The interception Nahshon Wright hauled in throughout the Chicago Bears’ 19-17 win over the Minnesota Vikings had far more which means than simply a mean takeaway. Wright performed with a heavy coronary heart on Sunday, grieving the lack of his former coach at Laney Faculty, the late John Beam. He performed in Beam’s honor after the legendary junior school coach was tragically killed in a capturing on the Laney campus.
Wright performed for Beam in 2018 and he remained in common contact with him after reaching the NFL. Beam was a father determine for the Bears cornerback and his brother, Rejzohn Wright, after they misplaced their dad in 2017. Each brothers frolicked at Laney earlier than transferring to Oregon State and embarking on their skilled careers.
“Immediately he was watching over me,” Wright stated within the Bears’ locker room. “It is loopy; he referred to as me the evening earlier than he handed and he advised me each recreation he watched, I simply appeared to get a decide. I simply know he was behind me as we speak. He was with me as we speak.”
The interception was the fourth of what has turn into a breakout season for Wright. He stated he’ll take the ball again to Oakland and ship it to Beam’s household as a result of “that one was for him.” It helped the Bears seal a divisional victory and notch their seventh win in eight video games.
Wright was immediately overcome with emotion after making the play.
“He meant the world to me,” Wright stated. “When my dad was killed, he got here to my home and obtained me out the mattress. Somebody I can speak in confidence to, somebody that I like dearly. We talked as soon as every week, simply. Actually puzzled.
“My dad was killed in 2017. Beam stepped in as a father determine, a father function. He did so much for me and my brother, my household. He is been there each step of the way in which. And it will not cease. I gained an angel.”
Beam, who stepped away from teaching in 2024 and since served as Laney’s athletic director, died Nov. 14 after being shot a day earlier in what authorities stated was a focused assault. Oakland Police arrested a suspect and stated that Beam and the suspect knew one another however didn’t have a detailed relationship. The suspect, who performed soccer at Oakland’s Skyline Excessive Faculty, was not a Laney pupil however was recognized to loiter across the campus.
Officers discovered Beam affected by gunshot wounds once they responded to the varsity’s fieldhouse. The faculty was positioned on lockdown shortly thereafter.
Beam gained nationwide consideration when he was featured within the “Final Probability U” tv sequence, which adopted Laney’s 2019 soccer season. Throughout his tenure as the varsity’s soccer coach, Beam guided the Eagles to 2 league championships, a 2018 state title and a No. 1 nationwide rating. He beforehand coached at Skyline Excessive Faculty and received 15 league championships and 11 part titles in 16 years.
