Nahshon Wright just had a huge game for the Chicago Bears, and in impressive fashion.
The fifth-year cornerback leaped high in a full sprint, reaching over his head to intercept Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy's pass in the end zone and preserve the Bears' 10-3 lead late in the second quarter.
There was no wild celebration. Instead, Wright ran to the back of the end zone and knelt in memory of Auckland football legend John Beamformer Laney College football coach who died Friday after being shot on campus the previous day.
“He looked out for me,” Wright, who played for the Beam at Laney in 2018, said after the Bears’ 19-17 win on Sunday. “It's crazy. He called me the night before he died and said that every game he watched, it felt like I was getting the pick. So I just know that he was on me today.”
Just before noon Thursday, the Oakland Police Department responded to reports of shots fired at Laney and found Beam suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to an area hospital, where his condition is listed as critical. At approximately 10 a.m. the next day, Beam was pronounced dead.
Oakland police arrested 27-year-old Oakland resident Cedric Irving Jr. as a suspect in the case early Friday morning at the San Leandro BART station. Irving is a former football player at Skyline High School, where Beam once coached, but police said he did not play under Beam.
Former Laney College football coach John Beam holds the trophy after the Eagles won the California Community College Athletic Association title. championship 2018.
(Peralta Community College District, Associated Press)
Irving and Beam knew each other but were not close, acting Oakland Police Chief James Beam said at a news conference Friday. Beer added that Irving is not a student at Laney but “was on campus for a reason” on Thursday.
“This was a very targeted incident,” Beer said.
Irving was charged Monday with murder and 10 other felonies in Beam's death. Alameda County, Dist. Atty. Ursula Jones Dixon said during an afternoon press conference that Irving faces 50 years to life in prison if convicted.
Irving will be arraigned Tuesday, Jones Dixon said.
Beam coached football in Oakland for more than 40 years. He came to Laney as the running backs coach in 2004, was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2005 and was the head coach from 2012-24. After retiring from coaching, Beam continued to serve as Laney's athletic director, a position he has held since 2006.
To many of his players and community members, Beam was much more than just a coach, as viewers saw in the fifth season of the Netflix docuseries “Last Chance U,” which focused on Beam and the Eagles during the 2019 football season.
“Filming with him at Laney College allowed us to see first-hand his passion, his integrity and his unwavering dedication to the young people he coached – and to the city of Oakland,” said show creator Greg Whiteley. wrote on Friday X.
Wright told reporters that Beam was “a man I could trust, a man I love very much.” He added that the coach filled a huge void for him and his brother — New Orleans Saints defensive end Rayzon Wright, who played for Laney in 2018 and 2019 — after their father died in 2017.
“Bim intervened, acted as a father, as a father,” Nachshon Wright said. “He's done a lot for me, my brother, my family. He's been there. He's been there every step of the way, and it won't stop. I've definitely found an angel.”
In a scene from the movie Last Chance U, Laney coach John Beam talks to player Raison Wright.
(Netflix)
Raison Wright reposted a video clip of his brother's audition and its aftermath. by X and wrote: “Long live Coach Beam forever with us!”
In an October 19 Instagram post.Beam wrote that he was “in Chicago to watch the Battle of the Brothers” when the Bears hosted the Saints. Beam's pride and love for his former players was more than evident in the photographs he posted and the words he wrote.
“The Wright way is to always have faith and keep working, never give up and trust that a path will open,” Beam wrote.
