Football Players and Coaches: The 2007 Buffalo Bills Player-To-Play Event that Saves Kevin and Curtis from a Traumatic Injury
At the time, I had to tell my wife, who did not grow up with any familiarity with sports or sport culture, “Injuries are part of the game and, when they happen, we players say our prayers, then move on … and play on.”
My wife asked me that when I was playing for the Buffalo Bills in 2007, after she witnessed a tragic scene at a game. Kevin had a severe spine injury after a collision on the kick off and he fell limp to the turf. She was one of the 70,000+ fans in the stadium who watched on in silence as Kevin fought for his life. The procedure likely saved his life. He never played again.
I felt a lot like my wife did that day in Buffalo when the Bills safety collapsed as players prayed around him on bended knees. Mental wounds were reopened as haunting memories came flooding back in.
During my playing days at Stanford University, my teammate and fellow running back, Kerry Carter, collided with University of Washington player Curtis Williams, who ran up to make a tackle. Curtis was paralyzed from the neck down. Players cried, prayed and then played on. 18 months later, two days after his 24th birthday, Curtis died due to complications from the paralysis suffered that day. My teammate is still hurt by that collision.
In regard to Damar’s injury, Kerry told me: “It’s going to take some time for everyone involved to come to terms with what they just experienced. It is laughable to think we were able to continue playing.
We used to be conditioned to look at physical and mental pain in a different way. We learned not to focus on the negative because it can hinder optimal performance. We were trained to fight on with a “next play” mentality anytime something bad happened. We knew that we played on despite the tragic injuries.
Everyone who is involved in the sport of football was watching. Parents, coaches, college coaches and high school coaches were watching. It became clear that priority of players’ health, both mental and physical, is the right thing to do when it was said that the importance of player safety no longer mattered.
Those coaches were concerned about their players mental health. After seeing the teary eyes and traumatized looks on their players’ faces, they determined it wasn’t worth trying to continue that game.
Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins told CNN, “I’m truly blessed that we didn’t have to keep playing. Most people treat us athletes as superstars. Some people, like celebrities … but in that moment they treated us like people.”
Some people still think that the players should have continued playing. You don’t have to search very long on social media to find that some people care more about their fantasy football team’s performance than the health and well-being of their fellow man. I guess that’s to be expected. That is the way it has always been.
Just four days after his stunning on-field cardiac arrest, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is breathing on his own and speaking to family, physicians and teammates – positive updates that Bills players say will bolster them in this weekend’s matchup against the New England Patriots.
The team watched in shock as Hamlin was rushed from the field to an ambulance, and was resuscitated, Dawkins said. But he said news of Hamlin’s significant improvement “will for sure fuel us” in the team’s Sunday showdown against the Patriots.
Hamlin made a heart-shaped hand gesture while he talked to his teammates via video chat, which was reported by Sean McDermott as saying that he “loves you boys.”
“The excitement was beautiful, it was amazing,” he said of the call with Hamlin. “It has given us so much energy, so much bright, high spirits – whatever you want to call it – it has given it to us to see that boy’s face.”
“What happened to Damar Hamlin, his injury, was another gut punch to the city of Buffalo and to see him recovering so remarkably is certainly lifting spirits throughout our community and across the country,” Brown told CNN’s Kate Bolduan Friday.
After millions witnessed Hamlin’s emergency play out live, a wave of support has emerged from fans and strangers across the nation, many of whom have purchased his jersey or donated to his foundation’s charity fund, which has topped $8 million raised as of Saturday morning. Teams across the NFL have also rallied behind the Bills player by wearing his number, 3, lighting up stadiums and scoreboards, and sharing words of solidarity.
Displays of support will continue this weekend as the league prepares for an emotional return to competition for the final games of the regular season on Saturday and Sunday. The NFL plans to honor Hamlin before each game.
The Bills and Cincinnati have already punched their tickets to the playoffs, so the cancellation won’t have any effect on that. But the imbalance in number of games played has prompted the league to approve unprecedented provisions for the postseason based on how the Bills and Bengals are seeded and their potential opponents.
Why aren’t you guys still watching football? The Cleveland Cavvy reloaded after his game against the Chicago Bulls with Love for Damar 3
Players also have the option to wear shirts emblazoned with “Love for Damar 3” during warmups and the Bills will wear “3” patches on their jerseys, the NFL said.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane – who stayed in Cincinnati following the game’s postponement to be with Hamlin and his family – praised the unified message of support across the league this week, noting how characteristically competitive the sport is.
“Yeah, we go to battle. “In the end, life is the number one battle,” said Beane. It is rare to see that unified from players, coaches, owners, fans and general managers. I think it is a good light. It sheds light on the league. The NFL is truly a family.”
The NFL Players Association named Hamlin its Community MVP of Week 18, and they will donate $10,000 to his Chasing M’s Foundation.
Philadelphia Eagles running back Miles sanders said he was able to chat with Hamlin, telling him that he was the most famous person in the world.
The commercial breaks were a mixed blessing — a respite for the broadcasters, whose own emotions understandably kept tumbling out, but a lousy time to peddle light beer, and an inconvenient reminder that in the absence of news about Hamlin’s condition (which would not be forthcoming anytime soon), and in the absence of an actual football game (which no decent person was in the mood to resume), this advertising money was the only reason the cameras were still rolling. We were watching a young man who was near-death become commodified in real time. The second time Buck repeated some variation on the phrase “there’s nothing left to say at this point,” it sounded less like a directive to the production truck — let someone else flail for a while — and more like a reproof to the audience. Why are you still watching? Why haven’t you changed the channel? What kind of person still watches football?
In a different sports universe separated from a few TV channels, the N.B.A.’s Cleveland Cavvy played against the Chicago Bulls, and they were playing one of the most exciting games of the season. It was the highest single-game total in 17 years, and it makes Mitchell one of only seven players in N.B.A. history to top 70. Mitchell is powerful and balletic, with a 6-foot-10 wingspan that has earned him the nickname Spida; the Cavaliers, thanks in large part to him, will most likely reach the playoffs for the first time since 1998 without LeBron James on the roster. On the emotional spectrum of sports fandom, Mitchell’s night was the polar opposite of the tableau in Cincinnati: jubilation in the stands, gobsmacked teammates on the bench, escalating delirium in the announcers’ voices. When Mitchell performed well in the overtime game, his teammates tried to distract him with water bottles and posed for a picture with him.