Beckles grew up with his mother in a single-parent home in Montreal and played hockey and baseball as a youth (among his friends was future NFL fullback and Buc teammate Alonzo Highsmith).
However, after playing football in high school, Beckles excelled and went on to play junior college football at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa, earning all-conference honors as a sophomore.
During Beckles' senior year, Indiana produced one of nation's top rushing attacks (214.5 yards per game).
Beckles blocked for future NFL quarterback Trent Green, running backs Vaughn Dunbar (an NFL first-round pick) and Anthony Thompson (who won the Maxwell Award player of the year award in 1989), and Ernie Thompson, and alongside standout center Ron Vargo, who played briefly for the Arena Football League's Cleveland Thunderbolts in the early 1990s.
Head coach Bill Parcells criticized Beckles' conditioning during his time in New York.
[2] The establishment's soulful vibe has attracted many customers from various walks of life, and has become a popular, healthy and safe alternative to bars that sell alcohol.