Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley. Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Bills' Cole Beasley hits out at Michael Irvin over COVID-19 vaccine comments

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 7/19/21

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley received a large amount of criticism when he took to Twitter in June to lash out at the NFL and NFL Players Association over their COVID-19 health and safety protocols for the 2021 season.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin made news when he suggested over the weekend that clubs that haven't yet hit the 85% vaccination rate among players aren't "thinking" about winning the Super Bowl, and Beasley unsurprisingly was not fond of this take:

That’s not what that means. You can be vaccinated and not do all the right things football wise to be at your best. All it means is players are gonna be out there with covid and we won’t know cause they only get tested once a week so the NFL can make their money. https://t.co/VukRFeeOp3
— Cole Beasley (@Bease11) July 19, 2021

Teams that cross the 85% vaccination rate can have certain virus-related protocols relaxed, but players who choose to remain unvaccinated will have to live and work under guidelines similar to those used last season before vaccine shots were available to all employees.

Beasley and others may not like it, but Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was spot on when he said last month that "unvaccinated players are going to have a harder time" once training camps open.

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