SageAgainstTheMachine

Since Bills Mafia is becoming a legendary fundraising force, can we find something that funds and promotes free CPR classes and send $3 donations in honor of Denny Kellington?

Have to admit I’m crying some happy tears right now.

Well I think regardless of the Patriots game, it's likely that the Bills and Bengals will only play 16 games this season while the rest of the league plays 17 and things will boil down to win percentage. I prefer they flip a coin but that's something the league will shy away from. So given that, the Bills playing 15 isn't some huge problem. The biggest problem as far as competition goes is the potential of the Pats simply being handed a win and automatically advancing when other teams were led to believe they were still in the hunt.

No, you literally don't have to. You can quit any job. I repeat, I don't want that to happen. I don't think it will. But nobody HAS to do anything.

Read earlier in the thread and you'll see me saying that the Bills are going to play the game and that the NFL can't tolerate the franchise not doing it. But it's the players who have the actual power here even if the team gets punished.

I mean, they don't. I think they should and will but the players are grown adults who don't have to do anything they don't want to.

I know. The whole situation makes me sick to my stomach but earnestly I don't see how the Patriots game not being played helps.

I'll say this - if there are individuals on the team who feel they can't play, the team should honor their wishes. Dane Jackson springs to mind as someone who is not only very close to Damar but who suffered a frightening injury earlier himself. But the whole team not playing the game? Man, I just think that's a pandora's box of consequences. Competition for the postseason IS the game. Between players and coaches the NFL is comprised of like 3,000 guys. The chances of something awful happening to one of those people over the course of the season is really really high. The world can be unkind.

Sorry but the NFL won’t just tolerate that. It’s a damn hard situation for the Bills but it’s not like Damar gets better by us not playing.

GOAT practice QB, presumably.

*****. Yes.

They’ll take him off the ventilator and he may not make it despite any number of positive indicators. I think it makes a lot of sense not to give official statements.

Yeah I just don't see things going well for the Bills here. We're so used to movies where whoever plays with the most emotions comes out on top and the Bills players will certainly be more emotional than the other team...but a lot of those emotions aren't the kind that make you perform better in real life. NFL teams excel when they play with swagger. It's irrational but you need some of that feeling that you're immortal to rise to the top of a combat sport. Watching a teammate take a regular everyday hit and then have his heart stop does the exact opposite.

They got deleted and banned real quick but there were posters on this board last night doing infuriating things like calling Tee Higgins dirty, calling the league soft for postponing and blaming Covid vaccines. Bottom line, some percentage of fans from every fan base is awful.

I am so very indifferent right now to the results of the Bills' season and I suspect I will be until we know Damar is out of the woods and on his way to health. I can't imagine how the players feel. They're supposed to think about prepping for New England starting tomorrow, right? With their brother potentially on his death bed?

I hope that the money that's coming in is managed well and a large charitable organization is born out of it helping thousands of underprivileged kids. That's the legacy Hamlin deserves no matter how long he lives.

I like the coin flip. Restarting yesterday's game where it left off would not only throw off the whole schedule, it would be a bizarre and maudlin affair that's anathema to entertainment. I'd even be fine with them using a RNG and giving the Bengals a 60% chance since they were up 7-3 and driving.

Makes me think of Dale Earnhardt too.

I agree completely. For whatever it's worth I hope Clark and Van Pelt win some sort of broadcasting award for last night. They had to do a job that was very different than the one they thought they came to work to do and they did it with aplomb.

Given roster turnover I can’t imagine there are any two players in the NFL with more than two degrees of separation.

Everyone understands that this was a freak accident. Changing rules would be like saying don't walk on sidewalks because an air conditioner might fall on your head.

Whatever happens for the rest of the season I've got love and empathy for this 2022 team. Speaking personally, a certain amount of adversity can be a shot in the arm. But things can compile to a point where you lost motivation and I wouldn't blame them at all.

I think the thing that makes this so terrifying is that it’s a true freak accident with no preventable behavior like head injuries. No Damar Hamlin Rule is coming to make it so a heart won’t stop. Just a memento mori. Gather ye rosebuds.

Could go that way or you could have some traumatized players wondering if they’re going to die when they get hit. I’m not prepared to predict any reactions. Human minds and motivations are complex.

Just saw a really good point - if they announce immediately that the game is postponed, the emergency vehicles now have to deal with prohibitive traffic when seconds count.