Cardinals right tackle Kelvin Beachum set to become only O-lineman to play all 17 games
At 33-years-old, Kelvin Beachum is the second-oldest starter on the Cardinals’ offense behind wide receiver A.J. Green, 34. Beachum also happens to be the only player on offense to have started all 16 games for the team thus far.
He’ll make it 17-for-17 on Sunday when he takes the field at Levi’s Stadium for Arizona’s season finale at the 49ers and Beachum, despite playing through some painful injuries, isn’t ready to call it quits. Though he is set to become an unrestricted free agent, he is open to the idea of returning for a 12th NFL season.
“I would love to keep playing,” Beachum said Wednesday. “My body feels good. I don’t know if my kids want me to keep playing, but … ”
For the past couple weeks, Beachum has been playing despite a sprained MCL in his knee and a sprained ankle. He was questionable for each of the past two games but pushed through the pain anyway. Asked if his gimpy knee and twisted ankle want him to keep playing, Beachum smiled.
“Ask me that in two months,” he said. “But right now, I’m drugged up enough where … I’m just being honest, man. You play this game long enough and that’s just what it is. Toradol has helped me quite a bit this year. It just is what it is.”
Getting injections of a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug is one thing. Being the only player to start every single game on an offensive line that has been decimated by injuries and has seen 10 different starting combinations – and keep playing at a high level while offering savvy leadership to boot – is another.
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“Yeah, he’s a guy I call him the ‘CEO’ because he’s made so much money off the field,” coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “I mean, he’s got all these business interests, all these different things. He doesn’t have to be playing, particularly in this situation. Had a sprained MCL, had a sprained ankle and continues to play and wants to finish what he started, so that says all you need to know about him.
“I couldn’t be more impressed with all the changes, all the things going on, just the way he’s battled and helped lead that offense.”
Billy Price, who has started he past 10 games at center with veteran Rodney Hudson sidelined with a troublesome knee issue, recently commented how truly difficult it is for an NFL team to withstand so many changes on an offensive line. The average fan, he said, has no clue how hard it is to quickly pick up the chemistry and consistency it takes for the front five up front to operate at a cohesive level with each other and the quarterback.
“It’s way harder than people think,” he said.
And yet, here is the 6-foot-3, 308-pound Beachum bring it day after day, week after week, month after month. Why has he continued to slog through the pain, the losses and aggravation?
“Mike Tomlin used to say this all the time – the best ability is availability,” Beachum, who spent his first four years with the Steelers, said of Pittsburgh’s head coach. “I take pride in being available. I take pride in being there for my team. I take pride in my name and what my name stands for.
“My Dad still every morning is up at the shop working on cars. My Grandfather is 95, still up every morning working on cars. They take pride in their work and at the end of the day if they can take pride in their work, I can take pride in my work. This is a kid’s game that I get to play for a living.”
After learning how Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field during Monday’s night game against the Bengals, Beachum was asked if the incident makes him think about his own health and safety.
“I think about my safety and my future quite a bit in playing the game. When things happened with J.J. (Watt) earlier in the year, that makes you think about your future,” Beachum said, referring to the Cardinals’ defensive end who suffered atrial fibrillation, had to have his heart shocked back into rhythm and is retiring following Sunday’s game.
“I’m around that age. J.J. retires and I’m literally walking in the weight room and I’m like, ‘I just don’t got it today. I’m just sick to my stomach and I just don’t want to be here today.’ Those thoughts and those emotions rise up from time to time.”
Beachum, though, will be back on the field one last time on Sunday, and more after that if the Cardinals want to bring him back. Kingsbury, for one, wants to see it happen.
“Yeah, I would,” he said. “Just the way he’s played and performed and pushed through and the leadership he’s brought to this organization has been phenomenal.”
Beachum’s spirit, competitiveness and pride, Kingsbury said, has been a bright spot in an otherwise dismal season.
“Yeah, it’s invaluable to have guys like that around,” he said, “especially for those young players and in this scenario. Being at a point in a season where the games don’t matter as far as standings and things of that nature, to have guys still playing at a high level, still showing up at 5 a.m. to get their bodies right and be a professional, that sets the tone for your entire organization.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kelvin Beachum set to become only Cardinals to start all 17 games
