6:41pm: Hamlin is on a ventilator, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard’s Matt Parrino, who spoke with Hamlin’s uncle, Dorrian Glenn. However, it is believed Hamlin’s breathing is improving, CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson adds (Twitter links).
Hamlin needed to be resuscitated twice — once on the field and once after he arrived at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center — according to ESPN.com’s Coley Harvey, who also spoke with Glenn (Twitter link). Lung damage is a concern, per Harvey, but Glenn added (via Parrino) his nephew is only using 50% of the ventilator Tuesday. He needed 100% of the ventilator’s oxygen Monday. Hamlin remains sedated, Cameron Wolfe of NFL.com tweets.
Further updates to the situation will be provided as they become available.
9:01am: All attention around the NFL continues to be focused on the well-being of Bills safety Damar Hamlin after he went into cardiac arrest during last night’s game between the Bills and Bengals. The early hours of Tuesday morning provided further clarification on the way the incident was handled. 
Hamlin, 24, received care on the field which included CPR after he collapsed immediately following a tackle made on Bengals wideout Tee Higgins. That, as noted by a team announcement, restored his heartbeat before he was ultimately loaded directly into an ambulance and taken to hospital. He has since been intubated and, as of the latest update, remains sedated and in critical condition.
The situation left the NFL, NFLPA, on-field officials and both teams in need of making a determination with respect to how to proceed (if at all) with the game. While the ESPN broadcast mentioned the potential of a five-minute warmup period being given to each squad before resuming the contest, NFL EVP Troy Vincent denied that such a scenario was ever in consideration.
“There was no time period for the players to get warmed up,” Vincent said on a conference call (Twitter link via NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo). “It never crossed our mind to talk about warming up to resume play. That’s ridiculous. That’s insensitive. That’s not a place we should ever be in.”
Indeed, the contest was temporarily suspended, and later postponed in the wake of Hamlin’s uncertain condition. After a number of players and staff members from both teams visited the hospital where he is receiving treatment, it was initially reported that some Bills players would remain in Cincinnati instead of returning home. Further clarification from Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News confirms, however, that the team has traveled in full back to Buffalo (Twitter link).
As they and the rest of the NFL await further updates on Hamlin’s status, the matter of potentially resuming the game has been brought up. On the aforementioned conference call, NFL EVP of communications Jeff Miller said (via the Ringer’s Lindsay Jones, on Twitter) that that is “not a consideration right now.” While such a stance is certainly understandable in the aftermath of last night’s frightening events, the Buffalo-Cincinnati contest carries significant playoff implications for both teams. The situation is further complicated by the relation of its outcome to other AFC games set to be played this Sunday as the regular season is scheduled to come to a close.
Not counted as a game….
So absurd that we can’t even talk about how this very important game will be handled. As if talking about it will take resources away from his care. It will not. Adults in the NFL front office need to standup and have the adult conversation about what to do with this game. It impacts many teams. If players want to retire, ok. But the league is going to move on. Sorry if that triggers you, grow up. Drs are taking care of him…not NFL execs
Agree, the game needs to be rescheduled as soon as possible there’s many many many many many other things other than the seeding at stake. While as unfortunate as this is, Horrible things happen to people outside of football all the time. Although still not good we don’t cancel games because. There’s nothing wrong with having a conversation to restart this game.
One possibility I just heard on TV is that they could call it a no-contest and it would count as a tie in the standings. The question is whether the players are ready to play this weekend.
If they aren’t up to playing this weekend, then they need to find a team that is ready for the playoffs and replace Buffalo. You are making millions and millions of dollars so it’s time to put your big boy pants on and move forward.
Maybe the right thing to do is wait to see how this is going to turn out for Hamlin. I can’t imagine a close friend or teammate being able to concentrate when they aren’t 100% sure what the outcome of this will be
Military, Police and Fire Dept’s do it every day, Imagine if they all packed up and went home after a co-worker was hurt or killed.
It’s almost like those jobs aren’t similar.
is it disrespectful for PFR to post things other than Damar news?
should everyone now seek Ooof’s moral approval because of a crisis?
I never said the former and certainly wouldn’t say the latter. But a lot of creeps have been telling on themselves.
Not a great comp at all- when you serve in military or public service jobs like fire & police you know death/near death might be an outcome. You don’t think about death as an outcome of playing a sport on a court or field during play.
As a retired cop, I agree with Stark.
Me too
It is best, in traumatic situations, to allow those affected to deal with whatever trauma they’ve experienced instead of forcing them to ignore it. It is admirable to push through, and certainly is a sign of strength to do what needs to be done to finish a job. That does, however, create long term trauma down the road. You can easily ignore it to do a job, which is what a lot of first responders, servicemen, or others do. That, in every single case, creates problems in their own lives down the road. It affects their work performance, as well.
But many times, the argument is easily made that the job is urgent enough to justify the approach, even if the approach is harmful. In this case…football, the playoffs, I do not think is important enough. And I don’t think that, down the road, we will respect the decision if it isn’t made the right way. Obviously, the game needs to be dealt with, but there’s certainly no urgent reason to have it done this weekend. Hamlin’s fate still is uncertain. I do not think that enough time has passed to expect the participants to play at a high level. Like it or not, we can’t make them.
Players have family members and parents die and then they play that week. What happened to him is terrible but they’ve gotta still play it at some point.
@paulk Thankfully we have manly heroes like you in society. You are very impressive.
Big boy pants? Imagine one of your friends or buddies suffering a life threatening injury while you were at work. They have been traumatized. They need to process the trauma, not put on their big boy pants. I pray that you never encounter something so traumatic in your life. It’s a game. It’s entertainment. Resuming the game isn’t life or death.
That’s the best option just let it be a tie and move on. Both are in the playoffs
a no-contest is not a tie
a tie helps your record.
That’s the only option. They cannot play before this weekend or after it without shifting all the playoff games out one week. Teams cannot play three times in a single week and moving the playoff schedule is not an option given tv
NFL should have moved Buffalo/NE and Cincy/Baltimore to Saturday and then moved the Pro Bowl stuff to the week after the Super Bowl. Shift everything back a week and then resumed the Buffalo/Cincy game late next week. Unfortunately, the NFL has to make some tough choices but this is the only one that allows that game to be played.
they can postpone playoffs a week
give both teams a loss
or deem it a no-contest
..they could also cancel football because it’s dangerous
Good luck getting the networks to agree to that.
I don’t know why it hasn’t been called a tie since Tuesday. Seems the obvious fix. Then home field adv would be figured out under that scenario.
Congratulations on not being too fazed to immediately prioritize football. That definitely makes you a grownup and not a sociopath.
I don’t think he’s saying prioritize it. But when you can’t even ask the question without getting hounded by people it’s an issue. It’s obvious that Damar and his family are the only think that matter and we’re praying hard for them, but we’re all football fans too and you’d be lying if you didn’t wonder what was going to happen with the games. It’s okay to pose the question. You can have compassion for the family and wonder what happens next in terms of football.
You can wonder quietly to yourself without asking people with actual skin in the game to prioritize it right now. Maybe if something results in everyone hounding you, you should notice that you’re not acting with a bare minimum of tact or humanity. The guy hasn’t even been in the hospital 14 hours. Demanding the subject be discussed now and saying people need to grow up if they feel otherwise is absolutely prioritizing football, and it deserves scorn.
Then focus on Damar and not what other people are saying online. Think of what others are posting quietly to yourself if the sole conversation should be about Damar like you are suggesting. You’re not helping in any way by doing that except causing more anger.
Entitled fans going out of their way to be insensitive are what cause more anger. Expecting the people who actually do the work and take the risks to immediately inform them when they’ll be back at work is gross behavior, and deserves to be labeled as such.
That’s fine. I’m not expecting answers right away. My main point was that there are a lot of self righteous people just waiting to pounce on people for asking questions we all have. It’s not an easy situation for anyone.
But you can’t wait a day?
If this wasn’t all about selfishly wanting your football, you’d be able to give the teams at least 24hrs to collect themselves and for some kind of positive update on Damar’s condition.
What kind of monsters have we all become to be so callous about watching someone almost die?
“Ok, that wasn’t great, but when’s the next game!?” Really people?
We’re better than that
@abstract. That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’ve made my point clear.
self-righteous has been the term I have been using quite a bit the last 12 hours. Too many people want to sound like they are the hero of the masses.
In fairness he’s not asking for an immediate answer from the people who take the risks. He’s asking for an answer from people who take the lead, namely Roger Gooddell. This is a dangerous, violent, sport. Why doesn’t the league have a protocol in place? “This tragedy happened, we are prepared, this is our plan of action.”
some people are capable of adult conversations relating to reality and solving problems, while being respectful.
others are emotional judgemental people only capable of childish one-dimensional conversations including name calling.
I’ll let you figure out what side of the septum you think you’re on.
Triggered? No. But part of “growing up” is realizing the big scope of things in difficult situations. Hoping this young man can recover and regain his standard of living is literally the only priority here.
Also… It would be a PR nightmare for the NFL to move forward with plans for this game 12-24 hours after this situation. The only “play” they have is showing care for this man that nearly lost his life as a result of an on field (freak) incident. This game will be played, when appropriate. That time is not to be decided now.
All of you who insist that the Bills-Bengals game must be played? Skip Bayless of FS1 tweeted something similar last night and rightly got smacked down for it.
Maybe the regular season is officially over for all teams. No games next week. What’s left? NFL headquarters deciding if there will be a playoff season and how to go about it.
Thats because people don’t actually read, think and then comprehend on what they just read and jump the gun. Skip Bayless did no wrong.
At a bare minimum, he had a total absence of tact or reading the room, and given his track record, that reads as trolling.
You have to acknowledge the human element whether you want to or not. There will be Bills and Bengals players who are unable to play. These aren’t robots.
League needs to stop acting as if they are robots
Their friend and teammate literally died for a second on the field. You expect them to turn right around and play again? It sounds like you’re the one that needs to grow up.
Look! You’re here, talking about it! Check it out!
Oh, people are making you feel bad for worrying about the implications of this game? Better go complain about it
I mean, seriously dude? I don’t understand people like you. You came here to complain about people complaining about you complaining.
How about we wait until the doctors can answer what the long term prognosis is…. That to much to ask?
Boomer moment
maybe the league/owners are discussing it privately amongst themselves right now and want to agree to a plan before discussing it publicly? I’m not sure I agree that’s the best approach but I think it’s a reasonable approach.
some people are capable of adult conversations relating to reality and solving problems, while being respectful.
others are emotional judgemental people only capable of childish one-dimensional conversations including name calling.
I’ll let you figure out what side of the septum you think you’re on.
God I hope he gets through this. sounds like an outstanding person off the field. While this has been a tragedy as a whole there are some people that deserve props.
The medical staff that saved his life last night on the field. They performed CPR on him in front of 70,000+ people, that has to be stressful. They are the only reason he still has a chance.the buffalo bills and the entire NFL needs to honor these medical personal.
Damar Hamlin, all prayers to you and family
Man I wish people showed this kind of support for our soldiers. They are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, husbands, and wives also.
Soldiers get plenty of support and recognition, including by the NFL. And deservedly so.
The people who really need more support are all the doctors and nurses and public health officials who have worked so hard and saved so many lives (sometimes in spite of the people they are trying to help) over the past 3 years.
People do show support for soldiers. But this is a football website and a football player suffered a traumatic injury on primetime in a big game last night. Why shouldn’t the subject be a football player?
What would happen if a police officer was shot and hurt badly and the whole squad just went home?
What point are you even trying to make here?
If you can’t answer that in your head after reading, that there is the problem.
Hard to come up with an interpretation that isn’t unbelievably stupid, so I guess I’m doing you a kindness by not assuming.
He’s clearly saying the Bills should break into the Bengals’ houses and shoot them while they’re asleep
Dunning-Kruger Effect on full display here
We’re just trying to see if you’re a bad person or if you’re just a child with parents who don’t teach you much.
Yes, because police officers who keep people safe and the NFL TOTALLY have equal importance…
Not to mention, active duty cops *don’t* die every day, and the leading cause of ones who do in the past two years is Covid. Cops don’t die at work all the time either.
They do substantially more than active duty athletes.
That’s as relevant as comparing the exercise they do.
Paulk is a clown. When a cop is shot, they do send the whole squad home. Neighboring agencies take over for a period until the affected are ready to return. Also, terrible analogy.
Maybe that’s what happens where you’re from. That’s not what happens in my city. Different departments probably handle things differently. Really neither here nor there, as it has nothing to do with the article, but Paulk isn’t necessarily wrong on that point.
They do. It’s too bad you can’t return the respect without complaining you don’t get enough.
Incidents like this should remind everyone how dangerous the sport is and how much risk is involved. My 17 year old son played high school football up here in Canada over the last two years and I was quite reluctant to let him play. I love football, but as a parent, it’s quite a relief to know that my son is ok after each and every game.
Just don’t play the game and go off of winning % for seeding. If there is a tie even with wins and losses maybe look at common opponents. Worse case a coin flip.
Wait until we see if KC wins this week. Then if they do the number 1 seed is decided without playing this game. If KC loses and Bills and Bengals finish 12-4 then a coin toss should decide the number 1, 2, and 3 seed.. maybe you give KC 50 per cent chance to win the coin toss, the other two 25 percent. No this is not 100 per cent fair BUT you just do not have a window to complete this game…
That would be a good thing..but..Baltimore can still win the Afc North..I don’t believe they would agree to all this..
Prayers for Hamlin..#3
If the Chiefs win, the number 1 seed would not be decided. KC would be 14-3, while Buffalo would be 12-3. If the Bills win out, they are 14-3 and hold the tiebreaker after having defeated KC earlier this season.
Thus, the number 1 seed would only be decided if KC loses and Buffalo wins next week. In that case, the outcome of this game would be irrelevant with respect to the number 1 seed.
On the other hand, if KC loses (13-4) and Cincy wins (12-4 and holds tiebreaker) next week, you would need to figure out who would be the 2 and 3 seeds.
Or, if Baltimore (11-6 and holds tiebreaker) beats Cincinnati (11-5), the AFC North division winner would be yet to determined.
But we can cross those bridges once we get there. Obviously, there are more important things to worry about right now
Cut the Pro Bowl out and move the playoffs back a week and they pick this game up after week 18.
There is no pro bowl this year but this suggestion lines up with my comment below about shifting the playoffs a week to the right and losing the week between the Championship games and the Superbowl.
One option would be to go forward with the regular season as scheduled and push the playoffs a week to the right. Have the Bills and Bengals play on what would have been the wildcard weekend.
The week between the AFC-NFC championships and the Superbowl (which was reserved for the Pro Bowl previously) is removed. Playoffs move a week to the right. Done. Not that hard. I understand that there may be issues with TV rights, etc but what company would protest that move and face the public criticism?
yes the doctor are focused on him and we can ask what ever we want . I wonder if they will reschedule and yes they should and most likely have discussed the game but they would do that in private as they don’t want people to focus on the game when someone is fighting to live. I get that but as fans we can ask questions about the game but it doesn’t mean we will get answers. I don’t personally think the game should be resumed while they are waiting to hear about him I mean players are not focused on playing ATM I would have to assume.
Call it a tie both teams are in the playoffs
100%.
Move on to the next week. No reason to risk more injuries heading into the playoffs by forcing this game to be played.
Who cares about how the NFL “handled” the situation. The lack of an immediate postponement did not impact Hamlin’s health and that’s all that REALLY matters here.
The term conspiracy theory was coined by the CIA to allow truth to be discredited by the mass hive mind.
I think I’ll leave you with a few quotes to help you snap out of your sheeplike mind control.
Occasionally man will stumble over the truth…but he will get up, dust himself off and carry on-Mark Twain.
Unbelief in one thing springs from blind belief in another-Georg Lichtenberg
A lie, told often enough becomes the truth-Vladimir Lenin.
How easy it is to make people believe a lie and how hard it is to undo that work-Mark Twain.
All truth goes through 3 stages, first it is ridiculed, then it is vehemently denied, and finally it is accepted as truth-Arthur Schopenhauer.
It’s perfect that you opened your list of inspirational quotes with one you attributed to the wrong person. You’re propagating dangerous nonsense, and it’s gross.
The mark of a true loon is someone who spams people with random quotes.
NFL just announced that the game will not be resumed this week.
This illustrates just how weak minded the NFL has become. You play the game. Too much is at stake. Yes, it’s a tragedy, but the NFL has played through them before.
“Weak minded”? What’s weak minded here? Precedent isn’t a good excuse for doing something wrong, and when exactly was the last time the NFL played through an instance like this?
To much at stake lol! It’s a game. It’s not that deep. Someone almost died.
Thank you, hero. You are a modern day Patton. If only the rest of us could have a tenth of the testosterone you exude….
Nobody has brought up the other problem with this game being cancelled….. Fantasy Football is a big business and week 17 for most leagues is championship week and based on the quality of the players on both sides… they are more than likely to have many $$$$ leagues with a dilemma. The decision to postpone and cancel was the correct decision and the kids health is what matters…but Houston we have a problem.
I’m in the championship with Diggs and Mixon. I’ll happily give up the first place prize for those guys to take as much time as they need.
Should have started players available to play on Sunday then. Your loss.
Call it a tie
IMHO they should eliminate the 1st round bye and go to an 8 playoff team this year. Sure someone gets homefield advantage but it’s a bit more fair.
Can’t fault Cincy or Buffalo for deciding to not play a game after watching a player have to be kept alive on the field possibly revived.
In my teaching career I had to administer cpr 3 times. Once to a kid who was allergic to bees got stung on a field trip until his eppi pen arrived. Once when a kid was knocked unconscious on the playground wasn’t breathing. Once when a kid who was paraplegic had a stroke. None were easy to just move on from. Took me a while for sure.
Nfl definitely needs to make a decision soon regarding the situation though.
This story is so absolutely sobering. It sucked watching this thing play out last night but the fact that it happened when it did with the quick medical attention probably saved his life. Hoping he’s able to pull through…
Appreciate that this site has more updated information than NFL.com.
Very happy to hear the young man seems to be pulling through.
I believe that this is the most important sentiment expressed. Thanks, Lyman
…if that even IS your real name
Here’s a proposal to move the season forward:
– move the playoffs back a week and eliminate the week off before the Super Bowl.
– this weekend, Bills vs. Bengals and play all games without playoff implications.
– next weekend play all the games with playoff implications (including both Bills/Patriots and Bengals/Ravens.
That way the season is completed, the playoff teams are at an equal advantage, and the Super Bowl is unaffected. The only consequence is the pro-bowl, which could be moved too if anyone cares.
Why even bother with the pro bowl?
Isn’t it now a skills competition or something?
Or call it a tie and just move on?
Do you think both teams are going to complain?
We need to start giving his family their space. This could take some time for him to leave the hospital and fully recover. I do not think daily updates are necessary.
Just because he plays football doesn’t mean his medical situation also needs to be public.
And yet here you are reading the updates…and I say that with all due respect.
Just about everything in a professional sports player’s life is public. That’s the way it generally is, especially occurrences with high emotional impact and implication. The media won’t let this one go, like it or not.
As far as everyone commenting here, I bet that if all of you were honest, you’d want to chiefly know 2 things: 1) How is Hamlin? 2) What’s going to happen now with the season?
Otherwise you wouldn’t be here commenting. Oh, and if you say a sliver of thought as to what will happen with the season/team standings hasn’t entered your mind in ~24h since this happened, you’re lying to yourself and others. It’s how much you care about each that is going to be different amongst everyone.
To expect that everyone cares about things on the same level as everyone else is foolish, and no comment you make on social media will change that fact.
I understand their lives are more public but that doesn’t mean we deserve to know the ins and outs of a private situations like this. This will be a long road back for Hamlin.
I’ve spent plenty of time in a cardiac icu unit. Most patients/families in there deal with plenty of ups and downs throughout the day. If you are in the ICU It’s usually not a steady uptrend. Most days involve taking two steps forward and one step back. It’s an absolute emotional rollercoaster. There is plenty of information I withheld from close family members and parents because recovery can be very volition and most people do not have a grasp of medicine.
Let him heal and be patient.
*volitile
Guys forget replaying this game… May have to delay the Bills Patriots game as who knows if Buffalo will be ready to play that one. The SAME teams make the playoffs whether or not this game is played… END of DISCUSSION. as far as fantasy football, every player has a projected points total for this game… Fantasy leagues can just use the projected point total as a real result for this game. So Josh Allen say has a projected total of 11 points or whatever..