'My soul is free': Buffalo Bills' Damar Hamlin finally discusses on-field collapse that led to near-death experience



NFL safety Damar Hamlin has spoken out about his near-death experience, when he collapsed on the field in early 2023.

Hamlin collapsed on the field in cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals after he took a hit to his chest while tackling Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins.

After being hospitalized for days, he had his breathing tubes removed and began speaking to family members. Three months later, he was cleared to play again and eventually played five games for the Buffalo Bills in the 2023 season.

"My mind is free. My spirit is free. My soul is free," Hamlin said as he finally opened up about the incident. "I'm able to think clearly. I'm not hindered by second thoughts of what could maybe happen again."

The official diagnosis for the defensive player was a heart stoppage due to commotio cordis, which is caused by a direct blow at a specific point in a heartbeat that then causes cardiac arrest.

Hamlin has been assured by specialists that the chance of the scary occurrence happening again is slim, with the player admitting he is trying to push any worries to the back of his mind.

"Time heals all. That's everything, you know, relationships, life, growth from cardiac arrest," Hamlin told the Associated Press. "It's trauma. It's time that heals all if you allow it to."

Hamlin added that he wanted to "grow and let go of the past."

Staff said the young player has come back "hungry," with general manager Brandon Beane saying Hamlin's focus has been on winning a job on the team and proving he can make plays.

Coach Sean McDermott said the safety has been consistently practicing at a high level, as well.

"It's fun watching him have fun out there," the coach said. "And you can tell he means business."

Hamlin had to endure many theories about his health during his time off — including that he had a vaccine injury — and was even criticized for his attire when he made an appearance at the Super Bowl.

"Someone was talking about letting go of what was to become what is," Hamlin added. "That's a big part of my mental process as far as progressing into this season."

The 26-year-old is currently pushing legislation that would require states to mandate external defibrillators in schools and recreational venues. Ohio recently passed a similar bill.

"I'm on a mission to get all 50 states to pass that bill as well, and I won't stop until I do," Hamlin concluded. "In the same way that I'm chasing my goals on the field, that's me chasing my goals off the field and always prioritizing my blessings of still having a life. Still being here."

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'Pure garbage': Scientific American gets blitzed for exploiting Damar Hamlin's injury as a way to label the NFL as racist



Scientific American was sacked online for attempting to move the goalposts in the discussion about the horrific injury suffered by NFL player Damar Hamlin. A recent opinion piece in the science magazine founded in 1845 argued that the Buffalo Bills safety experiencing cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Football game exemplified the "violence black men experience in football." However, Scientific American was blitzed for attempting to exploit Hamlin's injury to label the NFL as racist.

The opinion piece in Scientific American was written by Tracie Canada – an Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology. She is affiliated with the Sports & Race Project that "critically studies race and sports at Duke."

Canada's bio reads: "Her research uses sport to theorize race, kinship, care, gender and the performing body, and she is currently working on a book project about the experiences of black college football players."

She previously wrote an article for Scientific American titled: "The NFL’s Racist ‘Race Norming’ Is an Afterlife of Slavery."

Canada boasted that she spent 10 years "learning how black college football players navigate the exploitation, racism, and anti-blackness that are fundamental to its current system."

In Canada's latest article for Scientific American, she expressed that violence is part of football, "but black players are disproportionately affected."

Canada argued, "While black men are severely underrepresented in positions of power across football organizations, such as coaching and management, they are overrepresented on the gridiron."

In 2021, approximately 71% of NFL players were people of color, according to the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.

In 2017, the average NFL salary was $2.7 million.

The writer said the violent aspect of the NFL has been "normalized," but "Hamlin's injury demonstrates that ordinary violence has potentially deadly consequences, and highlights how black men's athletic labor sustains this brutal system."

However, only one NFL player has ever died on the field. Detroit Lions wide receiver Chuck Hughes – who was white – died from a heart attack during an NFL game in 1971.

Damar Hamlin has made a miraculous recovery from his disturbing injury.

Canada declared, "The NFL gains both culturally and financially from black athletic performance. It is the most popular sports league in the United States and the most valuable professional sports league in the world. It is also a league that has exploited its black players for decades."

She accused the NFL of practicing "persistent anti-black practices."

Canada continued, "Further, to dismiss the almost certain breaking down of their bodies as just part of the game is a process of objectification and commodification that prioritizes the player over the person in a way that black feminist scholar Bell Hooks says calls to mind 'the history of slavery and the plantation economy.' The anti-blackness of the system is inescapable."

Twitter reactions blitzed Scientific American for the fumbled attempt at shoehorning race into a football player's unfortunate injury.

BlazeTV "Fearless" host Jason Whitlock: "The 'terrifyingly ordinary' stupidity of Twitter disproportionately affects the 'Scientific' American feed."

BlazeTV contributor T.J. Moe: "Let me assure you that there are white people lined up miles long to get into this league. To the degree that it’s 'disproportionately affecting black men,' it would only be because the black men earned the roster spot the white guys also wanted. This article is pure garbage."

Former Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy: "As a black man and former NFL player I can say this article is absolutely ridiculous."

Author Christina Sommers: "Another absurd & incoherent article in the once-serious Scientific American."

Writer Dan McLaughlin: "Literally just an argument that NFL teams employ too many black players."

Podcast host Eric Weinstein: "Scientific American, ladies and gentlemen."

Singer Phil Labonte: "Football injuries are racist."

In the past, Scientific American published articles by more than 200 Nobel Prize winners. The science magazine featured brilliant minds such as Hans Bethe, James D. Watson, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Linus Pauling, and Albert Einstein.

However, the magazine has made a recent effort to promote woke ideology. Scientific American admits that it is committed to "advancing social justice."

In 2021, Scientific American complained that the Jedi in the fictional "Star Wars" universe are problematic white saviors steeped in toxic masculinity.

Last August, Scientific American accused Western science of creating the concept of two sexes in a concerted effort to "reinforce gender and racial divisions."

CNN anchor uses Damar Hamlin's shocking on-field collapse to attack House Republicans: 'They don't care'



CNN anchor John King invoked the horrifying incident with Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin on Thursday to criticize House Republicans.

After nearly one dozen ballots, House Republicans have failed to elect a new House speaker. A faction of 20 Republican lawmakers have been blocking Rep. Kevin McCarthy's bid over concerns that his leadership will continue to empower the political status quo.

What did King say?

Discussing the chaos in the House, King asserted that Republicans do not care about respecting government institutions, apathy that he claimed is demonstrated by the chaos.

"Whoever wins the speakership, will that person be speaker for a week? A month? By August when you have to do the debt ceiling, and that means you have to be responsible ... respecting the system, the organizations, the government?" King began. "They don't care. They don't care."

Because House Republicans hold a narrow majority in the House, King said each member must accept "responsibility as a member of the team."

"Imagine if a baseball team goes on the field and after two pitches, the right fielder decides I want to pitch. It can't work that way. Someone has to be in charge," he said. "That doesn't mean you always agree with your boss, you don't always agree with your manager. You don't always agree with your coach."

That's when he invoked the scary incident with Hamlin.

"Imagine those two doctors we just listened to who treated, and all the people in the field who cared for that Buffalo Bills player: if somebody said 'no' or 'no, I want to do the other job'— it doesn't work that way," King said.

"When you're on a team you have to yes. Yes, you go to the boss's office and you say, 'I want this, I want this, I want this.' But eventually somebody has to make a decision," he continued. "And you have to accept the responsibility of the government."

King added, "They don't want that responsibility. They don't care about that responsibility. They don't respect that responsibility."

\u201cDisgusting: CNN invokes Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest to warn against GOP lawmakers.\n"Imagine those two doctors that we just listened to who treated, and all of the people on the field who treated the Buffalo Bills player if they said, 'no, [I don't want to function as a team]'"\u201d
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@Nicholas Fondacaro) 1672950903

To round off his rant, King gloated that Republicans underwhelmed in the 2022 midterm elections because "the American people said we don't want crazy," yet Republicans won control of the House, which has, in his estimation, resulted in "crazy."

Damar Hamlin's breathing tube removed; he talks with family, teammates; doctors say he's neurologically intact



Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin's breathing tube has been removed, he's spoken with his family and teammates, and doctors say he's neurologically intact, according to an ESPN report Friday.

What's the background?

Hamlin, 24, collapsed on the field in cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this week after he appeared to take a hit to his chest while tackling Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins.

Medical personnel rushed to the field and gave Hamlin CPR and oxygen, after which he was taken by ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in critical condition.

Sports Illustrated said Hamlin was on a ventilator at the hospital. Dorrian Glenn, Hamlin's uncle, added that Hamlin had to be resuscitated twice, once on the field at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati and once after he arrived at the hospital, ESPN said in an updated story.

However, by Thursday doctors told the sports network Hamlin was beginning to awaken and was showing signs of "substantial improvement" in his recovery, as he was able to move his hands and feet.

While he couldn't yet speak, doctors told ESPN Hamlin could communicate in writing and asked if the Bills won Monday's game against the Bengals. That question, one doctor said, meant that "not only the lights are on, but he's home."

Hamlin continues to 'progress remarkably in his recovery'

ESPN, citing physicians at University of Cincinnati Medical Center, said Friday that Hamlin's breathing tube was removed overnight and that he continues to "progress remarkably in his recovery." Doctors added that Hamlin's neurological function remains intact — and he's talking to family and teammates, the sports network said.

On FaceTime, Hamlin told teammates and coaches, "Love you, boys," during Friday's team meeting, ESPN said.

Doctors hope Hamlin can return home with his family as soon as possible, the sports network said, adding that "there is no definitive answer to what caused Hamlin's cardiac arrest."

A prayer 'for healing for Damar' on live television

ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky — a "follower of Jesus" as noted on his Twitter bio — prayed out loud for Hamlin during the sports network's "NFL Live" broadcast Tuesday:

God, we come to you in these moments that we don’t understand, that are hard, because we believe that you’re God, and coming to you and praying to you has impact. We’re sad, we’re angry, and we want answers, but some things are unanswerable. We just wanna pray, truly come to you and pray for strength for Damar, for healing for Damar, for comfort for Damar, to be with his family, to give them peace. If we didn’t believe that prayer didn’t work, we wouldn’t ask this of you, God. I believe in prayer, we believe in prayer. We lift up Damar Hamlin’s name in your name. Amen.

Fellow analyst Marcus Spears and host Laura Rutledge also bowed their heads and said "amen" afterward.

ESPN's Dan Orlovsky Praying for Damar Hamlin on NFL Live youtu.be

Anything else?

After Hamlin's collapse on the field Monday night, players were visibly distraught, the game was paused after the teams' head coaches conferred, and the NFL officially suspended the game around 10 p.m. ET. The league announced Thursday night that the Bills-Bengals game has been canceled and will not continue, ESPN reported.

Although the Bills and Bengals both clinched their respective AFC divisions, playoff seedings remain at stake amid their canceled game. ESPN said league owners will vote Friday on scenarios that involve a neutral site for an AFC championship game, among other possibilities that depend on game outcomes this weekend. You can read about the details here.

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‘I Don’t Know How You Avoid It’: Biden Weighs In On Danger Of NFL After Damar Hamlin’s Tragedy

President Joe Biden said Wednesday he doesn’t know how the NFL can prevent injuries after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin had a cardiac arrest live on the field. “I don’t know how you avoid it. I think working like hell on the helmets and the concussion protocols, that all makes a lot of sense. But […]