For many, the first sign that something vey serious was happening with Bills safety Damar Hamlin happened when TV cameras caught quarterback Josh Allen’s reaction, with his hands pressed against a face that carried a look of shock and dismay. It was a level of concern that rarely is seen when trainers and doctors are attending to a player on the field.
On Sunday night, the Bills return to Cincinnati, site of Hamlin’s cardiac arrest. Appearing on the Let’s Go! podcast on SiriusXM with Tom Brady and Jim Gray, Allen was asked to reflect on the events that transpired since the team’s last regular-season game against the Bengals.
“The weeks after that and getting the positive updates on Damar, obviously, that helped our team and our mentality a lot,” Allen said. “It’s a lot for a team to go through, though. I think that it weighed on us quite heavily throughout the rest of the season and, you know, it was constantly on our minds.
“But for him to come back and obviously make the squad and be an inspiration, not just to us, but so many people in the world, he’s done so much good. Not in this area alone, like in the entire country in terms of bringing awareness to CPR and raising money and donating the defibrillators, the AEDs to high schools and little league teams around the country. And I think that that’s so freaking cool that he’s been able to turn such a tragic moment in his life into such a positive movement that could very well end up saving people’s lives. And I think that’s very powerful in itself.”
Indeed it is. Hamlin’s experience has saved lives. It will save more lives.
And it really was a lot for the Bills to go through. While they haven’t and won’t make excuses, the Bills endured a lot last year, starting with a snowstorm that forced them to play a home game in Detroit and culminating in the Hamlin situation. By the time the divisional round arrived, the Bills simply might have not had anything left, mentally and emotionally.
Sunday night’s game will be a reminder for many Bills players about what happened there in Week 17 of the 2022 season. It comes at a time when the Bills are trying to find a groove in 2023. A win against the Bengals in that building could go a long way to getting the Bills on the right track.
