Unvaccinated Buffalo Bills player Cole Beasley to miss pivotal game after testing positive for coronavirus



  • Wide receiver Cole Beasley of the Buffalo Bills will miss a pivotal game after testing positive for the coronavirus. Beasley had previously been very vocal on his refusal to be vaccinated.

Beasley will miss the Bills' game against the New England Patriots on Sunday because of the NFL rules on coronavirus positive players. If the Bills lose, the Patriots will cement their lead in the AFC East division.

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported on Tuesday that Beasley had been placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list and said that he would be out for ten days because he tested positive.

The wide receiver was lambasted by some and celebrated by others for publicly refusing to be vaccinated. In June,he hinted that he might retire from the league altogether over the vaccine mandate.

"I may die of COVID, but I'd rather die actually living," he said at the time.

"I don't play for the money anymore. Fine me if you want," Beasley added. "My way of living and my values are more important to me than a dollar."

He later deactivated his Twitter account over the controversy.

On Tuesday, he went to his Instagram account to slam the NFL policies on vaccines.

"Just to be clear Covid is not keeping me out of this game. The rules are. Vaxxed players are playing with Covid every week now because they don't test," he claimed.

"One of my vaxxed teammates is in the hospital missing games. I'm sure he didn't get this same energy," Beasley concluded. "Everyone else, if you don't get what's happening then there is nothing anybody can do for you."

Prior to the announcement about Beasley, the Patriots were favored to win the contest by 2.5 points over the Bills.

Here's a local news report about Beasley's positive test:

Cole Beasley Added To Covid-19 Listwww.youtube.com

Whitlock: Bill Belichick is anti-vax-mandate, and I love it



Based on his comments Wednesday morning, it's fair to conclude Bill Belichick is no fan of the NFL's nonsensical and highly divisive COVID protocols.

The Patriots' head coach started his day meeting with the media. For about 10 minutes, reporters probed football's greatest coach for insight into the reasoning that caused the team to cut starting quarterback Cam Newton. Belichick provided no such insight. He dodged every direct question concerning Cam and pivoted to offering not-so-subtle gripes about the league's convoluted and authoritarian COVID protocols.

When asked if Cam's unvaccinated status contributed to his departure, here's how Belichick responded:

"No. Look, you guys keep talking about that. I would just point out that I don't know what the number is — you guys can look it up, you have the access to a lot of information — but the number of players, coaches, and staff members that have been infected by COVID in this training camp who have been vaccinated is a pretty high number. So I wouldn't lose sight of that."

Later in the press conference, a reporter asked a second question regarding Cam's vaccination status and the impact of Cam missing practice because of the league's COVID protocols.

"No, we have other players on the team who are not vaccinated, as I would say probably every other team in the league," Belichick said. "And we've had minimal, but throughout the league there've been a number of, quite a high number I would say, of players who have had the virus who have been vaccinated.

"So your implication that the vaccination solves every problem, I would say that has not been substantiated, based on what has transpired in training camp this year. That's all."

Let's be clear. The reporter did not imply anything. Belichick knows this. He knows the NFL and the NFLPA have implied that the vaccine solves every problem. He knows that's not true. He knows the NFL isn't forcing the vaccine on its players out of concern for their safety. The league is doing it to appease critics of football. They're doing it to align with the Big Tech social media overlords.

The NFL knows that if it doesn't bully its players into taking the vaccine, corporate media will double and triple down on their assault on football. Roger Goodell and the league office have spent the past decade trying to make peace with their enemies through appeasement.

Who is the NFL's enemy? The political left, the people determined to tear down the patriarchy, the feminists who labeled masculinity toxic, the alleged journalists who have distorted football's concussion issue, the woke warriors who want to end football.

It's all connected. Goodell thinks fighting for football means making peace with people who hate football. It's not going to happen. Last year, the NFL bowed to the Black Lives Matter mob. The league draped itself in Marxist ideology and utopian slogans.

This year it's embracing pandemic panic. Forcing young men in relatively perfect health to inject an experimental drug is ludicrous. The NFL played an entire season a year ago with no one vaccinated. Did one NFL player die? Did any NFL player get hospitalized during the season with COVID?

These players are not all stupid sheep. They know the COVID survival rate. They know older, fat, unhealthy people are the people who should be taking extra precautions. They know the NFL has no business getting this deep into their medical decisions.

So does Bill Belichick. A reporter asked him to cite the number of unvaccinated Patriot players.

"I'm not going to get into that," he said. "Those are all personal decisions. And it's not my place to talk about a person's decision or medical condition."

What's going on in the NFL is a joke. It not only violates the players' personal rights, it violates the unifying tenets of team sports. Vaccinated and unvaccinated players are being treated differently in things as small as where they can eat in team facilities and what they can eat at the team facility. Unvaccinated players have to report to the facility much earlier than unvaccinated players.

It's all stupid. It's all theater to appease the media.

Most of the vaccinated, including the coaches, took the vaccine under personal protest. You can't convince me a group of mostly 20-something men believe getting the vaccine is in their best interest.

The NFL is immersed in the same political theater as the rest of the country. Sports used to be a leader. Now our sports leagues are followers.

I'm as frustrated as Belichick.

Bills player pans NFL by posting mask fine letter on social media: 'Pray for me,' 'They got me!'



Buffalo Bills wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie panned the NFL on Thursday by posting on social media a letter he received from the league about his failure to wear a mask inside team facilities. In the caption of the post, McKenzie shrugged off the fine and jokingly asking fans to "pray" for him.

"They got me! NFL you win!" the wideout wrote in a tweet.

He later added, "$14,650 damn ... Pray for me."

What are the details?

McKenzie, as an unvaccinated player, is required to wear a mask at all times while inside team facilities under the NFL's new stringent COVID-19 protocols for the 2021-2022 season.

And league officials aren't messing around, either. Based on the league's letter to McKenzie, they have eyes everywhere and are meticulously monitoring suspected violations.

"On August 25, 2021, at approximately 2:15 p.m. while walking through the indoor fieldhouse and into the training room, you failed to wear a mask," wrote NFL Deputy General Counsel Lawrence P. Ferazani.

"Then at approximately 4:35 p.m. on August 25, for several minutes, you again failed to wear a mask in the meeting area of the weight room while gathered near other players after the offensive meeting," he continued.

$14,650 damn 🙏🏾Pray for me 😁 https://t.co/rIFkYgV7gJ

— Isaiah McKenzie (@_IsaiahMcKenzie) 1629982030.0

Ferazani noted that McKenzie had been warned before about the consequences associated with his failure to wear a mask.

"By letter dated July 27, 2021, you received a written warning for refusing to wear a mask and were specifically advised that 'future violations of the Protocols will result in increased discipline, including for conduct detrimental,'" he wrote. "Still, as noted above, you again refused to wear a mask at the club facility."

The league official then reminded McKenzie that his conduct "potentially compromised not only [his] safety, but also the safety of others."

What's the background?

The league's strict protocols, intended to pressure players to get a coronavirus vaccine by subjecting unvaccinated players to a litany of burdensome rules, have been controversial since their inception earlier this year.

The protocols have been a subject of controversy perhaps especially in Buffalo, due to star slot receiver Cole Beasley's public opposition. Beasley railed against the rules in June, calling them "crazy" and arguing they effectively amount to a vaccine mandate.

McKenzie has been supportive of his teammate, saying at the time, "I see you out there fighting brotha love it."

Beasley, along with three other unvaccinated Bills players, was forced to enter the NFL's mandatory quarantine this week despite testing negative for COVID-19. He had come in contact with a fully vaccinated team trainer who contracted the virus.

Bills' Cole Beasley, unvaccinated, forced to quarantine after testing negative for COVID —  because he came in contact with fully vaccinated trainer who had the virus



Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley, an outspoken opponent of the NFL's aggressive pro-vaccine rules, has entered the league's COVID protocol after coming in close contact with a team trainer who tested positive for the virus.

Beasley has since tested negative for the virus. The trainer who tested positive was fully vaccinated.

What are the details?

The news, which broke Tuesday, ignited a flurry of criticism for Beasley who this summer made headlines for his forceful opposition to the league's stringent COVID-19 rules which teeter near the edge of being a full-blown vaccine mandate.

"Actions have consequences," Deadspin writer Donovan Dooley wrote. "Beasley made his bed now he has to lay in it for five days." He referred to the star wideout as "Buffalo's anti-vax idiot."

But the development, far from proving Beasley's imprudence, may serve to highlight just how nonsensical are the league's COVID-19 protocols.

Beasley, along with three other teammates — including fellow wide receiver Gabriel Davis and defensive tackles Star Lotoulilei and Vernon Butler — were sent home Tuesday due to their close-contact designations.

All four players tested negative for the virus Tuesday but nevertheless were forced to enter the five-day re-entry process as mandated by the NFL. League protocols require unvaccinated players who come in contact with an infected person to quarantine for five days with daily testing.

More details: The Bills' trainer who tested positive was fully vaccinated. Beasley was in close contact with him ye… https://t.co/0DrO4ZIHLY
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) 1629816002.0

Two other teammates, linebackers Matt Milano and A.J. Klein, were also reportedly sent home Tuesday out of precaution. But after an investigation, their designations as close contacts were reversed.

Bills General Manager Brandon Beane said, "This is our new normal. It's not the normal we like. But it's the world we're in."

"We're not exempt from any of this, as we've said many times. We're going to try to keep our building as safe as we can. Everyone understands the protocols and the rules," he added.

Why does it matter?

The story has gained significant traction due to Beasley's public opposition to the league's vaccine push.

In Beasley's case, he's catching flack because he's unvaccinated. But it's ironic that his forced quarantine is not the result of his infection; rather, it is the result of a vaccinated individual's infection — though it should be noted that Beasley could soon test positive for the virus, depending on the incubation period.

In essence, the NFL's new guidelines divide players into two groups. But instead of the two groups being COVID-positive and COVID-negative like one might expect, the groups are vaccinated and unvaccinated.

At times, it's unclear whether the rules are there to protect the health of players and staff or whether they are intended as a mechanism to punish the unvaccinated.

Buffalo Bills player Cole Beasley reacts to COVID vaccine backlash, says he's prepared to quit football: 'My values are more important to me than a dollar'



Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley railed against the NFL's new and very rigid COVID-19 protocols for training camp and the preseason. Beasley proclaimed that he is prepared to walk away from the NFL, "My values are more important to me than a dollar."

The NFL and NFL Players Association agreed upon new COVID-19 protocols, which are far more critical of unvaccinated players than those who are fully vaccinated. Unvaccinated players will face daily COVID-19 tests, must wear a mask in the team facility and during travel, and are barred from leaving the hotel to eat at a restaurant. First violations of the NFL's COVID-19 protocols can result in a $50,000 fine.

Some NFL players voiced their displeasure with the new restrictions as well as the NFLPA. One of the more outspoken players against the strict rules is Beasley, who on Thursday called the restrictions "crazy" and said the NFLPA is a "joke."

There was swift backlash to Beasley's opinions on the NFL's COVID-19 rules, to which he responded to his critics with an even more powerful stance against the new restrictions.

Beasley began his response captioned by declaring, "Hi, I'm Cole Beasley, and I'm not vaccinated!"

"I will be outside doing what I do. I'll be out in the public. If (you're) scared of me, then steer clear, or get vaccinated. Point. Blank. Period," he tweeted on Friday. "I may die of COVID, but I'd rather die actually living."

"I have family members whose days are numbered," Beasley said in response to the NFL's rules that prohibit players from having more than 15 people at their home," Beasley added. "If they want to come and see me and stay at my house then they are coming regardless of protocol."

Beasley, who has two years and roughly $11.9 million remaining on his contract with the Bills, seemed to hint that he is willing to quit or be fired from the NFL over his COVID-19 vaccine stance.

"I don't play for the money anymore. Fine me if you want," Beasley stated. "My way of living and my values are more important to me than a dollar."

"I'll play for free this year to live life the way I've lived it from Day 1," Beasley said. "If I'm forced into retirement, so be it. I've enjoyed the times I've had ... So either way, it's a win-win."

"I'm not going to take meds for a leg that isn't broken," he wrote on Twitter. "I'd rather take my chances with COVID and build up my immunity that way ... That is my choice based on my experiences and what I think is best."

"I love my teammates and enjoy playing ball because all the outside BS goes out the window in these moments," Beasley continued. "I just want to win the Super Bowl and enjoy these relationships that will be created along the way."

"Thank you for everyone who has been supportive throughout this process," the wideout said.

Beasley said, "a lot of other NFL players" agree with his position on coronavirus vaccinations, but "aren't in the right place in their careers to be so outspoken."

"I'm hoping I'm doing my part to represent you guys well," the second-team All-Pro wide receiver concluded.

Public Service Announcement https://t.co/XjQicdvnKm

— Cole Beasley (@Bease11) 1624044800.0

Fellow Bills receiver Isaiah McKenzie reacted to Beasley's impassioned message, "I see you out there fighting brotha love it."

A @Bease11 I see you out there fighting brotha love it 😄✊🏽

— Isaiah McKenzie (@_IsaiahMcKenzie) 1624040307.0

In May, Beasley emphasized, "I don't have a problem with anybody getting the vaccine. That is your choice. My problem is everyone is ridiculing and bullying people ... into getting one or thinking the same way about it. It's becoming that way with any issue. This is not OK."

Last month, In May, Bills general manager Brandon Beane answered a hypothetical question about unvaccinated players, which he revealed that he would be inclined to cut an unvaccinated player if it helped the franchise reach an NFL threshold to relax COVID-19 restrictions. However, the NFL reportedly informed Beane that the team could not release a player solely due to his vaccination status.

In 2020, Beasley caught 82 receptions for 967 yards, both career highs.

Players blast NFL's strict new COVID-19 vaccine protocols, call players association 'a joke'



The NFL unveiled its new COVID-19 protocols for training camp and the preseason this week, which puts heavy restrictions on what unvaccinated football players are allowed to do. The strict coronavirus restrictions were agreed to by the NFL Players Association, which frustrated several professional football players.

The NFL released its COVID-19 protocols Wednesday, which dictates that coaches and staff must be vaccinated, but players have the option. However, unvaccinated NFL players are severely restricted, while vaccinated players have far more freedoms and return to near pre-pandemic rules.

  • Unvaccinated players will need to be tested for COVID-19 every single day, while those who are vaccinated will not.
  • Unvaccinated players will need to wear face masks at the facility and during travel, while vaccinated individuals will not.
  • Unvaccinated players will have travel restrictions, while vaccinated people will not.
  • Unvaccinated players are not permitted to leave their hotel rooms to get food from a restaurant and are not allowed to interact with anyone outside of the team, while there are no restrictions on vaccinated players.
  • Unvaccinated players must practice social distancing when eating, while those vaccinated are not required to do so.
  • Unvaccinated players are barred from the sauna and steam room, while vaccinated players are permitted to use these facilities.
  • Unvaccinated players have weight room capacity limits, while vaccinated individuals do not.
  • Unvaccinated players will lose out on extra income since they will be banned from social/media/marketing/sponsorship activities, while vaccinated players are permitted to do so.

"Individuals who are not fully vaccinated, including players, will be prohibited from gathering outside club facilities or team travel. NFL players who are not fully vaccinated will be barred from going to nightclubs, bars, house parties, concerts, etc," the league stated.

Players are prohibited from house gatherings of more than 15 people unless all participants are wearing PPE.

Failure to follow the new rules could result in fines of $50,000 for a first offense.

The NFL has made it clear that unvaccinated players will have a much tougher time in the preseason than those who have received the coronavirus vaccine.

The NFL and NFLPA have agreed to updated COVID-19 protocols for 2021 training camp and preseason, per source. How… https://t.co/nsbBChECYX

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) 1623866986.0

Some players have already voiced their displeasure at the constraining new rules set by the NFL and NFL Players Association.

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley called the new regulations "crazy," and blasted the NFLPA.

"This is crazy. Did we vote on this? I stay in the hotel. We still have meetings. We will all be together," Beasley wrote on Twitter. "Vaccinated players can go out the hotel and bring covid back in to where I am. So what does it matter if I stay in the hotel now? 100 percent immune with vaccination? No."

"So what are we really talking about? I understand completely why the NFL is doing this," he tweeted. "It gives them back the freedom to make the most money as possible again if everyone is vaccinated. But will anyone fight for the players or nah?"

"The players association is a joke. Call it something different. It's not for the players," Beasley continued. "Everyone gives me the 98 percent of people who are vaccinated don't get covid again. The odds of me getting in the NFL and playing for 10 years are lower than that and I'm here."

Beasley was asked why he didn't want to get vaccinated, to which he responded, "Why does it matter what my reasons are? It's a personal choice. That means I don't have to explain to anyone why I do what I do. Just like everything else in my life."

This is crazy. Did we vote on this? I stay in the hotel. We still have meetings. We will all be together. Vaccinate… https://t.co/ty1biAGSV3

— Cole Beasley (@Bease11) 1623957620.0

Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon also slammed the NFL Players Association for heavily restricting players who didn't want to get vaccinated.

"The @NFLPA is not for the players they act like they represent us and they clearly show us different time & time again," Mixon tweeted.

"I thought Football was a team sport and it's clearly being individualized by beliefs," he added.

Mixon clarified that he is not against vaccines or anyone who wants to get vaccinated, "I love everybody and I show love to everyone vaccinated or not. I RESPECT EVERYBODY who decides to get the vaccine or not. I'M NOT AGAINST EITHER! I WILL FIGHT & DIE FOR A RESPECTED DECISION."

The @NFLPA is not for the players they act like they represent us and they clearly show us different time & time ag… https://t.co/t6JHEkZbrh

— ⚡️Primetime!!!⚡️ (@Joe_MainMixon) 1623876062.0

An NFL agent told ESPN that 60% of his clients are fully vaccinated.

Of the NFL's 32 franchises, 16 teams have 51 or more players who are vaccinated against COVID-19, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

Washington Football Team coach Ron Rivera estimated 50% of his players have gotten the coronavirus vaccine, and noted that a few more plan to get vaccinated after the team brought in an infectious disease professor from Harvard to talk to players about the COVID-19 vaccine.

One Washington Football Team player who was not persuaded to get the vaccine was defensive end Montez Sweat.

"I'm not a fan of it," Sweat said of the coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday. "I probably won't get vaccinated until I get more facts and that stuff. I'm not a fan of it at all. I haven't caught COVID yet so I don't see me treating COVID until I actually get COVID."

Unvaccinated fans are allowed to attend training camps, but must practice social distancing and remain more than 20 feet from players and team staff.