Cole Beasley

BIOGRAPHY

Cole Dickson Beasley was born on April 26, 1989, in Little Elm, Texas. He is a wide receiver in the National Football League.

In his early years, Beasley attended Little Elm High School, where he was an option quarterback, leading the Lobos to the Texas UIL-4A playoffs in consecutive years. He was a district co-MVP, posting 1,184 rushing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, 1,570 passing yards, and 12 touchdowns. He was rated as a two-star recruit by Rivals.com. 

Beasley accepted a scholarship from Southern Methodist University, where he was converted into a wide receiver, playing in 11 games with 7 starts as a freshman in 2008, while finishing third on the team with 42 receptions for 366 yards and three touchdowns. He had his biggest game of the year against Tulsa, catching eight passes for 94 yards. As a sophomore in 2009, he played in 12 games, starting seven, and ranked fourth on the team in catches with 40, 493 yards and 3 touchdowns. As a junior in 2010, he started all 14 games at receiver and was named Second Team All-Conference. Beasley totaled 1,060 receiving yards, the fourth highest single-season total, and six touchdowns on the season. He also caught 87 passes, which ranks second for a single-season in program history. He tied his season high with nine catches with 118 yards and a touchdown. He was teammates with Aldrick Robinson, and they both produced school single-season tandem records 2,361 yards and 165 catches. As a senior in 2011, he registered 86 receptions for 1,040 yards and two touchdowns. 

Beasley went undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft but was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys and in his rookie season, he made 15 receptions for 128 receiving yards in 10 games. In 2013, Beasley found ways to be productive for Tony Romo´s offense. He was Romo´s favorite targets on third downs thanks to his very good route running. Beasley posted 39 receptions for 368 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns, and also returned 10 punts for 68 yards, along with one kickoff for 11 yards by the end of the 2013 season. In 2014, Beasley posted 37 receptions, 420 yards, and four touchdowns, finishing 4th on the team. He averaged nearly 50 yards per game during the final six contests of the season. In his first playoff game, he caught four catches for 63 yards and recovered a critical Romo fumble in a win against the Detroit Lions in the Wild Card game. On March 3, 2015, Beasley signed a four-year contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys. At the beginning of the year, he was used to fill in as a punt returner, due to his ball security ability. He finished the season with 52 receptions for 537 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns.

In 2016, Beasley posted career highs in receptions and yards, catching 75 passes for 833 yards and five touchdowns on 98 targets, where his 76.5% catch rate ranked second among NFL wide receivers in 2016, and in the 2017 season, In the 2017 season, he finished with 36 receptions for 314 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. Beasley started the 2018 season with seven receptions for 73 yards against the Carolina Panthers and in week 6, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he had nine receptions for 101 yards and two touchdowns. He finished his final season as a cowboy with 65 receptions for 672 yards and three touchdowns. On March 13, 2019, Beasley signed a four-year contract with the Buffalo Bills. Beasley caught his first touchdown reception with the Bills in a 31–21 Week 6 win over the Miami Dolphins. Against the Dallas Cowboys, his former team, on Thanksgiving Day in Week 13, Beasley finished with 110 receiving yards and a touchdown as the Bills won 26–15. In Week 16 against the New England Patriots, Beasley caught seven passes for 108 yards during the 24–17 loss. Overall, Beasley finished the 2019 season with 67 receptions for 778 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns. Beasley was placed on the active/non-football injury list at the start of training camp on July 29, 2020. He was moved back to the active roster on August 12.

For the 2020 season, In Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams, Beasley had six receptions for 100 receiving yards in the 35–32 victory. In Week 7 against the New York Jets, he had 11 receptions for 112 yards in the 18–10 victory. In Week 10 against the Arizona Cardinals, he had 11 receptions for 109 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown during the 32–30 loss. In Week 12, against the Los Angeles Chargers, Beasley threw a touchdown pass to fellow wide receiver Gabriel Davis on a trick play in the 27–17 victory. In Week 13 against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football, Beasley recorded nine catches for 130 yards and a touchdown during the 34–24 win. In Week 15 against the Denver Broncos, Beasley recorded eight catches for 112 yards during the 48–19 win. Beasley suffered a knee injury and did not play in Week 17's game against the Miami Dolphins. After setting career-highs with 82 catches and 967 receiving yards, Beasley was named second-team All-Pro.

In Buffalo's Wild Card Round game against the Indianapolis Colts, Beasley caught seven passes for 57 yards in Buffalo's 27–24 victory. His seven catches led the team and was a career-high for a playoff game. In the AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Beasley recorded seven catches for 88 yards during the 38–24 loss.

After the season, Beasley revealed he had played through the 2020 playoffs with a partially broken fibula.

On September 21, 2022, Beasley was signed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad. On September 24, 2022, Beasley was elevated to the active roster.

Cole Beasley officially retired, Wed, October 5th of 2022 and came out of retirement in 2023 to join the New York Giants.