Will Damar Hamlin Change How We Watch Football?

The sports world came to a standstill last Monday night after 24-year-old Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. In this week’s episode, a former NFL player weighs in on the league’s reaction and explains why he thinks this incident represents a turning point in the conversation around player safety and mental health concerns at all levels of the sport.

Guest: Coy Wire, CNN Sports Anchor & Correspondent

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48 comments

    1. I watched golf over football yesterday. I tried to watch… but the “wokeness” was just too much. I miss the good ol days when they just reported the game and the play by plays. Now, everyone’s opinions are interjected with all kinds of irrelevant trash.

  1. Hamlin is being paid handsomely for catching and throwing a ball in a contact sport. He possibly had a bad luck or a cardiac weakness. Extremely rare.
    American football is an armoured contact sport where men feel they can ram someone at full speed. Can’t do that in rugby, because both players will feel it. Ban football or accept its risks.
    I wish him all the best.

    1. @Ivares Kesner how much tax subsidies does the NFL take? Until that number is zero, I have a right to complain about a league that hides medical information from players. Yes it is their choice to play, but when the league fights to hide medical information about the risks of the sport, we begin to deal with issues that the player was not properly informed of the risks to be able to consent to them.

    2. @Ryan Wallace The player is an adult and it’s up to them to do the due diligence and familiarise themselves with all the necessary information, not you. It’s just not your prerogative. You’re overreaching your authority by trying to be part of another individual’s private health decisions. Them playing for a team you support doesn’t change this. Fans have a say in a lot of things. But players personal health decisions are not one of those.

      That said, the information has to actually be available for the players to be able to familiarise themselves with it. And to that end the league hiding certain information is a different issue. It’s a problem. Everybody can have an opinion that they want their favourite sport to be transparent. And they have the right to interject if it isn’t. Because it’s not just the players who are affected. It’s kids and adults all over the world who choose to play the same sport and take risks they weren’t aware of. That changes things. Transparency in the sport itself is paramount. My point is that once this transparency is in place, it’s nobody’s decision but the player’s if they still wish to participate.

    3. @Jay Mass for a lot of players, sports are they’re only way out of really rough financial and community based issues they are raised in. Everyday desk jobs or working in trades isn’t an option like it might be for you and me, so you have to take that into accountability. If you grew up poor, relatively uneducated, and you became good at football and were offered an opportunity to make millions of dollars that would go towards improving quality of life for you and your family, would you take it? Of course you would, often because it’s the only option some of these kids have.

    4. “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17

      “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Matthew 5:38-39

      “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:5-6

    5. @MillennialGuitarist
      You sound like a typical Democrat. How about you stop telling people that they are oppressed and ignorant. Who are you to assume that? You know what the chances are if making it as a pro athlete? Far less than graduating high school and getting a job. I’m willing to bet you are a young , white, college student. What do you know about it? I made my way through the military. Everyone has that same opportunity if they have the drive and desire

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    4. “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17

      “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Matthew 5:38-39

      “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:5-6

  3. Bless him, all teammates and the medical teams on and off field who used evidence based care to rapidly save him. I love football and yes this is shocking to all. This is a extremely rare cardiac event. Anything to prevent injury will always be adopted for players if deemed necessary. 🩺

    1. Not playing is the only 100% way. Stop expecting men to hurt themselves for your amusement and stop thinking that it’s healthy

    2. @Ren Sinclair sure – we can stop a game that has been in place for over 100 years (!?). I’ve hoped for no playing my whole adult life – I realized it won’t happen. I’m glad the resources and prevention was in place for this young man. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

  4. If this nvr happened to him his foundation would still be at 2k and he just be another number on the field

  5. I stopped watching the NFL when they started allowing players to kneel and play a different National Anthem. The league is a joke anymore.

    1. I stopped watching the NFL because I can’t stand watching supposed “college graduates” attempt to speak English. I can’t stand ebonics and there’s no place for it on TV.

    2. @Rambo, John J
      Some are definitely worse than others. But it doesn’t take a genius to run and catch a ball.

    3. @Ren Sinclair
      If disrespecting the country that allows you to make millions playing a game is the sign of a “grown up”. I am proud to say I am not then.

  6. “Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by, and that made all the difference.” -Robert Frost

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  8. They know there life is on the line before they suit up every game.
    That is why they make millions.
    It is the risk they take by their own choice.

  9. NO!!!!! When you choose to play NFL football you’re signing a contract knowingly you will have injuries…It could be as severe as a neck injury or heart or something more simple as concussion, breaks of bones and tearing of Acl and mcl…You’re not walking away from the game healthy and you know that when you signed…THEY LOVE THE GAME AND BY CHOICE PLAY IT

  10. To obtain financial freedom, one must either be a business owner, an investor or both, generating passive income, particularly on a monthly basis.

    1. Yes and me too investing is the fastest way to Financial freedom. Investing is building wealth and that has been my priority thanks.🙏

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