The Buffalo Bills safety has close ties with Pittsburgh and his family
Damar Hamlin returns to the Buffalo Bills after missing three months of training he played at the Cincinnati Reds on Monday, Oct. 24
The current NFL season had seen Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin establish him in the team before he suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed during the Bills’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday.
The Bills player collapsed on the field in the first quarter of Monday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, leaving his teammates emotional, crying and embracing one another.
Several star athletes applauded the NFL for postponing the game and emphasized the importance of Hamlins safe recovery, including Coco Gauff and NBA legend Lebron James.
“I’ve never seen anything like it since I’ve been playing,” Vincent said. Immediately, my hat went on. How do you resume play after you’ve seen such a traumatic event occur in front of you in real time?”
Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs arrived at the University of Cincinnati Hospital where Hamlin was being treated late Monday night, ESPN’s broadcast showed.
Hamlin’s junior season was his first full season of college football because of injuries, but he would go on to start in 36 of his final 38 games, the Athletic reports. In his final season, he was named a captain by his teammates and earned a spot on both the All-ACC second team and the Reese’s Senior Bowl all-star game.
He was on the Pittsburgh team in 2016 but wasn’t allowed to play due to an injury. The NFL site added that he also missed time due to injuries in 2017 and 2019.
• Bills are back to work: The team met Wednesday and held their first full practice of the week Thursday in preparation for hosting the New England Patriots on Sunday. The team has been receiving “incremental updates” from medical staff as well as from Bills general manager Brandon Beane and head athletic trainer Nate Breske who stayed behind in Cincinnati, head coach Sean McDermott said. Josh Allen told reporters Thursday that the fact that we are hearing good news about Damar is pushing us forward.
Hamlin, 24, had a big day out Monday night at the Cincinnati Bengals Stadium after he broke his neck in a freak accident
“It’s definitely the right call,” he said after the Lakers game against the Charlotte Hornets Monday night, adding, “The safety of players in all sports is always the most important. It was a terrible thing to see.”
He said that the fact that they didn’t have to come back out on the field shows that there are people who care. “Because most people just treat us as athletes, as superstars, and some people like celebrities, but in that moment they treated us like people.”
Well wishes and prayers were sent by several star athletes, including Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson, Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, and free agent Odell Beckham Jr.
The traumatic events played out in front of a packed Cincinnati Bengals stadium and a mass of TV viewers — many of whom spent Monday night sharing their prayers and wishes for Hamlin’s recovery.
“So, we know that it’s not only that the lights are on, we know that he’s home. Hamlin is being treated at the University of Cincinnati Health and Pritts said it appears that all cylinders are firing in his brain.
Hamlin started an online charity in 2020 that received millions of dollars in donations after he injured himself and then decided to go pro. As of midday Tuesday it had raised more than $3.8 million, far surpassing its original goal of $2,500.
The 24-year-old’s collapse — which happened in the first quarter, after he collided with a Bengals player — brought a rare early halt to the game and left onlookers both on and off the field distraught.
Chasing M’s: Giving Back for Damar Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills, and the Children’s Hospital in New York
Hamlin wrote on the page that this fundraiser would be the first program of the Chasing M’s Foundation, which he created to give back to his community (Hamlin is also the founder and CEO of Chasing M’s, a clothing brand he developed while in college).
As of 8 a.m. on Tuesday, the fundraiser topped over $3.3 million in donations, 135,000% more than its goal. Thousands of fans across NFL teams shared words of support on the page, which GoFundMe verified on Twitter.
During the 2020 season, Buffalo Bills fans donated more than a million dollars to a children’s hospital after Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s grandmother died.
In the aftermath of Hamlin’s collapse, the whole league showed its support for the safety and the Bills, changing their social media profile pictures to say “Pray for Damar” and skylines across the country turned blue for Hamlin.
“I’m asking all New Yorkers to join me in praying for Damar Hamlin, his family, his teammates, and our brothers and sisters in Buffalo,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said.
“Tonight, we got to see a side of football that is extremely ugly, Clark told ESPN. A side of football that no one would ever want to admit exists.
Clark was rushed to the hospital with a sickle cell trait. He had his spleen and gall bladder removed, which forced him to miss the rest of the season. He went on to work as an analyst for the sports network.
I had to deal with it before, and my teammates kept coming to my hospital bed and crying. I had them call me and tell me that they didn’t think I was gonna make it,” Clark recalled on ESPN’s live broadcast.
Clark said that there was a need for everyone to have more compassion for the players who put themselves at risk for the sake of entertainment.
We will say that the guy on our team doesn’t make the PLAY if we get upset at our favorite player or if we want to get rid of him.
It’s great to see how well Ryan Clark and Scott Van Pelt are handling this. Not exactly an easy assignment, and they’re shining. Former sports writer Matt Lindner said that the two hosts handling of the coverage will be learned in journalism classes for years to come.
Don’t Forget to Give Back: Former Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School Player Dan Rooney (Rooney) Comes Out and Wins
Prior to that, he won a Pennsylvania state championship while at Pittsburgh Central Catholic high school in 2015, leading the team to a 15-1 record as one of the best-rated defenders in the state.
If anyone can make it out of anything, it is him. Rooney said that he is a person who always comes out on top.
“I actually know Damar because him being a division one football player, reached out to me to be an intern for me.” Rooney talked about Good Morning America with Robin Roberts.
“Which is something that’s pretty unique and the reason why is cause he’s always interested in being an entrepreneur and wanted to build his own brand.
“He interned for me and then we just became super, super close so now, you know, we’re partners in a business together. We are good friends, and we work on a lot of things.
“(It’s) something I’ve always been into, just giving back,” he told CNN affiliate WKBW in December, adding: “For three years I’ve been doing the toy drive so just being able to extend it to Buffalo now is just something I love doing.”
Hamlin credited his parents with keeping him on a straight path as a kid, despite the high crime rates he experienced as a kid in McKees Rocks, which the paper said had drug and gang problems.
Hamlin, who spoke to the paper, said that his parents were always around to help him get back on track when he could have gone left or right.
Hamlin assisted his mother, who was at the game on Monday, in a family cleaning business that enabled him to go to the private Pittsburgh Central Catholic high school.
What I Want More Than To Be Running Out That Tunnel With My Brothers. God Using Me In A Different Way Today: How The Bills Will Look To Me
“As I embark on my journey to the NFL, I will not forget where I came from and I am committed to using my platform to positively impacting the community that raised me,” he said.
I was so enamored with Pittsburgh. Everything was Pittsburgh for me,” he said. “I wanted to give my city bragging rights, bring my city something and just give the city another reason to smile.”
He has played in all 15 games so far, tallying 91 tackles (tied for second-most on the Bills), six tackles for loss, two pass breakups and 1.5 sacks this season.
Earlier that month, Hamlin recounted, the Bills defensive backs had joined hands in a weekly group prayer. He and his old friend Jackson were standing at each other’s sides.
“It’s game day.” Nothing I Want More Than To Be Running Out That Tunnel With My Brothers. God Using Me In A Different Way Today. Tell Someone You Love Them Today!” Hamlin said it over the social networking site.
When did he collapse? What do we have to do about it, and how we need to do it now, when we can’t talk about it?
“My mom, my dad, my little brother, like that’s pretty much my whole world, outside of any other thing going on; my life revolves around them,” he said. “I don’t really do too much without my mom and dad’s opinion. Whether I take it or whether I don’t … I want to hear it.
Hamlin told the Globe that he wanted to stay in Pittsburgh for college so that he would be a good role model for his brother, who was 2 years old at the time.
The journalist remembered that Hamlin seemed close to his parents and had his brother on his lap during the media session many years ago, after seeing him collapse.
In the aftermath of Hamlin’s collision with Bengals receiver Tee Higgins, one NFL-affiliated account after another tweeted that we must not watch the replay of the hit. That it’s too graphic; too disturbing; too disrespectful.
The ESPN broadcast repeatedly cut to commercials — a standard practice during injury timeouts. When the program resumed, NFL players could be seen openly weeping as emergency medical staff clustered around the stricken athlete. ESPN announcer Joe Buck seemed stunned into silence along with everyone else.
“There’s just nothing to say right now,” Buck said at one point, as the cameras showed Bills coach Sean McDermott and players Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs, their faces wracked with emotion and concern.
An ambulance backed across the field toward Hamlin and the Cincinnati Reds quarterback’s father, Jayden Salters, and ESPN’s Ben Dehner
9 p.m. An ambulance was seen backing rapidly across the field toward Hamlin at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium, in a video posted by local sports reporter Joe Danneman of local TV station FOX 19.
“The entire Bills team is out on the field right now,” Salters said. Several players are kneeling on their knees, while others are holding hands. You can see how worried they are.
The quarterback of the Cincinnati Reds and other football players are gathered near the field. When Hamlin was seen on a stretcher, brief applause broke out in the stadium.
According to the Sporting News, Hamlin left the field in an ambulance. Hamlin’s mother was able to take her son with her to the game because the emergency vehicle paused in the parking lot.
“I have zero clue how anybody is expected to continue playing this game,” The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr., who is based in Cincinnati, tweeted. “What a horrifying scene that was.”
9:14 p.m. — “Players are coming back on the field and it looks like the game will continue,” ESPN’s Ben Baby reported. While his helmet was off, Burrow was throwing passes.
“They’ve been given 5 minutes to, quote unquote, get ready to go back to playing,” Buck said of the situation. “That’s the word we get from the league and the word we get from down on the field, but nobody’s moving.”
The station said that both teams were brought back to their locker rooms by the coaches. They were in the tunnel meeting with the officials while passing a phone to each other. Shortly after that phone call, the league announced play was to be suspended indefinitely.”
9:29 p.m. — “Zac Taylor just walked to the Bills locker room area and is waiting outside,” Danneman reported, adding that Taylor and McDermott then jointly met with referees.
The NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo: “Weakly Warming Up to a Game” and “Necessary” Requirements for Glenn’s Rest
As questions lingered about the apparent initial plan to resume play, local TV station WCPO, which was carrying the game, noted that the five-minute warmup period is standard protocol after most delays.
The station also said that before the game was formally suspended, Burrow and other Bengals players had left their home locker room to join Bills players in the visitors’ facility.
12:17 a.m. According to the report by The NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Troy Vincent, the league executive vice President of football operations, said that despite earlier reports, the league never wanted to resume the game.
“There was no time period for the players to get warmed up,” Vincent said, according to Garafolo. Warming up to resume play is something we didn’t think about at all. That’s ridiculous. That’s insensitive. That’s not a place we should ever be in.”
Hamlin’s heart stopped beating after he tackled, so first responders resuscitated him by performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation and using a defibrillator.
“I’m just glad he’s still alive and able to fight,” Glenn told CNN. “I just want to show my gratitude to the medical staff that were on hand. If it were not for them, my nephew probably wouldn’t even be here.”
Dion Dawkins: “Its been a while since Hamlin was still on the ground,” he told CNN during the Buffalo Wild Cardiac Blowout
Bills offensive tackle Dion Dawkins said he realized the gravity of his teammate’s condition when Hamlin continued to stay on the ground as more and more medical staff were called over.
You are only thinking in that moment, what can I do? What can we do?’ And it just immediately breaks you down into prayer,” Dawkins told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “Whether you’re a believer or not, only a higher power can really take control of what is next. And our people that help also assisted that higher power.”
Hamlin’s collapse is just the latest in a series of tragic blows for the players and Buffalo community, which in the past few months has endured a racist mass shooting and a historic blizzard that left at least 41 people dead in Erie County, New York. Dawkins said that it has been a constant beating for Buffalo.
The doctor also addressed theories that the cardiac arrest could have been caused by commotio cordis, which occurs when severe trauma to the chest disrupts the heart’s electrical charge, causing dangerous fibrillations.
When the heart is not beating well, fluid can get into the lungs and make it hard for medical staff to oxygenate the patient. So, they will flip the person on their stomach into a prone position to make breathing easier.
“So you want to improve the amount of circulation, but in the interim, you can also decrease the demand by sedating somebody, by keeping them on a breathing machine,” he said. Sometimes they use cooling agents, also called hypoxic agents, to put the body in a state of relaxation so that it doesn’t demand as much oxygenated blood. That’s part of the reason he would be on a breathing machine as well.”
What do fantasy football players really do? Damar Hamlin, 29, is recovering from a horrific hospitalization, his family, his friends and family
“This has been a very difficult week,” Goodell said. We are encouraged by the improvements in his condition as well as the enormous amount of support and care from across the country and we will continue to focus on the recovery of Damar Hamlin. We are also incredibly appreciative of the amazing work of the medical personnel and commend each and every one of them.”
Monday night games would not have been canceled in the past. “Alright boys, get back on that field, lock in, and do your job,” the coaches would have said. Gotta play on.” That did not happen.
“I don’t know if you can make the game any much safer,” he said. This sport is very difficult to play. People forget that. Fantasy football players are often looked at as commodities. He mentioned that Hamlin had a mother with his own eyes and said that some people forget that players are actually human beings.
The continued shock of Hamlin’s hospitalization – on top of the city’s mass shooting in May, deadly December blizzard, having a home game in November moved to Detroit and getting stuck in Chicago during the holidays – has been heavy on everyone associated with the club, the source said.
Damar Hamlin: a dear friend and dear friend of the Buffalo Bills. He was a gift, but nothing he could have given
The scouting report on the star defensive back from Pitt said he had great instincts and a nose for the ball, but that he was small and slow.
I will do whatever it takes to be a contributor on the team. I don’t care if it’s I gotta pass out water at halftime,” he said to reporters after the draft. “No matter what it is, I’m willing to do it. I don’t got no pride.”
Before Monday, the 2022 season had been a bittersweet ride for Hamlin, filled both with the opportunity of a lifetime and uncomfortable reminders of the perils of football.
“Me and my family, we all seen it as the perfect opportunity to be able to come in and learn,” he said in a Bills media interview in November. “Some rookies, they have the pressure of having to get out there right away. They may not be ready for their moment and burn their wicks short.
That was in September, when cornerback Dane Jackson took a gruesome-looking hit to the head and neck during a tackle in a game against the Tennessee Titans.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/04/1146800229/damar-hamlin-bills-cherished-opportunity
A Black-and-White Photo of the Last Folk Hero: A Reflection on Jackson, Hamlin, and the Rest for a Little Time
After that, Hamlin had seemed to take every opportunity to count his blessings, even as he racked up tackles, playing time and attention from fans and the media.
“Even just walking in the building first thing in the morning, you’re feeling sleepy, you ain’t charged up for the day,” he and Jackson would build each other up, he said, reminding the other “that we are where we wanted to be in the exact moment we wanted to have it.”
He grabbed his hand a little harder, because you never know when the last day is going to be.
Editor’s Note: Jeff Pearlman is the author of 10 books including his latest, “The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson.” His views are his own. Read more opinion on CNN.
There is a black-and-white picture that was found on page 1D of October 25, 1971 of the Detroit Free Press.
The Land of Football: The Loss of Chuck Hughes and the World’s Most Famous Lions (Lambda), Chuck, Landry, and the Pearlman
That’s not an exaggeration—literally within 10 minutes of Hughes’ lifeless body being loaded onto a gurney, Lions quarterback Greg Landry completed a 12-yard pass to Charlie Sanders. Afterward, members of both teams were horrified (“I wish they called the game off,” Chicago’s Bob Wallace said), but had little say. There was a stadium stuffed with fans. There was a division title to fight for. There were paychecks to be cashed.
“From the moment Dick Butkus waved frantically at the Lion’s bench, it was obvious that Chuck Hughes was in serious trouble.” – George Puscas, Free Press executive sports editor
The land of football is soda. And potato chips. It’s the land of $169 embroidered jerseys and $59 hats (both available now at NFL.com! Free shipping if you order ASAP!). It’s the land of gambling apps and fantasy leagues; of shiny helmets and colorful uniforms and scantily clad cheerleaders and adults dressed as foamy barnyard animals. The NFL exists to entice your senses and pull your dollars and bring your suppressed aggressions to life every Sunday afternoon. It is loud! And POW! and POP!
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/03/opinions/damar-hamlin-chuck-hughes-nfl-reality-pearlman/index.html
An NFL Game in 1972: Brandon Hughes and Damar Hamlin Lived in Los Angeles, Fla. (and Them All) Its Emotions
When, in 1971, Hughes was removed from the field, league officials knew he was dead (“We reached him and there was no pulse,” said Dr. Richard A. Thompson, an osteopath on the scene), then took all of 10 minutes to decide the action must continue.
Some of the fans who agree with this are trying to show respect, but coming from NFL-associated voices, it started to sound too much like unofficial/official dogma: Drink your Pepsi. Eat your Tostitos. Wear your foam finger. Just don’t focus upon the carnage.
Brandon Hughes was only one when his father died on the surface of Tiger Stadium, but as soon as he saw what happened to Damar Hamlin, the emotions hit hard. “Everything they were saying was so familiar to me,” Brandon, an employee at a mutual fund company, told me. They kept talking about how unprecedented this is. I thought it was not. Not at all.’ ”
Brandon Hughes had a mother who died at 24. She sounded sad by the uncertainty of Hamlin’s future and the echoes of past tragedy.
Glenn Thompson, 22, was with his brother and family after the Colts-Colts game played at the ICU after Hamlin was intubated
Glenn traveled 300 miles to be with the second-year NFL player and his immediate family early Tuesday morning, he told CBS. He had been watching the game at home with his nephew.
After watching his friend go down, Colts rookies safety Rodney Thomas II traveled to Cincinnati to see his friend. Meanwhile, NFL fans held vigils outside the University of Cincinnati Medical Center where Hamlin was sedated and intubated in the ICU.
Thomas said that he held Hamlin’s hand and that he could hear him. “Even if he couldn’t hear me, it didn’t matter. I said what I had to say.
Initially regarded as an important late-season matchup with significant playoff implications, the showdown averaged 21.1 million viewers on ESPN during play, according to Nielsen ratings. After Hamlin’s collapse, viewers watched the game in record numbers, making it the most watched game in sports history.
“You have to have the right type of blow hitting at the right spot on the chest with the right amount of force at just the right time in that cardiac cycle. A lot of things have to be lined up for that to occur, and investigators will consider all options.
When Damar Hamlin was bended to the ground: What happened when Damar and I lost my wife, Vanessa, played hockey for the Buffalo Sabres on January 3
The medical staff of NFL teams have a “a written emergency action plan,” including sudden cardiac arrest, head and neck trauma and abdominal or chest trauma, according to Drezner, who explained those plans are practised twice before the season begins – once at their practice facility and once at the stadium which hosts games.
A high-ranking official in the Bills organization told Coy Wire that he and his colleagues broke down in tears on Tuesday because of how heavy the situation was.
The team has tried to be a source of strength for the city, according to a source close to the team who told Wire that the emotional blows to Buffalo have piled up.
The source pointed to the performance of Buffalo Sabres hockey forward Tage Thompson on Tuesday night as a “glimmer of hope” at a time when the team needs inspiration.
Hamlins jersey number, 3, was a constant throughout the game on January 3. Thompson scored three goals during the overtime period to give the Sabres a win. Thompson got his third hat trick of the year and his third goal in the third minute of overtime.
At the time, I had to tell my wife, who did not grow up with any familiarity with sports or sport culture, “Injuries are part of the game and, when they happen, we players say our prayers, then move on … and play on.”
Now that I’m removed from the game, I feel much differently about injuries, and players’ health, than I did when I was a player. I have been reminded of the brutal nature of the sport I enjoy on a daily basis, because of my nine seasons in the NFL. I have a titanium plate and four screws in my neck. I had multiple concussions, including one in Buffalo where I had no recollection of what happened until I watched the game during film sessions the next day. I vividly remember the injuries that I had as a child.
That’s why, as the horrific scene unfolded on Monday night – when Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed to the turf, and as tears came pouring down players’ faces as they prayed around him on bended knees – I started to feel nauseous just like my wife did that day in Buffalo years ago. Mental wounds were reopened as haunting memories came flooding back in.
During my playing days at Stanford University, my teammate and fellow running back, Kerry Carter, collided with University of Washington player Curtis Williams, who ran up to make a tackle. Curtis was paralyzed from the neck down. Players cried, prayed, then played on. Two days after his 24th birthday, he passed away from the effects of the paralysis that day. My teammate is still traumatised by that collision.
Kerry told me that it would take some time for everyone involved to come to terms with what happened. It’s crazy to think that we were able to continue playing.
As players, in the past, we were conditioned to compartmentalize physical and mental pain – our own and others’. We did not learn to focus on the negative because it can affect performance. We were told to fight on even if something bad happened. We didn’t know what to expect, but we played on despite the tragic injuries.
It is unprecedented for a game to be called off in progress and it represents a paradigm shift in regards to player health and safety. No longer, perhaps, are we in the barbaric days of looking at players as disposable, replaceable pieces of meat.
The coaches were concerned about their players mental health. After seeing the teary eyes and traumatized looks on their players’ faces, they determined it wasn’t worth trying to continue that game.
Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins told CNN, “I’m truly blessed that we didn’t have to keep playing. Most people treat us athletes as superstars. Some people are like celebrities, but in that moment they treat us like people.
There are still some people, though, who think that the players should have continued playing. You don’t have to search very long on social media to find that some people care more about their fantasy football team’s performance than the health and well-being of their fellow man. I guess that’s to be expected. That’s the way it’s always been.
“We had significant concern about him after the injury and after the event that happened on the field, but he has made substantial improvement,” said Timothy Pritts, UCMC physician.
The Case for Jimmy Hamlin: When CPR Saves His Life, Football Players and the Buffalo Bills Football Head Coach Don McDermott
Hamlin is able to communicate by shaking his head, nodding or writing brief notes, said Dr. Timothy Pritts, part of the player’s medical team. Upon awakening, Pritts said, Hamlin’s mind was still on the game as he scribbled his first question on a clipboard: “Did we win?”
William Knight IV said that he had talked with him about the support he and his family would receive because of his absence from the world.
Hamlin’s father, Mario Hamlin, addressed the Buffalo Bills team on a Zoom call Wednesday to let everyone that Hamlin was making progress, ESPN reported.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a memo to teams Tuesday that the heads of player engagement and team clinicians for all clubs have received information about mental health and support resources for players and staff.
Allen said the players have had some honest talks since their teammate was hospitalized. “I think putting that helmet back on was a really good thing for our team,” he said of returning to practice, adding, “But I would be lying to you if I didn’t say, some people are going to be changed forever after being on the field and witnessing that and feeling those emotions.”
“I hope that he got some relief today,” Allen said of Higgins while speaking to reporters Thursday. He said that he hoped that his teammate did not hold that play upon himself because there was nothing else he could have done.
Doctors and Bills team members have repeatedly applauded the immediate action of medical personnel who rushed to Hamlin just seconds after his collapse.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott said on Thursday that assistant athletic trainer Denny Kellington was the person who performed on-field CPR and saved Hamlin’s life.
“As they say, practice pays off and it did in this case,” McDermott said at a post-practice news conference devoted to Hamlin. The context of it is that an assistant to himself needs to step up and take charge when he finds himself at that position, as there were other people on the field as well.
The training staff of the Bills football team: Denny Kellington, a former football player at Ohio State University, said he’s excited about the future
The league said the decision to make prior to Week 18 gives clubs a chance to know if they make the playoffs.
Kellington stepped up and took charge when he arrived, and there were other people on the field as well, that’s amazing, which is what an assistant has to do.
In a cardiac arrest, the heart is no longer pumping blood and oxygen is not being travel to the brain or other organs. The chances of organ damage increase and the chances of survival decrease if a person goes without oxygen for a long time. CPR mimics a pumping heart, which keeps blood flowing, and a defibrillator shocks the heart, which can cause it to start beating again.
Kellington has been a member of the training staff for the Bills. Prior to joining the team, he was an athletic trainer at Syracuse University for 11 years, six of which were spent as the head athletic trainer for the football team, according to the university and Kellington’s LinkedIn. He was the graduate student athletic trainer at Ohio State University, the school told CNN.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/06/sport/denny-kellington-bills-damar-hamlin-cpr/index.html
How the Bengals and Bengals embraced and celebrated Damar Hamlin in the Paycor Stadium after a cardiac arrest on Monday night
A few seconds later, another voice says, “We’re going to need everybody. All call, all call. Within the minute, several other cries go out for all personnel to rush to the field.
“It’s certainly not an exaggeration to say that the skilled and the immediate response by all of these talented caregivers prevented a very tragic outcome at that moment,” NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills said Wednesday.
McDermott also opened the Bills’ news conference Thursday with a word of thanks for “the first responders on the field this past Monday evening and the medical teams of the Bills, the Bengals and the staff, doctors and nurses at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for their work and their care.”
After Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest and was rushed to the hospital, Cincinnati Bengals fans embraced their Buffalo Bills counterparts in the Paycor Stadium, men and women broke into tears, while others prayed.
A professor in the psychology department of Clark University in Massachusetts said that what he sees over the last few days shows the evolution of the sport, where men are allowed to experience emotional vulnerability.
“I think it’s a sign that we’re better prepared than we were a quarter of a century ago to acknowledge emotional and physical health problems in men because, of course, all that sort of traditional laws of masculinity teach us to hide that,” said Addis, who is an expert in men’s depression.
Allen said that they had had some very open and honest talks. “Some unbelievable, this sounds weird, but some embraces as men, just hugging somebody and actually just leaning into them. You need every bit of it, because there have been a lot of that going around.
Damar-Hamlin: What is going on in bringing back the normal in the sport? A case study of a tragic injury that killed a player
“For some people, getting back to business is what it’s all about. It’s a good way to distract from what they’re experiencing. There is no way that other people are going to get back to business so early.
Playing will be difficult, but there are people who want to play, and there are people who don’t. Personally, I would love to play.
Getting back to normal as fast as possible is how I deal with these kinds of things. Everyone has a different way of dealing with it.
“These players are used to seeing broken bone. They’re used to concussion protocols,” Addis said. This play came close to leading to a player’s death.
I think that the risk of triggering trauma responses is real for all of the players involved as well as for fans.
Over the last few years, the sporting world has become more concerned about athletes’ mental health, but as the season nears its end, it is unclear if players will have adequate time to process their emotions.
“I’m really curious to see how this all plays out, because I don’t think the institution of the sport is ready to be as flexible about this as the players might need.”
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/07/sport/damar-hamlin-nfl-response-spt-intl/index.html
The NFL Football team is a family. The Seattle Seahawks had a great time last week, but they didn’t play like a normal game
That readiness to act quickly in the face of an emergency is the result of long hours of planning and preparation, according to Dr. Jonathan A. Drezner, who is director of the University of Washington’s medicine center for sports cardiology and team physician for the Seattle Seahawks.
It is sort of planning for the what ifs. The team physician of the Seahawks said that the team has a robust emphasis on being prepared in the NFL.
Before the NFL season starts, players are subjected to annual electrocardiograms in an attempt to identify preexisting heart conditions, according to Drezner.
“Most sudden cardiac arrest in young competitive athletes is from a preexisting heart condition. And again, these are the types of heart condition that you look for through screening, but no screening is perfect.”
It was all we needed to hear him talk to us. Dawkins said that the team had a Friday video call with Hamlin, who is currently in a Cincinnati hospital, and that it was all they needed.
Hamlin – who was sedated and placed on a ventilator after his collapse Monday – began awakening late this week and was able to have his breathing tube removed before Friday morning, physicians have said.
According to the head coach, Hamlin made his signature hand gesture during the call as he said, “Love you boys.”
The Bills will honor Hamlin before the game with a red or blue flag, while teams may honor him by holding a moment of support before the game.
Players also have the option to wear shirts emblazoned with “Love for Damar 3” during warmups and the Bills will wear “3” patches on their jerseys, the NFL said.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane – who stayed in Cincinnati following the game’s postponement to be with Hamlin and his family – praised the unified message of support across the league this week, noting how characteristically competitive the sport is.
We go to battle. But in the end, life is the number one battle,” Beane said Friday. “And to see that unity from players, coaches, (general managers), owners, fans, is unheard of. But I think it’s a good light. It sheds a great light on the NFL. The football team is a family.
A Legendary Eagles Player Who Was Known Before He Was Born: Nyheim Hines Kicked Off a New Jersey Linebacker in Orchard Park
The Eagles running back told Hamlin that he was the most famous person in the world.
“It’s GameDay & There’s Nothing I Want More Than To Be Running Out That Tunnel With My Brothers,” he wrote alongside a video of himself from earlier in the season. “God Using Me In A Different Way Today! Please tell someone you love them today. He added the hashtag #Prayfor3, his jersey number.
Josh Allen wore a sweatshirt with a large number 3 on it as he showed up to the stadium today. It won’t cost you nothing.” Hamlin posted a photo of Allen and said, “That’s My Quarterback.”
In Orchard Park, the public address announcer read a statement of support for Hamlin and received a roar from the crowd. Fans all around the stadium held up signs of support for Hamlin such as “BILLI3VE,” “All the heart for #3,” “Love for Damar” and “Thank You Medical Staff!”
Then, in the very first play of the game, Bills running back Nyheim Hines returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, traversing nearly the entire length of the field and garnering uproarious cheers from the home-field crowd.
Damar McDermott: It’s hard to be out there, but it’s what you can do for the kids, and how you can keep going
McDermott said he had exchanged texts with Hamlin Saturday night and Sunday morning. In McDermott’s pregame interview on CBS, he said Hamlin’s improved health has really been a “huge lift for the guys to get their minds off of that, off of Damar a little bit, enough to focus on their preparation for this game.”
Hamlin’s teammates, many of whom were in tears as they watched the medical team resuscitate the 24-year-old, met Wednesday for a walk-through and held their first full practice of the week Thursday.
In a news conference, Josh Allen said it was hard for them to focus on football with their teammate in the hospital.
“There’s been a lot of that going around and you need every bit of it, you really do. I think it’s the fact that we just keep hearing good news about Damar that pushes us forward.
The health of his players is paramount to the 48-year-old, who has received praise from his players for his handling of Hamlin.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, McDermott said a Zoom call with Damar’s father, Mario, on Wednesday had helped the players feel more comfortable about preparing for the game.
amar’s dad spoke to the team and told them to get back to focus on their goals for themselves, McDermott stated Thursday.
“Seeing his father’s expression on his face, it was just honestly all we needed to see to take a giant step forward,” Dawkins told CNN’s Don Lemon Friday.
We have a job to do but we are more concerned about him and his family. I am trying to find out if he is okay and make sure he is with the team at the Bills as well.
“So definitely a lot of emotions and things like that running around and to try and stay focused on the game is hard. It’s a hard thing to do and that’s just one thing you have to do is focus on each day and obviously send your prayers and also continue your routine the best you can.”
After the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans took a knee, they all fell: Hamlin’s jersey and his first public statement
The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans took a knee as a group before their game Saturday. Players from several teams across the league wore Hamlin’s No. 3 jersey before their respective match-ups as a show of support. Even ESPN journalists turned their microphone flags upside down during broadcasts to make their ‘E’ logo look like a ‘3.’
Hamlin thanked his supporters for their words and gestures of encouragement in his first public statement since his collapse.
He said he was thankful for everyone who helped him put love in the world. “This will make me stronger as I move to recovery, keep praying for me!”
“You put your work in for months to try and be the best player you can be,” Mahomes said before his team’s game. “But when you get on that field, I’m sure it’ll be a little bit of a weird feeling because it was such a scary incident. That was frightening.
Howard Bryant, a sports commentator with Meadowlark Media, told NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday that injuries such as Hamlin’s will always be a part of football as it’s currently played.
Is there a line about football? It is the only sport with a 100% guaranteed injury rate. The goal in football is to hurt people,” Bryant said. “So when you see something like this, there’s no way out.”
The Buffalo Bills Player of the Year 2002-2003, Damar Hamlin, and What he and the NFL Players Association (Foundary Funds) have Done to the Performing Arts in Buffalo
Growing up, I had never seen an NFL game in person, but that changed when I ran through the tunnel to play in my first NFL game in 2002. My childhood dream came true here in Buffalo. I would end up playing six of my nine NFL seasons here in front of the best fans in the world. Being a member of the Buffalo Bills is one of the greatest honors of my life.
But this week was tough. I played safety on the team like Hamlin, and I could tell what the other players were going through.
3 years and 3 months had passed since the Bills returned a kick for a touchdown. Bills star quarterback Josh Allen said, “It was spiritual. It was bone chilling. Hamlin, who was in the hospital, wrote on his account, ” God behind All This, no coincidence.”
The medical director of the NFL Players Association said that Damar Hamlin will play professional football again.
CNN Sports anchor and former Bills player Coy Wire said the league’s ability to act quickly to administer life-saving CPR to Hamlin is the biggest positive to take away from this NFL season.
Outside the comebacks we saw, the competition that brings excitement, the fact that half of the teams are new to the playoffs, and the fact that the league has brought to light the importance of CPR, perhaps the most significant achievement this year was the fact that half of the teams are new
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he was proud of the league and team preparations ahead of the “Monday Night Football” game in Buffalo when Hamlin went into cardiac arrest.
“The work that they [health personnel] have invested in by bringing in these great professionals, by bringing in the best of the best did contribute to saving a young man’s life. I am incredibly proud of that.
“I just want to say, ‘thank you’ and just thank God for being here and thank the other guys who was nominated for the award as well who did the work in their community,” Hamlin said.
Giving back to the community has always been a part of who I am. I am thankful to my father who is behind me. Watching him do community days as a kid. I always wait on my time.
Hamlin said that he would never take this position for granted, and would make a difference in the community where he comes from and also across the world.
The Goodell-Morse Award for Concussion Prevention in High School Football and the Implications for CTE/Tennis
The award was presented to a player who demonstrates a deep commitment to positively impacting his team’s city and communities.
“We had more evaluations – that’s going lead to more recorded concussions,” said Goodell. We want concussions to be treated, but we are not afraid of having them diagnosed, and we don’t want them to occur.
If a football player takes a blow to the head and shows symptoms like a concussion, or has a pinched nerve, or both, then a key health or athletic personnel starts the concussion protocol.
When they have symptoms they are encouraged to come forward so we can medically handle them and make sure they are handled properly.
One of the biggest concerns about repeated blows to the head and concussions is their association with a deadly brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
