Mark Cuban offers Cole Beasley vaccine proposal with financial incentive
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban presented Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley with an offer on Tuesday morning that he may not be able to refuse: a share in Pfizer stock for his wife.
That’s only if Beasley follows through on the promise of getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and encourages others to get the vaccine on his social media accounts.
I’ll tell you what Cole. You get vaccinated and promote vaccination on all your social, I’ll buy your wife a share of Pfizer stock. It pays a 3.78% dividend. That way she is getting a percentage of Pfizer’s earnings. Deal ? https://t.co/gMmMHt97ro
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) July 20, 2021
Pfizer was trading around $41 at the closing bell. Cuban’s call-out tweet disguised as a proposal came after Beasley’s tongue-in-cheek response to a ProFootballTalk tweet about NFL vaccine incentives.
“I’ll get vaccinated and be an advocate for it if Pfizer puts a percentage of its earnings from the vaccine in my wife’s name,” the receiver tweeted.
I’ll get vaccinated and be an advocate for it if Pfizer puts a percentage of its earnings from the vaccine in my wife’s name. https://t.co/2tOr9jjDaM
— Cole Beasley (@Bease11) July 20, 2021
Beasley has been vocal about his disdain for the NFL’s and NFLPA's COVID-19 protocols and his unwillingness to get the vaccine. He caused a stir in June when he said in a tweeted statement that he would take his chances with the virus by eating better, drinking more water and doing what he deems “necessary to be a healthy individual.”
“I may die of covid, but I’d rather die actually living,” Beasley wrote in the statement.
Public Service Announcement pic.twitter.com/XjQicdvnKm
— Cole Beasley (@Bease11) June 18, 2021
The NFL’s protocols are strictest for unvaccinated personnel. Vaccinated individuals exposed to the virus will not have to enter a quarantine if exposed to the virus, while those who are unvaccinated must. Unless NFL team employees have a religious or medical reason to remain unvaccinated, the NFL said it will not allow these individuals access to “football only” areas.
Beasley said the NFLPA was "a joke" for its protocols aimed at unvaccinated players before sending out a string of tweets about his issues with the new guidelines.
This is crazy. Did we vote on this? I stay in the hotel. We still have meetings. We will all be together. Vaccinated players can go out the hotel and bring covid back in to where I am. So what does it matter if I stay in the hotel now? 100 percent immune with vaccination? No. https://t.co/g61WM8zAOh
— Cole Beasley (@Bease11) June 17, 2021
If Beasley doesn’t take up Cuban’s offer and get the shot, he’ll join Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold as another unvaccinated NFL player. Darnold admitted at a news conference during OTAs in June that he hadn't received the shot.
“I haven’t been vaccinated yet,” Darnold told reporters. “Again, it’s everyone’s choice whether they want to get vaccinated or not. That’s really all I got on it, I don’t want to go into detail, but yeah, I haven’t been vaccinated yet.”
Much like Beasley’s comments, Darnold’s confession caused quite the uproar. Beasley may remain unvaccinated headed into the upcoming NFL season. If that’s the case, his wife will miss out on that 3.78% Pfizer dividend Cuban offered up. The vaccine manufacturer traded at $41 at the closing bell Tuesday.
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