Damar Hamlin

[tower912]

I am starting this separate thread with the thought that we can discuss everything regarding this young man's circumstances here, while talking about the rest of the NFL in the NFL thread.   A lot to unpack overnight.

He is still alive.  Continue your prayers.

The NFL claims it never said the game would resume after 5 minutes.   I know that sometimes in chaotic crisis situations, somebody will say something inaccurate that they don't have the authority to say.   Ultimately, the correct thing was done.

I am comfortable with the theory that the cause was a blow to the chest.   There are many documented cases of this.   Looking at the play, the theory fits the visual.

Whatever decisions are made going forward regarding NFL related things, finishing the game, playoff implications, a lot of people are going to disagree and get their bloomers in a bundle.    There are no clear and easy answers.

There is a story out there that Hamlin's foundation was flooded with donations overnight.  If true, way cool.

[MuggsyB]

There are no clear answers.  It very well could have been that blow to the chest or something entirely different.  Hopefully this young man makes it, that's all we can think about right now. 

[StillAWarrior]

There is a story out there that Hamlin's foundation was flooded with donations overnight.  If true, way cool.

It is true. When I first heard about the GoFundMe last night, they were talking about how it had reached $300k. Currently, it sits at over $3.3 million.

Prayers for Hamlin and his family.

[Uncle Rico]

I am starting this separate thread with the thought that we can discuss everything regarding this young man's circumstances here, while talking about the rest of the NFL in the NFL thread.   A lot to unpack overnight.

He is still alive.  Continue your prayers.

The NFL claims it never said the game would resume after 5 minutes.   I know that sometimes in chaotic crisis situations, somebody will say something inaccurate that they don't have the authority to say.   Ultimately, the correct thing was done.

I am comfortable with the theory that the cause was a blow to the chest.   There are many documented cases of this.   Looking at the play, the theory fits the visual.

Whatever decisions are made going forward regarding NFL related things, finishing the game, playoff implications, a lot of people are going to disagree and get their bloomers in a bundle.    There are no clear and easy answers.

There is a story out there that Hamlin's foundation was flooded with donations overnight.  If true, way cool.

It was a violent hit to the chest with turf impact.  Really, a worst case scenario for the NFL with regards to player safety.  Whether they like it or not, a lot of debate about football is going to happen.  They do have the luxury of corporate America so invested in the game, any real debates can be drowned out

[MU82]

Officially being called "cardiac arrest."

Thanks for starting this thread, tower. Important topic.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

It would be awfully coincidental to not have been caused by that hit. Now, the hit may have unveiled a previously unknown medical condition, but I think it is pretty clear what caused this.

I think in the back of everyone's minds, people knew this was likely to happen at some point. Human beings are not meant to run into one another at great rates of speed, and no matter what you do, the game isn't inherently safe. (No sporting event is really, but football especially.)

I said this in the NFL topic, but the league just has to cancel this game. There is no way that the Bills are going to be prepared mentally to play football anytime before Sunday. And if Hamlin does pass away, my guess is the Bills won't play that one either.

[tower912]

I am a big fan of the players gathering around to block the activity on the ground from view of the cameras.    Watching CPR being done is not pleasant.    It used to seriously piss me off when I would be doing CPR in public and look up to see somebody taking video with their camera.    So, bravo players.   
     However, in doing so, if they were watching, they were also inflicting emotional damage on themselves.    I know it is a family member.   But the unnatural things being done to their family member are going to be seared in their memories for a while.    I always encouraged family members to go to another room if possible.    I would flat out tell them that it was the most unpleasant thing they could ever watch and it was in their best interest to not watch. 
    For football players, watching a peer/friend/teammate/comrade in arms/brother have his football equipment removed and cut off so the paramedics can work must be an even different level of anguish.   Their pads and helmets are such symbols.   

[Uncle Rico]

I am a big fan of the players gathering around to block the activity on the ground from view of the cameras.    Watching CPR being done is not pleasant.    It used to seriously piss me off when I would be doing CPR in public and look up to see somebody taking video with their camera.    So, bravo players.   
     However, in doing so, if they were watching, they were also inflicting emotional damage on themselves.    I know it is a family member.   But the unnatural things being done to their family member are going to be seared in their memories for a while.    I always encouraged family members to go to another room if possible.    I would flat out tell them that it was the most unpleasant thing they could ever watch and it was in their best interest to not watch. 
    For football players, watching a peer/friend/teammate/comrade in arms/brother have his football equipment removed and cut off so the paramedics can work must be an even different level of anguish.   Their pads and helmets are such symbols.

Everyone talks about safer helmets but the reality is, the helmets make these guys more dangerous

[pbiflyer]

I have not watched any video. I learned my lesson with Joe Theisman.

It was also annoying that they kept showing close ups of the distraught players over and over again. I know they say they are trying to show the humanity,but really they are just being salacious.

Tower, I heard many of the players faced away just for the reasons you cited. I feel so bad for the players, especially the receiver that delivered the hit. That is going to mess with him probably forever unless there is a full recovery.

[GB Warrior]

I think regardless of whether or how Hamlin recovers, there are a lot of players who were introduced to their own mortality. Time will tell of there is a reverberation of early retirements, but what the players endured last night is traumatic, and it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest to see players make a choice this offseason.

[wadesworld]

I am a big fan of the players gathering around to block the activity on the ground from view of the cameras.    Watching CPR being done is not pleasant.    It used to seriously piss me off when I would be doing CPR in public and look up to see somebody taking video with their camera.    So, bravo players.   
     However, in doing so, if they were watching, they were also inflicting emotional damage on themselves.    I know it is a family member.   But the unnatural things being done to their family member are going to be seared in their memories for a while.    I always encouraged family members to go to another room if possible.    I would flat out tell them that it was the most unpleasant thing they could ever watch and it was in their best interest to not watch. 
    For football players, watching a peer/friend/teammate/comrade in arms/brother have his football equipment removed and cut off so the paramedics can work must be an even different level of anguish.   Their pads and helmets are such symbols.

The brother of the guy who collapsed when we were playing pick-up basketball was playing with us. He was urging us not to shock him when the AED was saying to. He had to be walked away by a couple of people.

[MuggsyB]

Everyone talks about safer helmets but the reality is, the helmets make these guys more dangerous

Should they go back to the leather headgear?  The sport is chronically dangerous.  Obviously what happened last night was highly unusual but unless you're a kicker or punter it's probable you will be dealing with serious physical and mental pain as a retired pro football player.  Their aren't a lot of good safety solutions for the NFL. 

[tower912]

The brother of the guy who collapsed when we were playing pick-up basketball was playing with us. He was urging us not to shock him when the AED was saying to. He had to be walked away by a couple of people.

Twice in my career, I did CPR on family members of firefighters.   The first time, my friend burst in and tried to take over.  I put him into a wall and, with my forearm buried in his chest, told him to go take care of the rest of his family and that he knew better.    He thanked me later, but he did not like me in the moment.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Should they go back to the leather headgear?  The sport is chronically dangerous.  Obviously what happened last night was highly unusual but unless you're a kicker or punter it's probable you will be dealing with serious physical and mental pain as a retired pro football player.  Their aren't a lot of good safety solutions for the NFL. 

Nothing is going to fundamentally change about football based on what happened last night.

[MUBurrow]

Nothing is going to fundamentally change about football based on what happened last night.

Yep. Rough play and obviously a beyond horrible outcome, but there were probably five plays in every game this week that looked/were more likely to cause serious injury than Hamlin's tackle last night.

[MuggsyB]

Nothing is going to fundamentally change about football based on what happened last night.

That's correct. 

[JWags85]

Yep. Rough play and obviously a beyond horrible outcome, but there were probably five plays in every game this week that looked/were more likely to cause serious injury than Hamlin's tackle last night.

Yep, for example, in the OSU-UGA game on Sat night, the hit that knocked Marvin Harrison Jr out for awhile was 5x more dangerous and violent and was a deemed a legal hit/play.

[Hards Alumni]

Everyone talks about safer helmets but the reality is, the helmets make these guys more dangerous

I've been saying to friends and family for a while that taking away the pads will slow down the players.

[tower912]

A la rugby?

[Uncle Rico]

I've been saying to friends and family for a while that taking away the pads will slow down the players.

The game will become more violent as more generations pass.  We will continue to push the boundaries of the body and get faster and bigger

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Rugby players have a higher rate of injury, and higher rate of concussions, than football players. So I think getting rid of pads would be terrible.

[MU82]

Yep, for example, in the OSU-UGA game on Sat night, the hit that knocked Marvin Harrison Jr out for awhile was 5x more dangerous and violent and was a deemed a legal hit/play.

Yeah, I wasn't surprised the targeting call was reversed, but he sure seemed like a "defenseless player" to me.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Yeah, I wasn't surprised the targeting call was reversed, but he sure seemed like a "defenseless player" to me.

He was a defenseless player, but he wasn't hit in the head or neck area, which is when targeting comes into effect. 

[JWags85]

Rugby players have a higher rate of injury, and higher rate of concussions, than football players. So I think getting rid of pads would be terrible.

Ive always found that argument to be amusing.  Football is brutal and injury filled, but the number of rugby players you see with cauliflower ear, permanently f-ed noses, and missing teeth is pretty significant in numbers you don't see in the NFL, and thats not counting all the other injuries they share with football players.

[pbiflyer]

Ive always found that argument to be amusing.  Football is brutal and injury filled, but the number of rugby players you see with cauliflower ear, permanently f-ed noses, and missing teeth is pretty significant in numbers you don't see in the NFL, and thats not counting all the other injuries they share with football players.

And don’t get me started on their livers.