The games will go on. They always do. But Damar Hamlin’s life-threatening cardiac arrest during the Bills’ game against the Bengals on Monday night cast a pall on the NFL season like few events can.
NFL players go into this knowing that any play can be their last — whether they’re a league MVP or an undrafted free agent on the fringe of the roster. Bears wide receiver Johnny Knox was 25, an overachieving fifth-round draft pick in his third season in 2011 and three weeks removed from a career day against the Raiders — four receptions for 145 yards and a touchdown — when a devastating hit he took while trying to recover a fumble in a game against the Seahawks at Soldier Field ended his season and ultimately his career. Just like that.
