I was a scout in this league for 13 seasons, I have seen players come and go. I have been with Kurt Warner in Green Bay when he was scared to death to work in the drills during a mini camp practice. I remember Mark Churma trying to catch a flight back to Boston when he hurt his back his rookie year because he thought we had cut him.
Everyday across this country, football players from high school, college and pros are debating whether they have enough desire to play a game that is difficult to play. There is nothing fun about practicing in 100-degree weather or having a 320-pound man hitting you in the ear hole or a coaching yelling at you for not running a route the right depth.
Players have to make decisions every day, some are easier than others but in the case of Cole Beasley, he made a decision that he felt was right for himself. If you do not have the desire and passion to play this game . . . move on. I have no problem with the decision that Beasley made but my eyes did tell me that he was a talented football player and he had the skill to win a roster spot on this team.
Beasley had completed the hard part. He arrived on the scene, made plays and proved that he truly belonged to be in this camp and have a shot to make this team. The coaches and scouts that I spoke with raved about his ability but more importantly they spoke of his wiliness to do whatever was asked of him. A couple of front office guys talked about Beasley and how much they were looking forward to seeing him in camp and how hard it would be to release him if that was the case.
I am not going to sit here and tell you I know what happened to Cole Beasley or what is going through his mind. I have heard what others have told me and I stated that above, he just didn't want to play anymore. Scouts work with this problem every day, you can't tell what is in a player's heart, you can only go on what you see. Beasley had shown plenty on the outside but we didn't know what was going on in the inside and that is the difficult situation. When you are trying to build your team, you try and fill your roster with mentally tough players. I thought that Cole Beasley was potentially one of those guys and so did the guys that are making these decisions on the players. Cole Beasley had a chance talent wise but as we have learned, this game is more than just having talent.
