NFL showcases safety protocols in wake of Damar Hamlin injury
In the wake of Damar Hamlin’s frightening on-field collapse, the NFL gave a tour of its player safety protocols at the site of this weekend’s Super Bowl. (Feb. 10) (AP video by Haven Daley)
AP
The smile, by this point, is distinct.
Damar Hamlin held a clapperboard in front of his pearly whites for his first interview since going into cardiac arrest Jan. 2 during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Emergency personnel performed CPR and revived the Buffalo Bills safety on the field before his transport to University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he recovered within days.
Ahead of Super Bowl 57 between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, Hamlin sat down with FOX Sports’ Michael Strahan.
“Let’s go back to Jan. 2,” Strahan began. “You’re facing off against Cincinnati Bengals. Playoff implications on the line. How are you feeling before the game and when you’re out there? Normal?”
“Super normal. Feeling loose. Feeling strong,” Hamlin said. “Trying to get ready for that playoff push.”
Strahan asked Hamlin if he remembered standing up after making the tackle on Tee Higgins. Hamlin paused for nearly nine seconds.
“That’s something I don’t really want to get too deep into, in the detail,” Hamlin said. “That’s something I’m still trying to work through. Why did it happen to me?”
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Strahan said: “What is the first thing you remember when you started to wake up?”
“Just hearing my family members,” Hamlin said.
The 24-year-old confirmed the first thing he asked when he woke up was, “Did we win?” and that the doctors responded he “won the game of life.”
“The competitive nature in me was still just thinking about the game,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin, who said he couldn’t believe the support from the NFL community and across the world.
“I think the whole situation, it just showed that we can all come together,” Hamlin said. “It was surreal.”
The Bills facing the Bengals again in the divisional round made it more emotional, Hamlin said. Not being able to play was “an uneasy feeling.”
“What has been the toughest part about this whole experience?” Strahan asked.
“Just processing my emotions,” Hamlin said. “I’m a person who, I kind of like my privacy in a way. But this situation just brought me to the light of the world, which is a good thing in a way, because I think I stand for so much good and I want to set a good example for communities around the world.
“There’s a reason for everything.”
Hamlin wants to return to the field “eventually.” An extended version of the interview will air on “Good Morning America” Monday.
Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.
