Cole Beasley Talks About Quitting On The Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys signed restricted free agent wide recevier Cole Beasley to a four year, $13.6 million contract on Tuesday. Beasley has come a long way from being an overwhelmed, undrafted free agent out of SMU back in 2012.

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It was during his first training camp that Beasley told head coach Jason Garrett that his heart wasn’t into playing football anymore. And then he promptly left the team.

Two days later, Beasley returned. And he’s never looked back. But what happened during those two missing days back in August of 2012 that changed Beasley’s mind about playing football and eventually landed him a $13.6 million deal?

In a recent radio interview with KRLD-FM 105.3 (via the Dallas Morning News), the native of Little Elm, Texas shared his feelings from that turbulent time in his professional life and revealed the talk that changed his future forever.

"“I’m really glad I didn’t stick with that decision because I definitely would have regretted it. I was just really overwhelmed. I had never dealt with anything like that. There was stuff coming at me from so many directions at one time, and it was just too much to handle. And if it was stressing me out that much, I didn’t feel like that was what I wanted to do with my career. I started getting sick in the mornings; I’d wake up in the mornings and have to throw up. I wasn’t sick or anything. Something was making me that way. I think it was just all the stress built up…but that day I went home and talked to my dad, I feel like that was a real defining moment for me, it made me who I am today, and I don’t know if my career would be the same without that day…He kind of just made it more simple for me, like I was over thinking just everything, and he just simplified everything for me, and it was hard to focus on just football when I was there before I went home.”"

At 5-8, 180 pounds, Beasley is used to overcoming obstacles. And it appears his first obstacle as a professional was believing he belonged in the NFL. The 25-year old has come a long way from being sick due to stress to making opposing defensive coordinators sick trying to find ways to contain him.

Now heading into his fourth season as a professional, Beasley has secured his place as the Cowboys’ slot recevier. Last season, he had 37 catches for 420 yards and four touchdowns. In his first two playoff appearances, Beasley recorded seven receptions for 101 yards.

Pro Football Focus actually ranked Beasley as the 5th best recevier in the NFL last season based on the percentage of passes he caught versus his targets. In 2014, he caught 37 of his 49 targets. (77.1%)

More importantly, Beasley has earned the trust and respect of his teammates and his head coach. Just read what Garrett had to say about his underrated recevier.

"“He’s a really interesting player,” Garrett told the Dallas Morning News in January. “He’s got a lot of unique skills, he’s a hard matchup for guys, he’s hard to cover in man, he’s hard to cover in zone…More than anything else, his mentality is really good. He’s got great confidence in himself, he’s got a really good feel for playing the game, and I think he understands that some how, some way he’s going to present himself to the quarterback and be open. I think that instills a lot of confidence in the quarterback to throw it to him…We’ve known about who he is for a long time, he’s a damn good player.”"

Now that sounds nothing like the player who quit during his first training camp with the team. Beasley has certainly come a long way.

Next: Roy Williams' Failure Was A Gift

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