2023 collapse of Damar Hamlin

Damar Hamlin is removed from Paycor Stadium in an ambulance. The Buffalo Bills, in white, kneeling in prayer at the bottom left of the image.

On January 2, 2023, during the ongoing Week 17 game of the 2022 NFL season between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed after tackling wide receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin went into cardiac arrest near midfield at Paycor Stadium. CPR and defibrillation were administered before he was rushed to a local hospital.

Background

The game was started on January 2, 2023, on Monday Night Football in Week 17 of the 2022 NFL season. Entering the game the Bills were 12-3, and still fighting for the number 1 seed in the AFC, while the Bengals were 11-4 and still fighting to secure first place in the AFC North. The game was the only one in Week 17 where both teams had a winning record.

Game before the incident

The Bengals received the opening kickoff and proceeded to march down the field. The drive was capped off with a 14-yard touchdown to Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd from quarterback Joe Burrow. The Bills' first drive ended in the red zone, but resulted in a 25-yard Tyler Bass field goal.

Incident

During the Bengals' second drive, Burrow found receiver Tee Higgins for a short gain. After making the tackle, Hamlin got up for a few seconds before collapsing. As he remained motionless, team trainers and paramedics rushed to his side within seconds. Hamlin was then placed on a stretcher and an ambulance came onto the field as most of the players from both teams came off the sidelines to kneel or stand around Hamlin. First responders initiated CPR and administered defibrillation to Hamlin on the field for 10 minutes. Hamlin was also given oxygen, intubated, and administered an intravenous solution (IV). He was transported to University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center at roughly 9:25 p.m. EST, and was reported to be in critical condition, having gone into cardiac arrest. In accordance with the NFL's emergency-situation rules, the game was suspended with 5:58 remaining in the first quarter and was postponed shortly after 10 p.m., about one hour after Hamlin collapsed.

Reactions

Following the collapse, numerous NFL players and teams quickly offered their support and prayers on social media. Tee Higgins offered his condolences to Hamlin's family, as did Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase and Penn State head coach James Franklin. Basketball player LeBron James voiced his support for the NFL's decision to postpone the game. Fans began gathering outside the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center following his collapse. The lights on Paycor Stadium, the location of the game, were lit blue in honor of Hamlin. The day after, the Washington Capitals held a moment of silence for Hamlin before their game against the Buffalo Sabres.

Anti-vaxxers and right-wing politicians exploited the incident to spread vaccine disinformation alleging that Hamlin's injury could have been caused by myocarditis from the COVID-19 vaccine, a claim that has no evidence. Stew Peters used the event to promote his film Died Suddenly, which made similar claims. Doctors who had witnessed the incident on television speculated that it could have been caused by commotio cordis, a rare condition in which a high impact to the chest at a specific time in the heartbeat cycle can cause a cardiac arrest.

Television coverage

The game was aired on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes as part of ESPN's Monday Night Football coverage. Because of the threat of an overrun from the 2023 Rose Bowl airing immediately prior to the game on ESPN (and diversion of Megacast resources to that game), there was no Manningcast for this game on ESPN2. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were on the call of the game, Lisa Salters was the sideline reporter, while John Parry was the rules analyst. Buck and Aikman were on the call for the initial incident, but coverage was quickly moved to ESPN's Monday Night Countdown studio team of Adam Schefter, Booger McFarland and Suzy Kolber. Following the announcement of the game's suspension, coverage shifted to a special edition of SportsCenter hosted by Scott Van Pelt from Washington, D.C. Coverage ended on ESPN2 at 10 PM ET, on ABC at 11 PM ET and on ESPN at 12 AM ET.

ESPN was praised for its coverage of the incident. Contributors Ryan Clark and Booger McFarland were specfically praised for their commentary.

NFL criticism

The NFL was criticized for its reaction to the incident. Joe Buck initially reported on the broadcast that after the ambulance took Hamlin away, the NFL had told teams they had five minutes to prepare to resume playing. This decision was criticized immediately by commentators, but the NFL denied the report. The NFL was also criticized for not immediately postponing the game following the incident. While teams were sent to the locker room quickly, the game was not officially postponed until an hour after the incident.

Aftermath

Hamlin was sedated and placed on a ventilator at University of Cincinnati Medical Center following the incident. At the Hospital, he was resuscitated a second time. Twenty four hours after the incident, his oxygen was reduced from 100% to 50%, but Hamlin was still unable to breathe on his own.

In the hours following the incident, fans donated over $3 million to a holiday toy drive Hamlin had established in 2020, which had an original target of $2,500 on GoFundMe. Donations continued mounting, to surpass $3.5 million the following morning.

On January 3, the NFL announced that the game would not be completed that week, nor had they made any changes to the following week's schedule, the last of the regular season. The only other option for resuming or replaying the contest would be to postpone the 2022–23 NFL playoffs and allow the Bills and Bengals to play or finish the game as a "Week 19" contest and determine the final playoff seeding.

References

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