Written by The Sportsballers
Published January 4, 2023

As any sports fan knows by now, two nights ago on Monday Night Football second-year Bills safety Damar Hamlin had to be resuscitated after he collapsed following a tackle he made in the first quarter of his team’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

As football fans, we have become used to seeing players get injured, sometimes severely enough to require the use of a stretcher or an ambulance to take them from the playing field, and then turning our focus back to the game.

Monday was different. The last time something like this happened in American football, where a player’s heart stopped during a game, was approximately 20 years before any of our three hosts was born.

In the past couple of days you have no doubt heard the thoughts of former NFL players like Ryan Clark and Shannon Sharpe, current players like JJ Watt and Aaron Rodgers, other sports figures like LeBron James and Coco Gauff, and other analysts like Scott Van Pelt and Tony Kornheiser; not to mention the stellar studio crew of Suzy Kolber, Booger McFarland, and Adam Schefter, and the commentary team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.

Nothing the three of us could or would say on our podcast has not been said by one or more of those individuals listed above or countless others you’ve heard from.

With that said, if we recorded a podcast this week, we wouldn’t want to talk about anything other than our concern for Damar Hamlin. Our usual enjoyment of talking about the rest of the NFL or even other sports news like Donovan Mitchell’s big outing on Monday or Carlos Correa’s failed physicals has been muted this week. We simply aren’t in the headspace to talk about or, frankly, to care about sports while we wait for news on Hamlin.

We’re encouraged by some of the recent reports that Hamlin is not relying as heavily on the ventilator for his oxygen needs, but he remains in critical condition at UC Medical Center and there are many serious concerns that arise when a person’s heart stops (twice, according to his uncle, per multiple sources).

We continue to hope for the best for Damar Hamlin, as well as for his family, for the players and staff of the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, and for all who are affected emotionally by what we witnessed on Monday night.

We’ll communicate through our usual channels regarding the resumption of our podcast when we are ready to get back to it. For now, pray for Damar.

If you have been looking for a way to support Damar Hamlin through a foundation he runs, this GoFundMe page is the place to do so. It was established to support a toy drive for his community, sponsored by the Chasing M’s Foundation. His family has indicated that this is the place to show support and contribute to his “community initiatives and his current fight.”