Cole Beasley announces he will not be following Covid protocols, willing to retire

[Royale with Cheese]

13 minutes ago, Pokebball said:

You can't make Allen or Diggs get the vaccine.  The risk of covid is on the list of all of the other risks they assume each and every day.

I never said I can’t make them get the vaccine.  There are two options.  Get the vaccine or follow the unvaccinated protocols. 

[Pokebball]

1 minute ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I never said I can’t make them get the vaccine.  There are two options.  Get the vaccine or follow the unvaccinated protocols. 

why can't a player fight for what they believe to be better or more appropriate protocols?

[Logic]

21 minutes ago, Teddy KGB said:

So CP3 got vaccinated and now will miss on a chance to change his legacy because he has Corona.     Woof. 

Kinda makes you understand why some folks like Cole aren’t interested in getting it. 

 

Riiiiight. Clearly the sports leagues haven’t all been staging much more successful seasons, with vastly less infections, since players began getting vaccinated. Clearly.

 

You mean to tell me the vaccine isn’t 100% effective, only about 95%?! If only we had known! 🙄

[Motorin']

2 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I never said I can’t make them get the vaccine.  There are two options.  Get the vaccine or follow the unvaccinated protocols. 

 

Stop making this about what this is about!

[Royale with Cheese]

2 minutes ago, Pokebball said:

why can't a player fight for what they believe to be better or more appropriate protocols?

He can but if the protocols don’t change he has to make a decision.

 

[Pokebball]

Just now, Royale with Cheese said:

He can but if the protocols don’t change he has to make a decision.

 

Agree.  He's already stated his decision, I believe.

[Motorin']

3 minutes ago, Pokebball said:

why can't a player fight for what they believe to be better or more appropriate protocols?

 

There is a way to do that. You state why you think the current protocols are wrong, the negative effect they have and then you offer an alternative solution that has better outcomes.  And then there's what Cole Beasley did. Which is call names, throw a tantrum, say he's not going to follow the rules and then threaten to quit. 

[Spiderweb]

This is about whether we care about others and our society. This isn't just a another flu. The deaths speak loudly to that. It takes far more lives than a normal flu. Far more. Lastly, tell it to my neighbor's family in which the husband and father took ill in mid February and who died from covid 6 weeks later. 

[DaggersEOD]

12 minutes ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

Only the clueless 

 

just a lil flu

Right. In your opinion.  
 

But you’re still in the minority. 
 

BTW, telling people they are stupid for not agreeing with you is not a convincing argument. 
 

Keep it up and you’ll be in the minority permanently 

[Niagara Bill]

The football Gods are creating another perfect wide right for us. 

Pampered overpaid athletes that we worship way too much, taking painkillers, drugs, pot, occasionally roids, just to stay on the field, play with injuries numbed by some drug they trust from these same drug companies they B word about, suddenly beat their chest about my choice to reasonably try to protect themselves and teammates. 

They are individuals, can chose for sure. But they are not above the rules made for the benefit of the majority. Drive the speed limit or lose your drivers license. Coles choice. But his mouth tells me this is political not belief. If it is belief, quit now, retire now, stfu and let those remaining win a Superbowl.

[Motorin']

3 hours ago, SCBills said:

This. 
 

The powers that be state people like, apparently many on our team, can’t even eat with their teammates.   Because an unvaccinated person eating lunch with a vaccinated person will do… what?

 

Even if they want the performative use of a mask to be around vaccinated people, for zero medical reasoning, fine… I’d just suck it up for my team…. but these league rules are straight up punitive and meant to send a message. 

 

You seem to be missing the obvious. There's not just one unvaccinated player. It's all the unvaccinated players being restricted from situations that increase the potential to transmit the disease to all of the other unvaccinated payers. 

 

I wonder if Tommy Sweeney got Covid from a teammate last year who was just as adamant as Beasley about not following the protocols outside the building? 

 

Edited June 19, 2021 by Motorin'

[Greatdane21]

Cole is taking a very short sighted and selfish view of the whole situation. When you are in a family sometimes quite often we have to do things we don’t necessarily want to for the betterment of the community (team) as a whole. 
imagine how he will feel if he brings the virus into the locker room. Yeah it’s nice to be macho when your young and healthy and chances are it would not negatively effect him . I thought that too until I got a weird immune system disease that has now relegated me to the use of oxygen . I suggest that Cole sits down with either a Covid victim or a doctor and discuss his stance. He currently shows a tint of selfishness I didn’t know existed since Cole has always been a very big team player.

 

 

[YoloinOhio]

18 minutes ago, Logic said:

Riiiiight. Clearly the sports leagues haven’t all been staging much more successful seasons, with vastly less infections, since players began getting vaccinated. Clearly.

 

You mean to tell me the vaccine isn’t 100% effective, only about 95%?! If only we had known! 🙄

Players will still test positive, the vaccine lessens severity of symptoms and decreases the chances of getting covid. But vaccinated players are only tested once every two weeks so the likelihood of it impacting games will be lower. That’s why the league wants them to get it.  Non-vaccinated will still be tested every day. 

[Mikie2times]

We can talk about this without including our own feelings and strictly looking at it from a business standpoint. We are very deep at WR and yes, losing Cole would certainly hurt. That said if the NFLPA doesn't change it's stance on this topic I don't know how we can proceed forward with him on the roster. If you separate all the BS around this topic it really isn't that different than when companies bring in new management. If you don't want to get on board that's your right, but it's also the companies right to then decide if your presence, regardless of talent, could serve as a distraction or impact the whole in a negative way. I certainly think Cole would have a risk of doing so if we did retain him and he refused to comply to the NFLPA guidelines. 

 

I hope this gets resolved as it Cole seems like a pretty popular guy in the locker room. I respect anybody's stance to take a stance on what they feel is right regardless of how I feel. I think the Bills feel the same, but they don't have the luxury of running a business that way. For the NFLPA to really get serious about amending this they will need some big names to stand up. Quarterbacks, stars, and several of them.   

[Mr. WEO]

5 hours ago, Little Dog said:

What if Josh and Cole take the vaccine shot and die , then what

 

 

Wow, great question!  As of June 14th, 310 million doses of vaccine have been given in this country.  The rate of death after vaccination (from any cause) was 0.0017%.

 

Beasley (and everyone else) already accepts a 1 in 608 lifetime chance of death from crashing his hoopoe while "living free'.

 

And it's completely absurd to believe this guy is even possibly waiting for "full FDA approval of the vaccine" before he takes it.  LOL, come on!

[YoloinOhio]

6 minutes ago, Motorin' said:

 

You seem to be missing the obvious. There's not just one unvaccinated player. It's all the unvaccinated players being restricted from situations that increase the potential to transmit the disease to all of the other unvaccinated payers. 

 

If the team is above 85% vaccinated, then they can relax those measures and socially distance the unvaccinated. 

 

I wonder if Tommy Sweeney got Covid from a teammate last year who was just as adamant as Beasley about not following the protocols outside the building? 

 

There were tons of players not following protocols outside the building, on all teams, social media made that obvious. Some got fined, I’m sure some slid 

[FireChans]

1 hour ago, Royale with Cheese said:

Covid is a new virus in which we haven’t developed any pre-existing immunity to it so people are much more susceptible.

Covid also has more long term effects.

Tommy Sweeney wouldn’t have missed the whole season for the flu.

 

Corona viruses have been around for years. 
 

The flu also reduces lung capacity for certain populations.

 

The point here is that in order to return to normal, we as a people have to find the line of “acceptable” vs “unacceptable.” And preferably that line would be internally consistent.

[Motorin']

1 minute ago, YoloinOhio said:

There were tons of players not following protocols outside the building, on all teams, social media made that obvious. Some got fined, I’m sure some slid 

 

Yeah, Bease is vocalizing what went unspoken last season. Not a great position to put the team in. 

[Buffalo Boy]

57 pages?????

Really?????

Must be a bunch of independently wealthy MoFos on this here site, got nothin better to do😜

[Teddy KGB]

31 minutes ago, Logic said:

Riiiiight. Clearly the sports leagues haven’t all been staging much more successful seasons, with vastly less infections, since players began getting vaccinated. Clearly.

 

You mean to tell me the vaccine isn’t 100% effective, only about 95%?! If only we had known! 🙄

 

 

[Buffarukus]

29 minutes ago, Motorin' said:

 

I did miss that... I really don't like the distraction this is causing, but calling for him to be cut because of his emotional comments is an emotional reaction at this point.

 

My hope is that he comes to his senses and realizes that playing in the NFL requires tremendous sacrifice. And that the amount of discomfort and restriction from the protocols he's subjected to is minute compared to what many other professions endure, and certainly minimal compared to being deployed overseas. 

 

I really wish he had stuck to his guns when he said he'd be back on social media next year. I don't like potential this has to turn into a greater distraction... At the same time, he has the right to use his platform to say whatever he wants... 

 

When the rubber hits the road is if / when he actively flaunts the protocols and his actions, not his words, are in violation of NFL Covid policy. At that point, it stops being about his freedom and becomes about him being a literal danger to his team.

 

No, it has nothing to do with him not taking the vaccine and everything to do with him telling the NFL he refuses to follow the rules for vaccinated players. 

 

cant argue with that take at all. strange how when i interact with you you seem like a logical guy. then i see some of your posts in the political thread and they seem...different. lol maybe who your talking to changes things. anyways i also see the take he should shut up about his "personal decisions". i doubt anyone has that take for the vac selfies. that too is a personal decision i respect but because its "the right thing to do" it gets applauded instead of condemned. 

 

at the end of the day its good cole is putting his decision out there to be known. make it known where you stand and accept the consequences. hes doing it now, before the season so its not a distraction. the league and him can handle it and come to a conclusion before camp and the bills are better off having this on the table rather then something popping up mid season. i have zero issue with that and not sure why anyone else would.

[YoloinOhio]

2 minutes ago, Motorin' said:

 

Yeah, Bease is vocalizing what went unspoken last season. Not a great position to put the team in. 

I honestly saw it more from other teams but the guy that was always out was ty nseckhe 

Edited June 19, 2021 by YoloinOhio

[JerseyBills]

20 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

"We respect each player's decision on the vaccination is their own, and while we continue to educate our players and hope they decide to get the vaccine, we know we have a number of players who will not, and are totally fine with that as they are still on the team. However, we also made a decision as a team to not speak out about it or let it become a distraction, and Cole was unable to follow that. Nor would he agree to follow the protocols agreed to by the NFL and NFLPA. We provided him plenty of ways and opportunities to contact his union reps and work with the NFLPA, but he was unwilling to do so. So we made the decision to move on since we are trying to stay unified as a team, and move forward into a re-opened 2021."

 

-Brandon Beane

 

Boom, cut.

 

But if he's willing to retire over it all, than problem solved.

As tight as this locker room is,  That'd be a potentially disastrous move by Beane. 

 

This will be handled in house . Majority of this staff and players are going into year 3 together.  Lot of love in that locker room, they really feel like one big family that truly loves each other.

 

I guarantee the vibe at 1 Bills Dr. Is completely different than on here or social media 

[HalftimeAdjustment]

1 minute ago, JerseyBills said:

As tight as this locker room is,  That'd be a potentially disastrous move by Beane. 

 

This will be handled in house . Majority of this staff and players are going into year 3 together.  Lot of love in that locker room, they really feel like one big family that truly loves each other.

 

I guarantee the vibe at 1 Bills Dr. Is completely different than on here or social media 

 

Agreed. Undoubtedly Cole has multiple supporters among the other players as well as guys who disagree but like him personally. It is not at all in the team's interest to overreact to his social media activity.

[billsfan1959]

1 minute ago, JerseyBills said:

I guarantee the vibe at 1 Bills Dr. Is completely different than on here or social media 

 

My guess is there is a lot less hand-wringing about this going on at 1 Bills Dr than on this board...

[FireChans]

2 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

From your link:

"For childern 14 and younger, Florida’s COVID-19 mortality rate is 0.009%, far below the 0.01% for flu for that age group"

 

0.009% is within 0.001% of 0.01%.  One of those numbers is slightly below the other.  Depending upon how many cases they include, they may statistically speaking be the same number.

 

But I'm not sure what the general point is: young children are the group that is least impacted by covid-19 disease.

 

2 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Um, No.

You are so bad at this. Lol.

Just now, billsfan1959 said:

 

My guess is there is a lot less hand-wringing about this going on at 1 Bills Dr than on this board...

You are almost certainly wrong. Cole has gone from “no comment” to threatening to retire. This is not good for the Bills.

[Malazan]

49 minutes ago, CincyBillsFan said:

I have read it multiple times and yes I feel confident that Henderson would have done things very differently then Fauci and company.  And with better results to boot.

 

Ah, your story has changed now. 

[DaggersEOD]

53 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

65 percent of all Americans over 18 have had at least one shot and 62 percent of all Americans over the age of 12: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-19-vaccine-doses.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage.

 

CDC disagrees:

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations

 

44% vaccinated. 

[SDS]

3 minutes ago, DaggersEOD said:

 

CDC disagrees:

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations

 

44% vaccinated. 

no they don’t. Perhaps you could read that table of information with a more critical eye.

[Mojo44]

50 minutes ago, DaggersEOD said:

It’s possible that those aspects are a factor to the low “shot” rate, but my own personal experience is that shots are available everywhere, for free and companies like

UBER are offering free rides to get the shot. 
 

The airwaves, social media platforms and media in general have made access near universal. Maybe it’s different in your area, so I’m not discounting your experience. Its

just what I have seen. Everyone who wanted a shot seems to have been able to get access to it. 
 

Now concerning the magnitude of the “significant portion” I agree, I have zero data to back that up and that seems to be because no one is interested enough to

look into it 🤷‍♂️
 

But to say that the artificial, administrative consequences haven’t convinced anyone to just “take the darn shot” is also a big leap. 
 

Even if it’s only 10%, 60% who come down on the same side of an argument is a significant majority in today’s world. 

Recent polling, for what it’s worth, indicates that 65% of whites, 61% of Hispanics and 55% of African-Americans are in favor of vaccinations.   According to the report the numbers continue to go up.  Access remains an issue but it does seem to be improving. I do believe time is another major variable. It is also noted that minorities, particularly blacks, are somewhat hesitant because of historical issues and hopefully this will change in time. Interestingly, And for what it’s worth, 30% of white evangelical Christians are against the vaccinations.

[Motorin']

16 minutes ago, Buffarukus said:

 

cant argue with that take at all. strange how when i interact with you you seem like a logical guy. then i see some of your posts in the political thread and they seem...different. lol maybe who your talking to changes things. anyways i also see the take he should shut up about his "personal decisions". i doubt anyone has that take for the vac selfies. that too is a personal decision i respect but because its "the right thing to do" it gets applauded instead of condemned. 

 

at the end of the day its good cole is putting his decision out there to be known. make it known where you stand and accept the consequences. hes doing it now, before the season so its not a distraction. the league and him can handle it and come to a conclusion before camp and the bills are better off having this on the table rather then something popping up mid season. i have zero issue with that and not sure why anyone else would.

 

I think this thread has been mostly civil, while allowing posters to express vast disagreements. I actually try to stay out of the politics board, because it is not a place where civility is bred. I got sucked in over the past year because I had more time on my hands, but over the last few months have been posting there less and less.

 

 

[Royale with Cheese]

24 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Corona viruses have been around for years. 
 

The flu also reduces lung capacity for certain populations.

 

The point here is that in order to return to normal, we as a people have to find the line of “acceptable” vs “unacceptable.” And preferably that line would be internally consistent.

This is a much newer virus and has no where near the pre-existing immunity as the flu.

 

Right now Beasley has two options and he sounds like he’s not wanting to follow either.  So he has to face the consequences of not playing.  

[billsfan1959]

21 minutes ago, FireChans said:

You are almost certainly wrong. Cole has gone from “no comment” to threatening to retire. This is not good for the Bills.

 

There is no certainty to what the thoughts and views are at OBD because we are not privy. That is my opinion. Feel free to have yours.

 

Edited June 19, 2021 by billsfan1959

[BigDingus]

I'm not going to call out Beasley, but THIS mindset is the reason why this country is ill suited to face a crisis these days.

The way the US is setup basically ensures that no matter what major crisis hits this country, we will not be able to effectively solve it. 

In terms of just COVID, people act like it's either A) live or B) die. No in between, no nuance, no other adverse or life-long effects that can destroy your health. People who are now having to get double lung transplants certainly lived, but would anyone claim they're perfectly fine now? 

COVID only has a 1-2% death rate worldwide, but to think this s the worst it could get is just naive. We had the luxury of arguing & whining & playing politics this time, but when that number jumps to 5% or 10% or worse, what then?

You'd HOPE people would get their s*** together, but it's obvious we'd rather tear each other apart & fend for ourselves.

I'm not even saying Cole is wrong. But in an extremely capitalistic society where so many of people can't survive without each paycheck, few means to fallback on, our medical coverage tied to employment, an economy that needs growth & profits, etc. people will not be able to just hunker down, sacrifice their livelihoods, and stay home. 

Beasley can believe what he wants. He's certainly allowed to, and I'll support him as a player & person. I'm just sad that it seems there's little reason to be optimistic if a more potent virus, or ANY major crisis, hits again.

 

/rant

[pennstate10]

Beasley has every right to refuse vaccination.

 

He also has a right to drive on the left side of the road while on his private property.

 

But society has decided, based on abundant data, that it is best for public health for all except immunocompromised, etc to get vaccinated.

US society also has decided, based on a coin flip, that its best to drive on the right hand side of the road.

 

A well established paradigm states that your "rights" are limited when they begin to impact others.

 

So if you want to remain unvaccinated, thats fine.  Live outside society.  Thats a difficult choice, but may be your choice.  But if youre unvaccinated and out in public, you may be unwittingly putting others at risk.

 

In this particular instance, its disappointing that one player wants to put himself above the team, especially after the captains stated all vaccine discussions were staying in house.  Its even more disappointing since this is the first Bills team with a serious shot at the Super Bowl in this century.  Good teammate there, huh?

 

Finally, Covid recommendations are nothing if not fluid.  Policies changing due to both politics and data.  Here is a bit of data that should have everyone concerned.  Every wave of this pandemic has been forecast by events in UK/Europe preceding events here by about 4-8 weeks.   UK is undergoing a surge now, due to the highly transmissible delta variant.  This variant has gone from 6% of cases to >80% of cases in the UK.  It has an R0 of 5, which means its almost as transmissible as measles.  You get these viruses just by breathing the same air.  So the social distancing/masking recommendations may need to be even harsher to keep this variant controlled.  Wearing double masks, N95 for everyone, face shield plus masks, 12 feet social distancing, all these may be coming.

 

Or you could get a vaccine.

[CincyBillsFan]

15 minutes ago, jeremy2020 said:

 

Ah, your story has changed now. 

In what way? 

[ChasBB]

Yeah, he's just a selfish punk - playing on a broken leg down the final stretch of the season and laying it all out for his teammates - how incredibly selfish of him.

 

There's this thing called The Bill of Rights - maybe some of you need to re-read it.

[Ecmic82]

8 minutes ago, Mojo44 said:

Recent polling, for what it’s worth, indicates that 65% of whites, 61% of Hispanics and 55% of African-Americans are in favor of vaccinations.   According to the report the numbers continue to go up.  Access remains an issue but it does seem to be improving. I do believe time is another major variable. It is also noted that minorities, particularly blacks, are somewhat hesitant because of historical issues and hopefully this will change in time. Interestingly, And for what it’s worth, 30% of white evangelical Christians are against the vaccinations.

I’d also guess the trend line in favor of COVID vaccination is positive, as has been the case for every single other vaccine in modern history.

 

Skepticism and fear will always predate acceptance and widespread use. Other posters reading “rightness” of position at this point in time is completely ahistorical.

[HappyDays]

5 hours ago, H2o said:

Getting the shot also does NOT prevent you from getting Covid. There's a famous athlete right now, whose name I was told not to mention, who got his 2nd shot in February and now has Covid. There have also been others who contract the virus after getting it.

 

The vaccine isn't 100% preventive. No one has said it is. Too many people in this thread are using singular cases as evidence of something that no one is trying to argue.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/effectiveness/why-measure-effectiveness/breakthrough-cases.html

 

To summarize - No vaccine will prevent 100% of cases. I believe even the measles vaccine has a 97% success rate. But all data shows the covid vaccine greatly reduces the chance of getting covid. For patients who get the vaccine and still get covid, the chance of them having severe symptoms and/or being hospitalized is greatly lessened compared to those who contracted the virus without being vaccinated.

 

Imagine the vaccine has a 95% success rate. If 140 million people are vaccinated there will still be 7 million people in that group susceptible to getting covid. A small percentage of that 7 million will develop severe symptoms and a smaller percentage still will die. No one has tried to hide this fact.

 

You can't use singular anecdotes when we're talking about tens of millions of case studies. Medical science is based on percentages and probabilities, not absolutes.

[Logic]

32 minutes ago, Teddy KGB said: