John Walter Beasley is a former professional American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player. A 6'3", 228 lb (103.4 kg). tight end

Tight end

The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...

 from the University of California at Berkeley, Beasley was selected by the Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

 in the 1967 NFL Draft

1967 NFL Draft

The 1967 National Football League Draft was part of the Common Draft in the first year in which the NFL and AFL held a joint draft of college players on March 14–15.-Player selections:-Round one:-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:...

.

Following his National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 career, John worked as a color commentator

Color commentator

A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...

 for the USA Network

USA Network

USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...

 and was involved in the call (along with Barry Tompkins

Barry Tompkins

Barry Tompkins is a well-known American sportscaster. He is better known for his work as a boxing commentator, but he has covered football and another number of sports as well.-San Francisco, New York City and NBC:...

) of The Play

The Play

The Play refers to a last-second kickoff return during a college football game between the and the Stanford University Cardinal on Saturday, November 20, 1982...

 in 1982, when Cal

California Golden Bears

The California Golden Bears is the nickname used for 29 varsity athletic programs and various club teams of the University of California, Berkeley...

 scored on the last play of the game to defeat Stanford

Stanford Cardinal football

The Stanford Cardinal football program represents Stanford University in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference's North Division. Stanford, the top-ranked academic institution with an FBS program, has a highly successful football tradition. The...

25-20.