Cole Beasley's career almost didn't happen.

As a high-school recruit, the little-sized kid from Little Elm, Texas, received only two offers to play college football. That's the same number of stars that accompanied his name as a high-school recruit. To this day, if you fire up his Rivals recruiting profile, you'll see Beasley's name but no picture of him.

Two-star recruits without a profile picture on major recruiting sites aren't supposed to make it to the NFL.

Beasley made his decision to play for SMU for a reason top recruits usually don't even consider. In an interview for Rivals, the wide receiver pointed toward his choice of major being a driving force behind it.

"I thought it would be good because I'm going to major in business and they said that they have one of the top ten schools in the country for business," said the younger version of Beasley.

Once he was at SMU, Beasley would change positions after being a dual-threat quarterback in high school. His 255 catches there remain the third-most in Mustangs' history. But playing in the league?

Nah. If you're 5'8, you're not supposed to play wide receiver in the NFL.

For that very reason, Cole Beasley's career almost didn't happen (again). In 2012, with his collegiate career over, the SMU product went undrafted and signed with the Dallas Cowboys. 

That's quite the story, right?

An always-the-underdog kid signing with his home state team after a great career with his home state college and making it to the NFL? Then sustaining a long career at the highest level? Right out of a fairy tale!

But wait, the thing is, it simply wasn't as smooth.

Beasley left the Cowboys' training camp as a rookie, claiming he "had a lot of stuff going on" off the field. The wide receiver even revealed the team was trying to talk him out of quitting football but family came first for the wide receiver.

And in case I need to say the obvious… Undrafted rookies who leave the team in the middle of training camp aren't supposed to become NFL staples.

But Beasley's dad talked to his kid and so Beasley was back with the team. And what do you know? A few weeks later, Cole Beasley's name was on the 53-man roster. He wasn't a preseason Cowboy anymore. He had earned the Star on his helmet.

You probably know the rest. Over the course of seven seasons with the Cowboys, Beasley caught 319 passes, racked up 3,271 yards, and brought down 23 touchdowns. He would add another 2,455 yards and 11 more touchdowns with the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (for whom he played two games this season).

Now, the former Dallas Cowboys' beloved receiver is set to retire according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo. 

"He is ready to be with his family after playing 11 seasons and it's time to be a full-time dad and husband," says the report.

11 seasons for #11. How about that?

As we think back on Beasley's career now that it's come to an end, it's hard to stop thinking about how unlikely it was to even begin.

Featured image via Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports