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Alaina GetzenbergESPN
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley said Sunday that he decided to deactivate his Twitter account earlier this month in part because it’s good to “get back to where I wanted to be” and that doing so is a “weight lifted.”
Beasley’s social media posts became a topic of discussion over the past few months as he shared his views and engaged in conversation, including with teammates, regarding COVID-19 vaccinations and other issues. He took down his account sometime around the team’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 5, with Bills fans taking note after the game.
Beasley, 32, said Sunday that he is now “going to stay off [Twitter].”
“When I first got here, I got away from [social media], and then things happen,” Beasley said after the Bills’ 26-11 win over the Miami Dolphins. “And the issues that we have at hand, and I just felt like I needed to take responsibility for the guys that couldn’t.
“But it’s good for me to get back to where I wanted to be, and it’s not on there. The real world is out here and not there. Most people say things on there that you don’t want to hear. And it’s definitely a weight lifted, and I feel like I did the right thing.”
Among his last couple of tweets were one offering to buy tickets for fans at away games after COVID vaccinations became required to attend games at Highmark Stadium and another, just days before deactivating his account, pointing out fans booing him at Bills games.
“Only placed I get boo’d is at our home stadium,” Beasley wrote. “Then some of the same people want me to take pictures and sign autographs. I thought bills fans were the best in the world? Where’d they go? If the vaccine works then why do vaxxed people need to be protected from unvaxxed? #letemin.”
Bills fans often chant “Beasssss” when the receiver catches a pass.
“Whether some are booing or some are saying, ‘Beas,’ it still felt good playing and they were loud,” Beasley said Sunday of the crowd. “So, I enjoyed it either way.”
The wide receiver had his best game of the year in the win over the Dolphins with his first 100-plus-yard performance. He finished with a team-high 10 catches for 110 yards. Eight of those receptions came in the second half as the Bills’ offense took off, scoring 23 points.