated players. He starts it by saying "Hi, I'm Cole Beasley, and I'm not vaccinated!" and it only gets worse from there. Beasley proudly wears his anti-vax stance as some strange badge of honor. Worse, he comes off as an arrogant you-know-what about it!
There's really no point in breaking down the rest of Beasley's post, which only proves that he either doesn't understand or doesn't believe in the science. Probably a little bit of both. (His "examples" make absolutely no sense!) What he doesn't do, however, is give an actual reason why he chose not to get vaccinated or why he's so opposed to them.
At the very end of his post, Beasley claims that "a lot of other NFL players hold my position as well but aren't in the right place in their careers to be so outspoken." Are you sure about that? Because, once again, it looks like you didn't get your numbers right. Sure, there are some who are hesitant or have indicated they won't get the vaccine. But they're in the minority, as the vaccination numbers clearly show.
One of my favorite lines, though, was this one, which I think was in response to a comment (the ESPN article wasn't clear): "You still think I'm trying to persuade people not to do it. I don't care if you're vaccinated or not." That's exactly what you're doing! Otherwise, why would you be so proudly touting your (incorrect) anti-vax stance?
As you correctly pointed out, it's everyone's individual choice. If you don't care whether people get vaccinated or not, why speak out then? Because you clearly ARE trying to influence people! Let them make their own decision! Some people may agree with you. The vast majority do not. (I got my first shot as soon as I was eligible and have been fully vaccinated for nearly two months.)
What brought this all on was the fact that the NFL will have two separate sets of protocols next season, and the vaccinated players will have far more freedom than unvaccinated players. Unvaccinated players will have to follow many of the same restrictions as last season, while vaccinated players won't have to wear masks, get tested daily, etc. That's what he's not happy about. He feels like unvaccinated players are being "discriminated" against. Which they're not!
The NFL and NFLPA obviously want players to get vaccinated. That's the whole point! They can't require it, but they're making it clear what they'd prefer. If you get vaccinated, you can go back to pre-2020 normal. If you'd rather not, that's your choice. But you have to live with the consequences of that decision.
That's why Beasley's upset. He wants to have it both ways. He doesn't want to get vaccinated, but also wants to enjoy the same privileges as the vaccinated players. These are the same protocols he didn't seem to have a problem with in 2020, by the way. The only difference now is that he's supposed to follow them (even though he likely won't) while other players won't have to, so he's pouting and calling it "unfair" like a spoiled baby!
During his rant, he also called out the NFLPA, saying: "This is crazy. Did we vote on this?" Whether or not there was a vote is irrelevant. The NFLPA obviously wouldn't have agreed to the new protocols if a majority of players weren't on board with them. And, had there been a vote, I bet the results would've been shocking to Beasley, who also doesn't seem to grasp the concept that just because you don't agree with something doesn't mean everybody feels the same way as you.
It probably shouldn't come as a surprise that this is Beasley's stance, though. When the CDC made the long-awaited announcement last month that fully-vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks outside, he smugly responded to the CNN story by saying: "I do that without being vaccinated. Is this illegal now?" Spoken like a true anti-vaxxer! (And, by the way, the answer to that question is "Yes," just like it was before the CDC lifted the mask mandate.)
Now Beasley says he's done talking about it because he "doesn't want to be any more of a distraction to my team." Well, Cole, I hate to break it to you, but that ship has already sailed. The vaccine issue has already divided the Bills locker room, and that problem isn't getting any better. It's actually a big concern for GM Brandon Beane and Head Coach Sean McDermott.
And that's not the reason why Beasley's "done talking about it" either. He's got 5.2 million reasons for shutting up! Beasley has said that he'd pay any fine he's issued for not following the COVID protocols (as it stands, he figures to receive a lot of fines this season), but there's also nothing stopping the Bills from cutting or trading him.
Bottom line, you can't undo stupid. And that's exactly the way Cole Beasley is acting. Beyond that, he's being incredibly selfish. Not that he cares, though!
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