Denver Broncos rookie cornerback Damarri Mathis was teammates with Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin at Pittsburgh from 2017-2020.
Hamlin was selected by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL draft. One year later, the Broncos selected Mathis in the fourth round of the draft.
Hamlin collapsed during Monday Night Football earlier this week and was resuscitated before being taken to a hospital in Cincinnati. He showed “remarkable improvement” from Wednesday to Thursday, which is a very promising sign.
Teams, players and fans from across the league supported and prayed for Hamlin and his family this week. One can only imagine how difficult the last few days also were for Hamlin’s teammates both past and present, including Mathis.
Cmon fam🖤🙏 https://t.co/Bw8CvkrEhd
— Damarri Mathis (@Marri863) January 3, 2023
Broncos interim coach Jerry Rosburg relayed a message from Mathis to the team during a meeting earlier this week.
“To Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills — [Damarri Mathis], your teammate and our teammate, told us all about you,” Rosburg said. “He told us about your high character and your friendliness. He told us about your incredible ability to lead people to a loving commitment to others [with] community service and raising other people up. That’s a remarkable thing. Today, Damar, we honor you.
“Today, we will strive to be better in the areas of our lives that you were so good at, and you will — with all due course and prayers — return to. We will strive not to exalt ourselves, but raise others up, like you did. Especially those who are laid low, like you did. For now, while you are recovering, we are here to raise you up. We support you. Even those of us who do not know you, we offer our love. You are one of our football brothers.”
Denver safety Justin Simmons has been checking up on Mathis this week.
“I’ve had some conversations with Damarri to make sure he is okay,” Simmons said. “He knows Damar really well — obviously, they were teammates at Pitt. I’m just checking on him and making sure he is okay. I know he has reached out and all that good stuff.
“He seems to be in a pretty good place, but you never know with those types of things or what people are holding on to. I’m just continuing to let him know that, I don’t know what I can say, and I don’t know if I can say anything, but I’m here for him.”
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