- Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest on the Buffalo Bills field on January 2nd
- 317 days later, he returned to the field for his first snap for his team in the NFL
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Damar Hamlin took his first defensive snap of the season for the Buffalo Bills and his first in football since his on-field cardiac arrest in January.
Hamlin came off the bench for the Bills against the Denver Broncos in the fourth quarter with one minute and 39 seconds left and his team leading 22-21. He received a big round of applause from the Bills fans at Highmark Stadium when he came on for Cam Lewis after appearing to injure his right arm.
Then Hamlin tackled Adam Trautman on the first drive. At the start of the game, Hamlin was active for the Bills for the second time this season.
Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest on January 2nd while playing for the Bills against the Cincinnati Bengals. He was back in the NFL 317 days later, but late Monday night, Hamlin’s rep hit out at fans on Twitter, claiming he shouldn’t win the NFL’s Comeback of the Year award for this season.
Damar Hamlin took his first snaps for the Buffalo Bills since suffering cardiac arrest on Monday night
On the first drive he faced, he made a tackle and tackled Broncos tight end Adam Trautman
Some NFL followers have questioned whether Hamlin would deserve the award since he has played a minor role on the Bills team so far.
But Jordan Rooney wrote on “promoted by people who don’t know football,” Rooney wrote on X.
In a separate post, he responded to someone who said Hamlin didn’t deserve comeback of the year. He said: “Another false narrative that is being talked about a lot.”
“It’s an endurance award, not a performance award.” The Comeback Player of the Year “shows perseverance in overcoming adversity, whether it was not being in the NFL last year, suffering a serious injury or simply performing poorly. “Who has ever overcome more adversity than anyone in the NFL ever?
Hamlin tackled Bengals receiver Tee Higgins on Jan. 2 before getting to his feet, staggering and collapsing on the Paycor Stadium turf, where he had to be resuscitated.
Three months later, when Hamlin announced he would continue playing in the NFL, he said that he had died on national television and that commotio cordis – a direct hit to a specific point in his heartbeat – had caused the cardiac arrest.
“I died on national television in front of the world,” Hamlin said in April. “It is (commotio cordis) a direct hit to a specific point in your heartbeat that causes cardiac arrest.”
“Five to seven seconds later you fail, and that’s pretty much what everyone saw on January 2nd of this year.”
Unfortunately for Hamlin and the Bills, they were beaten by the Broncos late in the game
The Bills lost the game 24-22 under absurd circumstances by accidentally lining up 12 players for a field goal attempt that the Broncos missed.
Because of the error, the Broncos were allowed to retry and advance five yards further up the field. They converted the kick and won the game.
But with the Bills’ season hanging in the balance following the loss, the importance of Hamlin getting his first minutes in the NFL this season cannot be understated.
Previously, Hamlin had only played in preseason games for the Bills ahead of the season that began in September.