Damar Hamlin is on the phone from Buffalo after two weeks spent seesawing through every human emotion, each day simultaneously exactly what he wanted and not nearly enough. He’s discussing a video of himself a reporter put on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) on Nov. 5, specifically, the text he wrote when he reposted it. It read, in part: y’all don’t know the half of it.
In the video, the Buffalo Bills safety walks onto the field at Paycor Stadium, alone, before the Bills’ Week 9 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He stops near midfield. Kneels down. Appears to contemplate deeply. Snaps a selfie. And strolls off.
The video cannot show what he feels deep inside, he says. “What it truly takes to do what I’m doing. What it takes to truly, actually, return to something that actually kills you.”
