USA Today

‘However one possibility the league didn’t create a provision for is a potential Bills-Bengals rematch. If the current seedings hold, No. 2 Buffalo (12-3) would host No. 3 Cincinnati (11-4) in the divisional round. Conversely, if both teams wind up 12-4, the Bengals would be ranked higher based on the strength of victory tiebreaker and a matchup with the Bills would be staged in Cincinnati.’

‘Wildgoose is now with the Washington Commanders but considers his draft partner his “brother.” Every time he thinks of Hamlin, Wildgoose becomes emotional. He doesn’t want to talk about what happened, that one of the closest friends he’s made in the NFL suffered cardiac arrest Monday – and has since made a “remarkable recovery” while still in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.’

‘To be clear, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is still fighting for his life after the horrific incident against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday when he went into cardiac arrest on the field. But what we’ve seen is that Hamlin is far from fighting alone. He has much of a nation fighting alongside him. Hamlin’s story has emerged as both one of the most tragic and now, perhaps, we hope, one of the most inspirational we’ve seen.’

‘As of this morning, he is beginning to awaken and it appears that his neurological condition and function is intact. We are proud to report that, very happy for him and for his family and for the Buffalo Bills organization, that he is making improvement. He continues to be critically ill and continues to undergo intensive care in our surgical and trauma ICU. He’s being cared for by ICU neurocritical care teams, trauma surgery and a cardiology team, as well as our expert nurses and respiratory therapists. They are attending to him and he still has significant progress that he needs to make, but this marks a really good turning point in his ongoing care. ‘

‘For all of the training, practices, game-planning strategies and other components of the NFL grind, nothing has prepared the Bills – players, coaches and staff alike – for the trauma of the life-and-death situation presented during the first quarter of their game against the Cincinnati Bengals when Hamlin’s heart stopped beating and first responders resuscitated him on the field using CPR and an AED. Hamlin collapsed after making what appeared to be a routine tackle.’

‘“This has been a very difficult week,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement announcing the decision. “We continue to focus on the recovery of Damar Hamlin and are encouraged by the improvements in his condition as well as the tremendous outpouring of support and care for Damar and his family from across the country. We are also incredibly appreciative of the amazing work of the medical personnel and commend each and every one of them.”’

‘Almost immediately, the network gave viewers an idea of the gravity of what transpired by showing the traumatized faces of Bills and Bengals players. The zoomed-out view provided some level of privacy during an unfolding public tragedy. ESPN made the right call in not replaying Hamlin’s hit and subsequent collapse multiple times.’

‘”The NFL has made no decision regarding the possible resumption of the game at a later date.”‘

‘Now it’s possible that the NFL could table the final game of Week 17 and finish its regular season with an imbalanced schedule for two teams. As the Covid-19 pandemic raged in 2020, the NFL furiously exercised all options and flexibility to play a complete schedule, revising the schedule along the way to account for outbreaks that hit various teams. The NFL wound up playing games on every single day of the week – including Tuesday and Wednesday – to pull off its mission for a complete season that preserved the integrity of the playoff races.’

‘Despite all of that, there are times we forget their humanity. You do it, so have I, on occasion. There are times we think of them as robots with no feelings. Drones with numbers on their backs. We draft them in fantasy football, curse them when they don’t score enough points, think we can do what they can when most of us can barely get off the couch.’

‘According to a cached version of the web page, Hamlin’s GoFundMe had received $2,921 in donations in the two-year span through December 2022. It raised nearly $700,000 in the span of an hour Monday, after Hamlin collapsed on the field during Buffalo’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.’

‘An ambulance was brought onto the field and ESPN reporter Lisa Salters said medical responders were “working on him” for more than nine minutes. According to play-by-play announcer Joe Buck, Hamlin was administered CPR and placed on a stretcher. Prior to going into the ambulance, he was given oxygen.’

‘“Medical advice guided our decision,” NFL Chief Football Administrative Officer Dawn Aponte said after midnight on a conference call. “We remained in constant communication with both teams, medical personnel, game officials and ownership. We made decisions that we believed to be in the best interest of Damar’s status and the state of both teams – players and staffs. There couldn’t have been more collaboration throughout this process by all parties.”’

‘”Please stop throwing snowballs. We’ve just been informed that if a snowball hits someone, it’ll be a 15-yard penalty against Buffalo”‘

‘A quirky one: “Icy Hot stuff on your toes to try to keep the circulation going down there,” he said.’