Buffalo Bills Head Coach in First Public Comments Since Hamlin Collapse: 'Glory to God'
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott thanked a long list of people for going above and beyond since safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field Monday night in Cincinnati, but he had one very important shout-out at the end of the list.
“Finally and just as important as anything is glory to God for his keeping Damar and his family in the palm of his hand over the last couple of days and his healing powers,” McDermott said during a Thursday news conference.
“The amount of faith, hope and love that we saw on display over the last three days has been nothing short of amazing,” he said.
McDermott, who described himself as a “Christian man,” became emotional while speaking about the outpouring of prayers for Hamlin and the millions of dollars in donations to his Chasing M’s Foundation toy drive.
“I’m not a big social media person, but [Bills quarterback] Josh [Allen] did share something with me via text that he saw today, earlier today, and I looked at it, and it was … about what maybe Damar’s mom is going to share with him when he wakes up,” McDermott said before pausing.
“It’s amazing to know the impact that this has had on so many people, and for now, Damar to be awake and [for] his mom to be able to share that with him is incredible,” he said.
One of the big ah-ha moments from the Damar Hamlin ordeal is how many people of faith are in media and sports than anyone realized.
But they feel pressure not to talk about…until tragedy happens.
Imagine if we all talked this freely?pic.twitter.com/qTSidBqBTn
— Erik Reed (@ErikReed) January 6, 2023
The Bills announced Thursday that doctors said Hamlin has shown “substantial improvement” at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he was still listed in critical condition.
When asked how the team felt about playing the team’s next game, Allen said at the news conference that Hamlin’s father, Mario, urged the team to focus on playing.
“His dad said the first thing he was going to ask was ‘who won the game,’ and sure enough that’s what he did,” Allen said.
Dr. Timothy Pritts said Hamlin, after waking up, asked in writing who had won the game Monday night, according to Fox News.
“When he asked did we win, the answer is yes, Damar, you won the game of life,” Pritts said.
Dr. Pritts talks about the early conversations with Damar Hamlin and explained the significance of Damar’s first question asking if they won the game:
“It’s not only that the lights are on. We know he’s home.”
🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/Uxd77OAFwp— Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean) January 5, 2023
Dr. William Knight said that although Hamlin appears to have avoided major damage, he still has a long road ahead, according to ESPN.
“When we talk about neurologically intact, it’s a very gross term of big motor movements and following commands,” Knight said. “When we talk about the finer things that make us human — cognition, emotion, speech, language, etc. — we’re looking forward to learning more about that soon.”
The Bills play the New England Patriots on Sunday. On Thursday, the NFL announced the team’s game against the Bengals will not be resumed.
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