Cowboys receiver Cole Beasley released a rap album, and teammates are hyping it up

Here’s one of the more unexpected stories of the offseason: Dallas Cowboys receiver Cole Beasley released a rap album over the weekend.

The 13-track set, called “The Autobiography,” is Beasley’s first full-length album; he released his first single, “80 Stings” in January.

Beasley’s “The Autobiography” is moving up the charts

Though it was released just a few days ago, “The Autobiography” is doing pretty well on iTunes: as of this writing, it’s No. 13 on the list of albums released in May.

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He could be getting support from the Cowboys’ massive fan base, and that’s fine, but it takes some guts for anyone to put an album out and let the world judge their talent. Beasley, who is known first and foremost as a football player, will be judged more harshly than most because some will see this simply as a vanity project, though Beasley has insisted otherwise.

Teammates, NFL players offering support for Beasley

Beasley’s Dallas teammates past and present are offering their support. Running back Ezekiel Elliott tweeted to his audience that they should show support and download the album, as did now-former Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant:

Even former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber is on board, tweeting on Monday that he did an eight-mile run with Beasley’s album in his headphones. “I know he’s a Cowboy, but dude’s got skills,” Barber wrote, referencing the rivalry between Dallas and the Giants.

Beasley defends himself against critics

Skip Bayless, the former Dallas Cowboys beat writer who now spouts off on Fox Sports’ “Undisputed” with Shannon Sharpe and calls the team “my Cowboys,” was unsurprisingly critical of Beasley on Monday’s show, particularly Beasley’s hope that listeners see him as “a rapper who happens to play football,” and not the other way around.

“Stop it!,” Bayless shouted. “You’re writing an autobiography off what, a 36-catch season?”

Beasley responded via Twitter, saying he recorded all but two of the songs in 2016, when he had a 75-catch season.

“Nobody was complaining about anything then,” Beasley wrote. “My best year. I know y’all need material but cmon man. I know y’all aren’t on the air 24/7. Y’all are part of what’s wrong with the NFL.”

In a follow-up he wrote, “That’s all I’m gonna say. My teammates know the deal and that’s all that matters.”

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