The sports world was shocked Monday night when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field at Paycor Stadium facing the Cincinnati Bengals.
Hamlin required CPR for his cardiac arrest, was transported to a nearby hospital, and has been in critical condition in the intensive care unit since Jan. 2.
The NFL, players, coaches, and fans have rallied around Hamlin.
Houston Texans coach Lovie Smith met with the media for the first time since the incident and talked about how the team is handling it.
“Just like all of you, I was watching Monday Night Football too, which I normally do,” said Smith. “I witnessed what we all saw. Our game can be violent. It’s a contact sport. Injuries happen, but you assume that an injury like that won’t happen.
Football: The ultimate fraternity
“I don’t know Damar,” Smith said. “I’ve never met him, but I think we all feel like we do, when you’re part of this close-knit football fraternity. On our football team, we do have members that do know him personally. Jacques Cesaire that coaches our defensive line coached him last year on the staff there. Mario Addison and Jerry Hughes were teammates with Damar last year with the Bills. Then it goes all the way back, Jimmy Morrissey spent five years at the University of Pittsburgh with Damar. Kurt Hinish was a high school teammate, so when people that you know personally are that close, you feel like you even know him a little bit more.
The moment
“Watching it, it was tough,” said Smith. “You had to think about as a parent, his parents and everybody that loves him, as he fought for his life on the field. What I also saw was natural emotion on how much people care, from the opponent across the field, with the Cincinnati Bengals, and watching their team from coaches, administrators and players. What I also saw that night was how people pulling together, the medical team, and how they went into work to save his life. But that is football, and somethings can happen like that.
How the Texans have handled it
“I thought it would be wise to let the guys have another day yesterday to just kind of reflect and take this all in,” said Smith. “We made our mental health clinicians and all the people that can help guys that may need to talk to someone available. Our players came back in today. We tried to get on as much of a regular routine as much as we could. We normally start our day off with a team meeting. We were able to do that today and had the person that’s in charge of our mental health here leading the meeting.
Talk it out
“We just let the guys know that what they’re feeling right now is kind of natural,” Smith said. “We’re all kind of feeling the same things, but we’re going to get through this together. Let everybody talk a little bit. The one’s that really wanted to. The guys that I mentioned that know Damar personally, I think it was good for them to let the team know a little bit about him and let all of us know a little bit about him. That’s where we are with that.
Helping the Bills however possible
“Organizationally, we’re going to do whatever we can to help the Bills and anyone else that we feel like we can help, doing our part,” said Smith. “I know one thing that I, and when you feel like you’re far away and you can’t do awful lot, I’m a believer, so I believe in prayer, that it helps. I know he had a lot of people praying for a speedy recovery, and we hope that he gets better and better each day.”
