Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin collapsed after being tackled during the NFL game last night. He’s in critical condition and the teams postponed the game. [JustJared]
True-crime watchers have a lot of thoughts about this arrest in Idaho. [Buzzfeed]
I halfway agree with Donald Trump on this? [Jezebel]
Happy 20th birthday to Greta Thunberg. [Dlisted]
Yellowstone’s season finale was dramatique. [Pajiba]
T&L’s final 2022 podcast. [Tom & Lorenzo]
The year of Christopher John Rogers’ colorful designs. [GFY]
The Catholic Church & the Boy Scouts would rather file for bankruptcy than pay settlements to their many victims. [Towleroad]
Miley Cyrus seems to be in a good place right now. [Egotastic]
They made a reality show about Special Forces training? [Starcasm]
Overused words & phrases we should abandon this year? [Gawker]
Share this video instead of the video of last nights incident. Prayers for Damar Hamlin pic.twitter.com/x7mw4s4xwm
— Primetime Sports (@Primetime2828) January 3, 2023
Damar actually tackled Tee of the Bengals. It was so scary to watch unfold, I was truly shaken as I watched everything unfold. He seems to be an incredible young man who contributed to his community in a great way. He has a toy drive GoFundMe that he had the goal of 20,000 and they have raised over 3 million. I pray for his life, his health and his family.
I used to love football and have come to like less and less.
It’s over $4.2 million right now and original goal was only $2500. I’m going to be optimistic and say that will be a wonderful surprise for him when he recovers.
I too love football, but hate the injuries and a lot of the NFL policies. My heart breaks for his loved ones, I hope they get some good news soon.
I agree I hope so much that he gets to see the money raised in his honour!!
If I may be so bold to suggest something else everyone should be doing (which costs nothing) is learning over the next few days where the closest AEDs are to your work, your favourite hangouts, your schools, and especially where you or anyone you care for plays sports (however amateur). AEDs are EASY to use, truly. I took a 2 day first aid course and the AED section took less than ten minutes. So SO easy…but can make the difference.
In Canada many provinces have websites that will map AED locations. Not sure about other countries, but I hope so. The time you save in knowing where to run to get one could save a life. In Damar’s honour I hope people will take the time to learn!
Football is just too dangerous. I also used to enjoy it, but now when I see it all I can think about is how it destroys young men’s brains and bodies, and I can’t any more. It makes me feel like a Roman watching gladiatorial games.
@Emily_c, This is exactly what I feel. I was married to a Canadian pro football player for 16years, he is he father to our two children. I am convinced he has CTE, as evidenced in his consistent irrationality and rage. His body is broken and twisted. He will not live to be an old man.
I see this in so many of the men I know who played. It makes me sad and sick.
I cannot watch football anymore, and one of the happiest days of my life was when my son stopped playing, of his own accord, in university.
We are cheering as these men kill themselves for our pleasure.
Thumbs up or thumbs down? It’s all thumbs down.
My 8 year old daughter and husband were watching, when everything happened. She was devastated. It’s so horrifying and sad, I hope he’s able to make a full recovery. I also want the NFL to start actually caring and taking care of its people, not denying them retirement healthcare.
Hoping for the best for Damar Hamlin. He’s so young. Keeping him and his family in my thoughts. I saw the play and it was just scary how he collapsed.
Sorry, but I don’t agree with not showing the footage. That just allows folks to pretend like football isn’t that dangerous. I say show this wide and far. No 24 year old should be in critical condition due to a game.
I think showing the footage of the medics administering CPR shouldn’t be seen.
CPR is brutal and showing that is voyeuristic, not to mention extremely traumatic for his family and loved ones.
The incident itself is a different matter- in this case it was a rather innocuous looking tackle , even on the replay.
Was anyone showing the CPR? I never saw it in any clip.
Nobody was showing the CPR – the players circled around him and blocked that from the cameras. You can see their reactions and it was obviously traumatic, but not him actually receiving any treatment. Barely even saw him being put in the ambulance.
No one watching TV or in the crowd saw CPR being administered because both teams had gathered around and were blocking the cameras (intentionally). They stayed around him until he was being loaded into the ambulance.
What was seen was a relatively hard (but clean) hit. Both players got up. A split second later, Hamlin collapsed. It wasn’t his head, which meant it was almost certainly his heart.
I agree with you.
I concur.
I’m a Bengals fan (that lives in the same town Hamlin is from oddly enough) and was watching it with my husband and there was no footage shown of CPR being administered.
In fact, I only knew something was horribly wrong after the 2nd or 3rd commerical break there was an ambulance on the field, and the announcer stated that they “have been working on him for several mins.”
After watching ER and Grey’s Anatomy for years, I immediately told my husband “…oh my goodness, I think his heart stopped beating and they’re giving him CPR.”
All you could see was both teams around them from a camera angle far distance up in the stands.
As far as saying that no 24 year old should ever be in critical condition due to a game, what (we think) happened to him (commotio cordis) is a freak accident that can happen in sports. It’s not just a hard punch to the center of the chest, but it also has to happen as the exact right moment for the person to go into cardiac arrest. It’s very much a freak accident. Lacrosse, baseball, hockey – all sports with with hard hits to the chest. The good news is that we are able to treat it far more successfully than just a couple decades ago, and so far more people are surviving. (Another reason to put AEDs everywhere people gather.)
But what wrenched me is the automatic assumption that this was a head injury, which is NOT a freak accident in football. Too many boys and men are turning their brains in mush even before getting anywhere near the NFL that it’s just too much for me to watch and root for these guys.
Major injuries happen in all professional sports, but for the most part they are freak accidents. But for the NFL, it’s not a matter of if it happens but a matter of who: who’s going to be permanently injured this week?
My brother’s high school football team made it to the final four in Texas playoffs (a HUGE freaking deal). None of the kids went on to big college programs, and my brother swears that several friends ended high school dumber than they started because of the injuries.
He has two boys who are shaping up to be giant kids, built like brick houses, and he’s trying to keep them from playing because the injuries and potential for injuries is too much. His knees are shot and he had heat stroke as his biggest health problems and feels like he got out lucky.
@Lucy Have your brother give lacrosse a try. My (also giant) son LOVED football but now lax is his favorite sport.
@Lucy: May I suggest Strongman games? They don’t dehydrate and drug themselves like bodybuilders do, and therefore end up as really hot big men, with the appropriate amount of body fat to support all that muscle. It’s no contact — they do things like carry around cars. I’m sure injury still happens, especially tendon pulls and such, but all in all it looks like a far healthier option and really fun.
I agree. It needs to be shown so people can understand the consequences of the sport.
American football is brutal, and if people see for themselves the catastrophic consequences it will bring more attention to those issues and perhaps force the governing bodies to do something to protect the players.
I’m Australian and our code of football just doesn’t have the same deadly consequences despite a lack of protective gear because there’s very few head injuries due to the rules of the game and how it’s played. You get a ton of joint and soft tissue injuries, but very few TBIs.
I used to watch American football quite a lot and it always seemed far more dangerous than any other code of football. Rugby is quite similar in many ways but you don’t see the same horrific injuries on a consistent level. Despite that, there are still big pushes in rugby to make it safer for the players.
I agree with your overall point, but this was not a head injury. Look at what @harpervalleypta said above. This is definitely a tragedy, and I’m shocked that there was even talk of making the teams keep playing, and we can still obviously discuss how violent american football is (very violent, which unfortunately is part of the point for many). But this particular injury was more of a freak accident that could happen in many other sports.
It was so upsetting…I knew when he went down like that without having hit his head that it was bad. Hubby and I were glued to the TV for awhile last night. I donated to Damar’s Toy Drive on GoFundMe…I hope when he wakes up that having $3M+ to do good in his community will make him smile.
That’s the one silver lining- the donations are nearly up to 4M!
NFL was shocking on this whole affair. It appears that both coaches just refused to carry on and took their players off the field.
The Bills players looked utterly shell shocked- Josh Allen in particular.
The Bengals fans and players showed great support I thought.
Let’s hope Hamlin wakes up safe and sound.
Yeah I was wondering who was calling the shots last night. I wouldn’t be surprised if the players refused to go back out. I mean if I’m remembering correctly, he was still on the field when they were talking about the 5 minute warm up! Like WTF. I think you’re right, the coaches pulled the players off bc they talked to each other and then were like, nope, we’re taking our boys off. I was glad they did bc the players were clearly in such distress, the cameras don’t need to see that.
And the NFL came out and swears it wasn’t THEM that called for a 5 minute warm-up. They came out and said that Joe Buck said it on his own (which is BS)
This young man, 24 years old. I saw the footage, horrific.
It was horrifying to see it unfold on live TV. the people on ESPN were all having trouble holding back tears covering the story. They didnt cut away until the game was officially postponed then they switched to Scott Van Pelt, but when they kept alternating between Suzy Kolber and the studio team and Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, it was really hard to watch bc it was so emotional for all of them.
And obviously it was hard to see the players’ reactions, but they tried to keep the cameras away from them (at least on ESPN) after it became clear how bad things were. When they first postponed it for 5 minutes, I said to my husband – no WAY can Josh Allen go out there and play right now. no way can any of the Bills players go out there (and the Bengals players were also really shaken up.)
I legit had trouble sleeping last night which I know sounds lame but I kept thinking I would wake up to hear that he was dead. It was really really hard to watch.
When they announced the 5mn warmup, the camera panned to Allen. He was sitting alone and stunned and looked like he didn’t even where he was.
There is no way any of them could have carried on.
I, too, had trouble falling asleep and woke up extra early today because I was so upset by this.
It was awful! We were just frozen and I have never seen a team so shaken. And the announcers, as you say @Becks1, were visibly upset. Thank goodness they postponed it. Lots of grace from the Bengals as well.
My children’s school had a football death in the 1920s and they haven’t played it since.
I don’t watch football because it feels like bloodsport anyway, but this news is so sad. 24 is a damn baby. I don’t know anything about that kind of trauma; may he recover fully.
I’ve only been watching football for a few years now but I looked at my fiancé after it happened and was like “have you ever seen anything quite like this?” He said a few players have been paralyzed but nothing like this. It was truly awful to watch. Prayers for Damar and his family and the team.
My stomach dropped watching him fall after getting up right after the hit/tackle. You knew it was something major when he dropped like that and didn’t move then seeing the reactions of the players around him. How they all-both teams-came together to provide a shield from cameras and support each other was really something. Both teams were visibly shook.
Damar not moving at all was harder to see than some of the injuries I’ve seen in my football watching. The reverse angle of the hit on Joe Theissmann that ended his career in ’85? is a hard watch with him flopping around.
Yes. Prayers for him and his families (relatives and football family).
This took me immediately back to seeing Ryan Shazier being paralyzed. We all knew that something was so wrong when he folded and never moved his legs
I didn’t see this play, but it reminds me of something that happened at a hockey game several years ago. I’m a st louis blues fan and our captain got hit in the chest by a puck and went down like a ton of bricks. It wasn’t even that hard a shot or anything (like people are describing this particular play as not super violent). The puck hit him in the chest at the just right (wrong) moment, right between his dub-dubs. We knew how serious it was by the way the players reacted. So very scary.
Chris Pronger has stated that he hopes that Hamlin has a similar outcome to his. Scary shit, but in his case, a full recovery. Pronger played for years after that.
Yes. And for the people who think this very serious condition is limited to US football, it’s not. Thank you for pointing out that hockey players are also at risk for Commotio Cordis, as are lacross players, soccer players and baseball players. Youth baseball players are particularly at risk.
Basically, anything where there is risk of blunt force to the chest is a risk., and protective gear is not nearly where it should be in terms of blunt force trauma to the heart. It’s scary.
There was an incident several years ago in my state where a mountain biker died during an event after crash landing on his chest.
I think the same thing happened to that (Dutch?) soccer player that collapsed, maybe a couple of years ago. Nothing was ever said about why it happened but from the footage you could clearly see that a soccer ball hit him in the chest area right before he dropped.
Not sure that happened here though, because I don’t think Hamlin would have been able to stand up before he collapsed to the ground. Usually in these instances a player collapses immediately because their heart is stopped. In any event, I wish him a very speedy recovery.
@liz, thanks for relaying that. I don’t follow sports on social media or national sports news. Honestly I just watch the games, so haven’t tuned into any sports coverage recently. It’s amazing to think of how pronger recovered. It was so devastating to watch. Just remembering how the players reacted gives me chills cause the refs didn’t stop play right away.
Look at all the things that went right here; he received immediate medical attention, CPR and defibrillation by trained staff, a pulse present, O2 ,an ambulance only 4 minutes away, intubation and ventilation at a close by hospital. On the positive side, it would seem that survival is possible here. Football is a violent sport. I’m hoping for the best.
10 years ago Fabrice Muamba, a soccer player who played in England suffered cardiac arrest on the pitch and collapsed.
Luckily there was a cardiologist at the game who literally ran on the pitch and was able to coordinate the first aid effort.
Muamba’s heart actually stopped beating for 78 minutes (!!!!) but he recovered fully. Stopped playing soccer professionally but is now a youth coach.
In Hamlin’s case the fact that they got a pulse so quickly is great news- hopefully he’ll be ok.
I was saying that to my husband. Even though he suffered cardiac arrest they got a pulse almost immediately and began artificial respiration immediately. That means they minimised the brain damage from hypoxia. Hopefully that means he’ll be able to breathe independently soon and will recover well.
It’s hard to know what exactly triggered the cardiac arrest, though, which makes an outcome difficult to predict.
Back when I lived in TX, one of my library regulars (I used to give him the daily paper often) collapsed at one of our computers. I came out and got there in time to see the EMTs performing CPR. They took a REALLY long time but couldn’t revive him on site. I remember them wheeling him out on a gurney and the blanket was over his face. I remember thinking oh that’s not good.
Later I found out he had died AT my work place and I got REALLY mad because my boss had made fun of me for being super upset. I don’t remember being offered counseling except maybe a vague reference to EAP.
What happened to Damar was horribly scary and extremely traumatic to everyone watching too. And the poor guy who hit him! Can you imagine?
Prayers that Damar pulls through and that they do a better job of protecting their players.
It was horrible to watch. He is 24 barely even an adult to see him just fall like that it was stunning. Seeing the players so raw I was screaming at them to stop putting cameras in their faces too they were traumatized.
All of Bills Mafia are praying for Damar’s recovery. Only 24 years old, man. Just a kid. Much respect to both teams’ coaches who refused to keep going after this young man was very seriously injured (after the NFL told them to take 5 freaking minutes to gather themselves after witnessing a young man almost die on the field, ugh).
While I agree that a five minute delay sounds harsh, I am sure it was just a tactic to get players off the field while decisions were made. Basically how to get fans safely out of the stadium before they announced cancellation of a game. That requires a lot of coordination with local authorities and security. You can’t just cancel a game with no thought of how to safely empty a stadium. They don’t even cancel school until they make sure everything is in place. I am sure they knew those players wouldn’t be able to play that game but you don’t everyone running for the exit at the same time.
nice try, but literally the ONLY thing the NFL cares about is the Benjamins.
no one was going to be “running for the exit.” the exodus would have happened just as already planned, but earlier. I’m sure security, the cops, etc were monitoring the game. that’s their job. what if there was a fire or an earthquake? they have evac plans. this was just a game ending early, for them. they can handle that.
if the NFL cared about anything beyond the bottom line, they would extend healthcare and retirement benefits to the athletes, who make them billions.
NFL is a brutal, exploitative business, and a blood sport. I’ve never been into football, but most of my friends who were into it have abandoned watching because they can’t enjoy it, knowing what they know about how it permanently injures people.
Never give the NFL brass the benefit of the doubt. Never do it for any professional sports league — FIFA is notoriously evil too. But the NFL does not care about the players at all. They’re cattle to them.
There have been numerous statements from people in the crowd from that night. They were all stunned and concerned for Hamlin. Cinci fans hugging Bills fans. People crying. It wasn’t a riot of people mad that the game had to end because this young man almost died on the field.
Folks who watch football know that many players on the field are suffering long-term life ending damage. The level of pain that the fans were faced in real life with the impact of their supporting this game is real. I love football, I refuse to watch it, and I refused to allow my sons to play it post elementary school. The NFL has shown repeatedly that they value money over players long-term well-being. I prayed for Hamlin last night, and today, and for all the players and fans who expereinced in real time the impact of the choice to play and support this deadly game.
It was horrific to watch, and I just hope and pray he recovers and that Tee is okay, and also that everyone on the field gets some trauma recovery help because it was traumatic watching at HOME happening to strangers. I cannot imagine. And his mom saw it all, just so heartbreaking. Please let him recover.
My husband was watching the Denmark-Finland soccer game when Christian Erickson collapsed from cardiac arrest. I happened to be in the room, and it was horrible. He came back relatively quickly and has recovered enough to play again, I believe. But it happens in a lot of sports. We ask sports players to push their bodies to the limits and then are surprised when their bodies quit on them. I like sports, but that aspect of ownership over their young bodies is very disturbing.
The NFL and football in general needs to change, but nothing going to change because there is too much MONEY to be made from it for too many people. And football culture in the US. Such a violent sport. These guys sacrifice their lives and health “for the love of the game”.
I attended the Niners-Raiders game Sunday and was still basking in the glow of my Niners’ victory last night. I am devastated by this and am sending Damar all my good vibes. Like Liz said above, I also had trouble sleeping and got up early to check his status. I’m glad his mother is there with him.
All of the healing vibes to this young man, his family, and colleagues. I hope he recovers fully and soon.
We went to my husband’s alma mater’s bowl game last week and there were several targeting calls made against the opposing team, as well as multiple instances where players on both sides went down and had trouble coming back up. I know that this was not a targeting or “dirty play” incident, but it is terrifying to watch these young men permanently injure themselves for sport.
I think I’ve said this before on here, but my high-schooler is a beanpole and not very sporty. He’s found his niche in cross-country running and I could not be more thankful. I’m grateful that we never had to have a tough conversation with him about playing football since he was never interested, but I would not have been able to allow it in good conscience.
It was just horrifying to watch. My son is a Bengals fan. He was watching in the next room and told us when it happened, then kept us updated until they cancelled the game. Only after that did I watch a little bit of coverage. The way he went down, the stunned reactions of the other players, how shaken everyone was. Just brutal.
I fervently hope he recovers. He’s just a kid, really. So many of them are.
My son was built for football, not very tall but tall enough, broad-shouldered and really strong. My husband would not let him play. He did baseball, soccer, basketball, and tennis, but never football. It wasn’t worth the risk even for a kid like him.