Yeah - that was very-tough - I don't recall ever seeing something like that happen although I imagine it's happened at some point in some sport.
I'm middle-aged (early-50s) and the older I get the harder it is when I see something that serious happen to a young-person with most of their life ahead-of-them.
Wow I just saw this. What a bizarre thing to happen. A young healthy guy and got immediate medical attention, so hopefully he can pull through. You know it's bad when doctors say reports of "critical condition" is good news.
I heard someone mention on TV that what came to mind was college-basketball-player Hank Gathers - Hank was 23-years-old and he passed-away on-the-court back in 1990 but I was not watching the game live.
^ I remember Hank Gathers passing. I will never forget that night when he collapsed on court.
In my view, and this is only my thoughts, is this reminds me more of Dale Earnhardt’s passing at Daytona. His car was hit, and it didn’t look like anything awful to me. The Damar hit didn’t look like a horrible hit either. However, it was likely the location of the hit that cause such immediate distress.
The hit was on YouTube within minutes. From a violent hit standpoint, it looks like just another routine tackle. The looks on all the players faces showed that their minds were only on Damar, not football.
^ I was watching that Dale Earnhardt race and the accident seemed mild yet it was fatal - I can't remember but I think Dale snapped-his-neck and subsequently Nascar implemented/mandated a head-restraining-device.
Cash, I agree about Earnhardt. Over my many years following NASCAR, MANY looked worse. I recall reading that what caused the death was something to do with the way his seatbelts were installed. Might wish to check on that, but seems Dale had his installed differently then required by NASCAR. If that's the case, 2 problems, Dale not following the safety rules and NASCAR allowing him to do so!
BTW, Cashman was my CB handle many years ago. :)
Hank Gathers had a congenital issue. Hard to say if Damar had some ticking time bomb as well but with someone so young that seems like a consideration.
I've had a friend die from a congenital defect on his aorta that caused his aorta to rupture while he was water skiing. I also was resting in the lobby area during a hard job at a large hospital in the Detroit area and saw a woman walking in happily with flowers in her hands for a patient. The next thing I know I heard her give an "Oh" and fall to the ground. Dumb me thought she had tripped and I laughed to myself. It wasn't until doctors from all over the place came around her that I knew it wasn't funny and very serious. Like with Damar, they gave her a long period of CPR before loading her on a gurney and rushing her to ER.
We don't know when something could change a normal day to something more. This type of thing gives us a gentle reminder to enjoy each moment.
I just got home from the game and I have to say it was a surreal scene. At first it just seemed like any other tackle. Then when the medical staff came out it seemed like just any other football. Everyone was just wondering if it was just someone getting the wind knocked out of them, or a broken bone or concussion or what it was.
After a couple of minutes it became clear from the looks on the players faces and their body language that it wasn't a normal injury. At that point I was thinking it was something like the Tua situation when I was at the game earlier in the season. From where I was sitting all I could see while he was down was the players from both sides on the field holding hands, praying and crying.
When the ambulance came on the field the crowd was eerily quiet. All I could think of was that it must have been a spinal injury like Ryan Shazier a few years ago. I got a text from a friend that was up in the upper deck and he said from there it looked like they were doing cpr on him for a while.
After the ambulance left they said they were going to give the teams time to get warmed back up and restart the game. At that point we all assumed that meant that he was alright. The players were still visibly shaken, but things had to be ok if they were getting ready to play again, right?
Then we saw Zac Taylor go across the field to talk to the other coach and the refs and then they cleared the players from the field. Everybody in the stands started openly wondering how bad it was and if he was even alive.
I don't know how long it actually was, but it seemed like an eternity before they gave any update and finally said the game was suspended for the night. I don't know who made the final decision to postpone or what took them so long to make the decision. I know it is normal to keep playing the game after any kind of injury, but it was clear very early on that the players weren't going to be able to play tonight.
I sincerely hope that young man pulls through and is able to get back to normal. I also hope I never have to see a scene like that again. Seeing grown athletes visibly shaken to the core like that was eerie.
I don't know if/when they will reschedule this game, but I honestly hope they don't. As much as I was looking forward to the game, I don't see how any of the players could be mentally prepared to play at 100% in the next couple of days. Sure they are used to playing after players are seriously injured, but watching a 20 something year old guy get cpr for an extended time on the field has to hit them differently. This was seeing someone literally fighting for his life.
As much as I am a football and Bengals fan, this is about more than a game tonight. It is about hoping that young man can live a full and happy life after this.
The strange thing was that he just popped up, like I'm sure he had after many other tackles, and then his knees just buckled underneath him.
The doctors will probably find a contributing factor somewhere. I just pray that they will be able to restore him to health.
Some of the reports I've seen are saying it appears similar to something called Commotio Cordis.
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This is a rare phenomenon where a blunt force strike to the chest happens at a precise moment during the heart rhythm. It has to occur at a certain spot on the chest, and literally within a specific millisecond during the cycle of a heartbeat. Apparently this sometimes happens from being struck with a Lacrosse ball, baseball, and even in martial arts. Nothing I've heard about it says there needs to be a pre-existing condition or other contributing factor like drug use for it to happen. Just a hit to the chest at the wrong time.
^I remember a 11 yo Little League pitcher from a nearby town dying after being hit by a line drive in the chest. I was coaching LL at the time and it was scary. Kids chests and rib cages at that age are under developed. Aluminum bats were blamed - the ball would rocket off them.
I never heard of it happening with an adult.
^Our league trained all the coaches in CPR and automatic defibrillators - which they installed at the club house. A few years later they deadened the aluminum bats somehow.
Damn freak accident, I hope he fully recovers, I was watching when the hit happened last night, it put me in mind almost immediately of Darryl Stingly's hit by Jack Tatum that left him paralyzed, back in the 70s. That was awful to see as well.
I have mixed feelings about the game being stopped. I get that it was a traumatic moment, but there were also thousands of Buffalo fans in attendance who spent a lot of time and money to be there that they will never get back. I truly feel bad for Hamlin and I hope he's OK, but this is a "next man up" sport precisely because serious injuries happen.
I was only 12 years old, but I was watching the Lions-Bears game in 1971 when Chuck Hughes of the Lions collapsed and died of a heart attack on the field.
This was different circumstances than last night’s game. Hughes was not hit. The incident happened in the 4th quarter and the game was continued to the end
Although he was not officially pronounced dead until 1-2 hours later at the hospital, reports say he died in the field.
Rick - I understand your point, but although it’s rare in any other sport except baseball, games are sometimes postponed and fans, especially out-of-town visiting fans are disappointed. It’s part of the contract and was even printed on tickets back when they had physical game tickets.
It’s a different era. Decision makers today won’t be faulted for putting caution and heart above business. Look at the often logic-defying decisions around Covid.
The players were justifiably freaked out and the owners and officials put their well being over the fans’ entertainment.
I’m sure there’s a lot of degenerate gamblers complaining about the game being stopped too. To them I say “tough shit”. Sports is a suckers bet. People think they’re experts because they watch a lot lol.
The players on both teams were deeply affected by what happened. You could see it on their faces and reactions while it unfolded. These players are human beings first. All of them would have had a difficult time continuing. It takes time to process things like this even for "pros".
These are two great teams, and it will be a better game after what happened has been processed internally by each individual player.
From what I heard, the head coaches and key players from both teams got together and decided they weren't going to continue the game. It appears Goodell and NFL operations officially postponing the game was just a formality at that point.
Lots of speculation here some of which might be accurate.
I saw it happen live and watched several replays from a couple different angles. My thoughts are it's the result of a formerly unknown preexisting condition or one of those freak coincidences that just happen out of nowhere.
Either way I hope the guy recovers to the point where he can live to a ripe old age.
I have no problem with how it was handled. The guy’s heart stopped on the field. If they’d gotten the albeit unlikely word in an hour that he was revived and ok, they could’ve resumed. Better to make significant decisions with more info. Lots of Monday morning quarterbacks all over social and mainstream media looking to criticize not restarting or taking too long to suspend play. It’s horseshit. It’s a tough decision and being deliberate is ok.
Rick, I understand your point and in the case of most injuries you would be right. Injuries are a part of the game and you move on normally.
However, this wasn't like most injuries, this was a man who's heart stopped and the paramedics and doctors had to spend ten minutes giving him cpr and shocking him multiple times with a defibrillator in front of both teams. That is very different than most injuries. This wasn't just watching a teammate get injured, this was watching a teammate who was essentially dead for several minutes as the medical professionals fought to bring him back to life. The looks on the faces of the players and coaches let everyone know how bad this shook them.
I honestly don't know how this game can be made up given the schedule for the rest of the season at this point. As a Bengals fan I was looking forward to watching them lock up the AFC North last night in person and watching them go into next week's game against Baltimore with a chance at the #1 seed in the AFC. However, I doubt last night's game would have been worth a damn even if they could've convinced both teams to play after what they just watched.
As for the effect on the fans who traveled to see the game, I feel bad for them but it isn't enough of a reason to have kept playing. I have been at many sports events and some concerts that were postponed due to weather to other days where I was unable to attend due to my schedule or the cost of traveling back to the venue. I have even traveled for concerts that were postponed due to the performer being sick. This is no different.
As for other things like gambling, advertising money spent, fantasy football or whatever else I just say to hell with it. None of that matters in the grand scheme of things right now.
Good Lord, Rick, "next man up"?
This wasn't a guy getting the wind knocked out of him. This was a man taking 8 minutes of CPR to bring him back to life. He's still in critical condition and no one knows how he's going to end up.
The Buffalo Bills' concern for their imperiled teammate far outweighs any fan's right to see a game. Get some perspective.
On the betting thing specifically, I’d be surprised if anyone loses money if they don’t replay the game. The sports books will just cancel them. Maybe if something funky happens like the nfl declaring a forfeit or that cincy wins 7-3 you’ll have some chaos. If they just cancel the game all the bets will be canceled. My bet is still showing that it’s live.
I have no idea if this is the culprit, but I found this sports medicine video on commotio cordis (specifically relating to the Hamlin hit) to be interesting. Considering how often these guys take hard hits to the chest, it's reasonable to see it happen once in a while, even if it's rare.
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"And how exactly does stopping the game help the guy? Do some of the other players moonlight as cardiac surgeons?"
Strawmen suck. They're people, not just athletes.
@Ishmael, usually you hear about commotio cordis in teenagers or even college kids, not 24 year olds. Could have been myocarditis, some idiots are all like "it must have been the COVID vaccine!" He'll get his heart examined six ways from Sunday, and it'll be made public soon enough.
Great article about commotio cordis here.
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No, I don't think that any of the players are cardiac surgeons, but it's reasonable to assume that, at the very least, his own teammates would be shook up by something that is more than a "serious injury" but rather a life-and-death situation. One could make the argument that his team would be playing at a disadvantage if they're sufficiently distracted by the event.
There was also a likely conversation about how it would look if things turned in a bad direction and Hamlin passed away during the game (if the game continued). And it would have looked like a complete absence of compassion and decency. So, they made the right call.
Look it sucks that the guy nearly died. But for too many reasons to list, "next man up" would have been the right approach. Not only for the many thousands of people who sacrificed hard earned money and time to be there, but because, as desert rightly pointed out, there is a cascading series of other negative consequences for many other teams. There were also likely hundreds of vendors and employees working at the stadium that night who were relying upon the income they would have made during that game.
Your online tough guy persona is nothing like you in real life. I’m gonna guess, but with pretty good odds you’ve never seen someone drop in real life in need of resuscitation. If so, it’s nothing like a broken leg. When you literally see someone’s life start to pass by it’s hard to unsee it, especially at these young guy’s age. They did the right thing. His team mates close to him couldn’t process what they saw in that shirt of time. It was too much shock to the team, and others witnessing.
You guys have moved on from the gambling angle, but to close that loop, the NFL just announced the game won’t be concluded in the next 7 days. With that, the sports book I used voided the bet. No loss to me. No word from the NFL if they will try to find another time to make up the game. Related, yesterday was also the fantasy football championship week in most leagues and there are a lot of players on those teams that are key to fantasy.
^ I was in 2 different fantasy super bowls, where I had a substantial lead in both. My opponent conceded in one. I don't know what's going to happen in the other, where I was over a 90% favorite when the game was suspended. We'll see, this is unprecedented territory.
"And how exactly does stopping the game help the guy?" Obviously stopping the game does nothing to help him since nothing short of intensive medical care (and possibly not even that) was going to help him.
The better question would be "How does stopping the game help the other people involved?" How would you feel if someone close to you was laying on your desk not breathing and pulseless for an extended period of time as paramedics are brought in to give cpr and shock his heart repeatedly right in front of you. Now imagine how you would feel if as soon as he was loaded into an ambulance, still unconscious, your boss told you that you had 5 minutes to get back to work and that you'd better be working at 100% for the rest of your shift. I can't speak for anyone else but personally I'd tell my boss to go to hell at that point. Maybe as a middle-aged man you have seen your fair share of tragedy and death and you could compartmentalize your feelings and move on, but I doubt you could have back when you were 22 or 25 years old like a lot of those players are.
Maybe I should put this in terms that are more relevant to you. If you were sitting stageside at the club and a dancer collapsed pulseless and not breathing on the stage and laid there for 10 minutes as a doctor in the crowd performed cpr and shocked her heart back to life in front of all the dancers and customers in the club would you expect the club to get back to normal just a few minutes and expect the next dancer in the lineup to get on that same stage and perform her routine 5 minutes later?
Or since you like to do otc, if a girl suddenly stopped breathing and her heart stopped in the middle of sex with you and you had to watch her get resuscitated on the bed would you be in the mood to call another girl as soon as the paramedics left and get right back to fucking the "next girl up" on that same bed just a few minutes later?
Could most of the players have continued last night? Probably. Could they have performed at the high level that would be expected in a game like that? Probably not. Should they have been forced to try? Absolutely not.
I suppose I understand the attitude that "the show must go on", but Jesus fuck, his teammates deserve some consideration as well.
"But they're making millions," some will say. True, but they're also human beings, and I know that I would certainly not be at the top of my form were I to witness someone essentially dying (however temporarily) at my work place.
Good news reported today on Damar Hamlin's condition.
Breathing tube removed, he's speaking, and able to move arms and legs. Doctors say, "His neurologic function remains intact and he has been able to talk to his family and care team."
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He was very-fortunate he was able to receive care right-away on the field including the use of a defibrillator to restart his heart – from what I’ve heard, under most other settings a person may have likely died.
I am absolutely amazed by how quickly he has recovered. It is being reported that not only was he released from the hospital today, but he walked onto his flight to Buffalo without needing any oxygen or other medical assistance. After watching them work on him on the field last Monday I never expected that he would be up and walking less than a week later.
Thank God for modern medicine and the skilled medical professionals that were there to help him.
Well they say if you're gonna have a heart attack, the "second best" place to be is on a football field. The first would be in a hospital emergency room.
I saw one report that said the medical professionals who work NFL games run drills and simulations inside actual stadiums to practice for emergencies, even highly unlikely ones like what happened to Hamiln.
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