Aaron Beasley
{{Short description|American football player (born 1973)}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Aaron Beasley
| number = 21, 37
| position = Cornerback
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|7|7|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Pottstown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 0
| weight_lb = 205
| high_school = Pottstown
Valley Forge Military Academy
(Wayne, Pennsylvania)
| college = West Virginia
| draftyear = 1996
| draftround = 3
| draftpick = 63
| pastteams =
- Jacksonville Jaguars ({{NFL Year|1996|2001}})
- New York Jets ({{NFL Year|2002|2003}})
- Atlanta Falcons ({{NFL Year|2004}})
| highlights =
- Consensus All-American (1995)
- Second-team All-American (1994)
- First-team All-Big East (1995)
- West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame
| statlabel1 = Total tackles
| statvalue1 = 431
| statlabel2 = Sacks
| statvalue2 = 8.5
| statlabel3 = Forced fumbles
| statvalue3 = 10
| statlabel4 = Fumble recoveries
| statvalue4 = 4
| statlabel5 = Interceptions
| statvalue5 = 24
| statlabel6 = Defensive touchdowns
| statvalue6 = 4
| pfr = BeasAa20
}}
Aaron Bruce Beasley (born July 7, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers, earning consensus All-American honors in 1995. He was selected in the third round of the 1996 NFL draft, and played professionally for the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons of the NFL.
Early life
Beasley was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.National Football League, Historical Players, [http://www.nfl.com/player/aaronbeasley/2499587/profile Aaron Beasley]. Retrieved February 5, 2012. He graduated from Pottstown Senior High School in 1991, and attended Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania, for a fifth preparatory year.databaseFootball.com, Players, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120324231711/http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=BEASLAAR01 Aaron Beasley]}}. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
College career
Beasley attended West Virginia University, where he was a three-year starter for the West Virginia Mountaineers football team at cornerback. In the 1994 season, Beasley led the nation with ten interceptions—also a WVU single-season record, had an interception in six consecutive games during the season. He also had a career-high three interceptions against the Virginia Tech Hokies. He finished 1994 with 57 tackles, a then school-record eighteen deflected passes, and three tackles for a loss. In 1995, Beasley was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American and was a Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist. He was also a first-team All-Big East Conference selection and semifinalist for the Big East Defensive Player of the Year Award. He finished his college career with nineteen interceptions (second most in Mountaineers history), three of which he returned for touchdowns, and 143 tackles.
Beasley was inducted into the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame in 2009
Professional career
The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Beasley in the third round (63rd pick overall) of the 1996 NFL draft.{{Cite web |title=1996 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1996/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} He played for the Jaguars from {{NFL Year|1996}} to {{NFL Year|2001}}. His {{NFL Year|1999}} season for the Jaguars was his most impressive statistically, when he started all sixteen regular season games and amassed six interceptions, 200 interception return yards, and two interceptions for touchdowns,{{Cite web |title=Aaron Beasley Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BeasAa20.htm |access-date=2025-03-02 |website=Pro Football Reference |language=en}} one of which against the San Francisco 49ers set the team record for the longest interception return at 93 yards.{{cite web|url=http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/release.aspx?release_id=2959|title=Reed rumbles 108 yards for NFL record {{!}} Longest interception returns by team|work=Pro Football Hall of Fame|date=November 24, 2008|accessdate=June 2, 2014}} He also played for the New York Jets from {{NFL Year|2002}} to {{NFL Year|2003}} and the Atlanta Falcons in {{NFL Year|2004}}. In his nine-season NFL career, he played in 121 games (105 as a starter) and compiled 423 tackles, 24 interceptions, ten forced fumbles and 8.5 quarterback sacks.
NFL career statistics
| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! colspan="2"| Legend |
| style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"|
| Led the league |
| Bold
| Career high |
=Regular season=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | ||||||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Team !colspan="2"| Games !colspan="4"| Tackles !colspan="4"| Interceptions !colspan="4"| Fumbles | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FF | FR | Yds | TD | |
| 1996 | JAX
| 9 || 7 || 29 || 20 || 9 || 1.0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1997 | JAX
| 9 || 7 || 25 || 25 || 0 || 0.0 || 1 || 5 || 0 || 5 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1998 | JAX
| 16 || 15 || 67 || 58 || 9 || 0.0 || 3 || 35 || 0 || 34 || 2 || 1 || 120 || 1 | |||||||||||||
| 1999 | JAX
| 16 || 16 || 66 || 57 || 9 || 1.5 || 6 || style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| 200 || style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| 2 || 93 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2000 | JAX
| 14 || 14 || 53 || 46 || 7 || 5.0 || 1 || 39 || 0 || 39 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2001 | JAX
| 12 || 12 || 39 || 36 || 3 || 0.0 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 40 || style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| 1 | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | NYJ
| 15 || 15 || 67 || 60 || 7 || 0.0 || 2 || 29 || 0 || 24 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2003 | NYJ
| 16 || 16 || 61 || 46 || 15 || 0.0 || 3 || 64 || 0 || 39 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2004 | ATL
| 14 || 3 || 24 || 21 || 3 || 1.0 || 4 || 115 || 0 || 85 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| colspan="2"| | 121 | 105 | 431 | 369 | 62 | 8.5 | 24 | 487 | 2 | 93 | 10 | 4 | 160 | 2 |
=Playoffs=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | ||||||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Team !colspan="2"| Games !colspan="4"| Tackles !colspan="4"| Interceptions !colspan="4"| Fumbles | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FF | FR | Yds | TD | |
| 1996 | JAX
| 3 || 2 || 12 || 12 || 0 || 0.0 || 1 || 15 || 0 || 15 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1997 | JAX
| 1 || 0 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1998 | JAX
| 2 || 2 || 4 || 3 || 1 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1999 | JAX
| 2 || 2 || 8 || 8 || 0 || 0.0 || style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| 2 || 5 || 0 || 5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | NYJ
| 2 || 2 || 8 || 7 || 1 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2004 | ATL
| 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| colspan="2"| | 12 | 8 | 35 | 33 | 2 | 0.0 | 3 | 20 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
References
{{Reflist}}
{{1995 NCAA Division I-A College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{Jaguars1996DraftPicks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beasley, Aaron}}
Category:All-American college football players
Category:American football cornerbacks
Category:West Virginia Mountaineers football players
Category:Jacksonville Jaguars players
Category:New York Jets players
Category:Atlanta Falcons players
Category:Sportspeople from Pottstown, Pennsylvania
Category:Players of American football from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Category:People from Pasadena, Maryland
Category:Players of American football from Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Category:Valley Forge Military Academy Trojans football players