What We Learned From the Damar Hamlin Incident

Until about a week ago, it wouldn’t have been all that surprising if you had never heard the name Damar Hamlin before. Outside of a few locations, he has relatively unknown. But today, if you don’t know that name, then you must have been living under a rock for the last week.

As most of the world, or at least the United States knows, live on Monday Night Football on January 2, 2023, Damar Hamlin suddenly and inexplicably collapsed on the field of play in the game between his Buffalo Bills and The Cincinnati Bengals. What followed was a horrible time of shock, fear and anxiety over what might happen to the young man who was tended to my medical personnel immediately and raced to the nearest top level trauma center.

As of today, Hamlin is recovering in that hospital, having largely regained is cognitive abilities and is expected to have a full and successful recovery. As if that isn’t miraculous enough in and of itself, the process that lead to this point is truly amazing.

Let’s start off with the response of the players, fans and commentators directly involved with the game.

While in no many segments of our politically correct society, religion and prayer in public are looked at as taboo subjects and likely avoided, that was not the case here. Both teams and their staffs clearly engaged in prayer for their fallen colleague. Even the announcers from ESPN, known for being a rather woke network the last few years, took it upon themselves to reference prayer for the young man. Later in the week, one notable on-air personality went into a statement about prayer despite the fact that as he put it, he knew they weren’t supposed to talk about that type of stuff. Even before the stadium cleared of for the night, the was a scene of a Bengals fan holding a makeshift sign saying to pray for Hamlin, what a powerful image it was.

This event also allowed people to reflect of the fragility of life itself and the danger that can come with being a professional athlete, or an athlete on any level for that matter. Sports are supposed to be fun and provide entertainment but we often forget just how close athletes can be to catastrophe.

We learned that football is more than just a sport. It is a community; some may even say a family. While the players fight hard to win and complete at an extreme level, when it all comes down to it, football, just as any other sport, is just a game. The bond that unites the players, coaches and fans is so much deeper than what goes on during gameplay.

This was apparent in the wider national response to that event. Hamlin has a little-known charity The Chasing M’s Foundation, which had held annual toy drive for children in need. After the incident, the charity blew up and received millions of dollars in donations from all across the spectrum, from fellow athletes to everyday citizens.

This remarkable response to such a horrible occurrence touched on the more important and deeper things in our world. It is a testament to the power of prayer, community, charity and the goodness of the human spirit.

God bless those unsung medical personal who sprang into action. Much respect to the NFL and payers from both organizations for bringing about the decision to cancel the game altogether, showing a value for life and their colleague over the sport and the bottom line.

May Hamlin’s fighting spirit continue to help him in his incredible and wonderful recovery.