Deeply shocked by the fact that football pro Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest in the middle of the game, his teammates shed tears. In a circle, the Buffalo Bills players and coaches knelt around each other on the court, arms crossed.
Bills defense attorney Hamlin had just been taken from the field to a clinic in an ambulance after his sudden collapse in front of millions of TV viewers. After lengthy deliberations, the top NFL game between the Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals was called off at the urging of both teams.
Memories of Ericsen
For minutes, 24-year-old Hamlin was resuscitated by paramedics and doctors in front of 65,515 spectators at Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium. The events were reminiscent of the dramatic scenes at the 2021 European Football Championship, when Danish international Christian Eriksen collapsed with cardiac arrest in the game against Finland and had to be revived.
Many of Hamlin’s teammates were visibly upset and heartbroken, many praying. Numerous Bills fans later gathered near the hospital, some holding candles. “Please pray for our brother,” Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen tweeted.
“Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after being struck in our game against the Bengals. His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was taken to UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He is currently sedated and in critical condition ‘ the Bills said via Twitter.
Common defensive action
Midway through the first quarter, Hamlin went for a tackle in standard football-game defensive action, and the Bills defenseman knocked down Bengals receiver Tee Higgins. Higgins shoulder-led his running action and caught the defender in the chest. Hamlin got up after his tackle, adjusted his helmet – and collapsed a few seconds later. “My prayers and thoughts are with Damar Hamlin and his family. I pray you get through this bro,” Higgins wrote on Twitter.
“American football is a damn dangerous game,” said TV expert Patrick Esume at “ran.de” and added: “Everyone accepts injuries, but nobody wants to give their life for it.” Esume is also the boss of the European League of Football. He does not expect consequences for the rest of the NFL season. “The season will go on and the Bills will play because the circus is way too big,” said Esume.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my playing career,” former NFL football player Troy Vincent said in a media interview. “Immediately I switched to the player’s perspective: How can you continue playing right in front of you after such a traumatic incident?”
Abort at the score of 7:3
90 minutes into the game, the football league decided to abandon the game with the Bengals 7-3. Initially, the two head coaches, Buffalo’s Sean McDermott and Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor, and the referees agreed that the game would be abandoned. The fact that NFL boss Roger Goodell took so long to make the decision to stop and the league allegedly wanted to continue the game at first caused criticism.
“Our thoughts are with Damar and the Buffalo Bills. As soon as more information is available, we will share it,” said league boss Goodell in an official statement.
Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes wrote on Twitter: “Please be okay. I pray hard.” Meanwhile, basketball superstar LeBron James also said: “It’s terrible to see, I wish him all the best. The safety of the players in all sports is always the most important thing. It was definitely the right decision to cancel the game.”
Some observers probably woke up memories of an accident in 2007. At that time, Kevin Everett, a defensive player for the Buffalo Bills, also went down after a tackle. Everett sustained a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed on one side.
It was not initially clear when and in what form the game between the Bengals and Bills should be continued. The last main round game day in the NFL will take place next weekend, on which the last playoff participants and the order in the table will be determined. As the Bengals battle for their division’s title, the Bills still have a shot at the AFC’s best record.
