Damar Hamlin - Now (1/11/2023) discharged from Buf Gen & “recovering at home”

[AlfaBill]

20 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

I would not be surprised if the Bills are done playing this year. Nobody cares about that right now. 

How can they be done? You mean mentally? I would think you move on and play to win even for Hamlin. Obviously if he recovers it’s much easier 

[BillyBilliams]

11 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

Can’t see them stating it’s a tie as it affects the play off picture. They’ll either prolong the regular season, wiping out the gap between the Conference Championships and Super Bowl, or use winning percentages.

Winning percentages wouldn’t matter.  Chiefs are at .813 and Bills are at .800.  Unless this game is played, the Chiefs would win the 1 seed

[BIGFOOTspaceman]

3 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

 

 

Just saying because I know a thing or two about large corporations and money. 
 

100% there were people, somewhere in an office discussing the monetary impact of all this and having active debates on why the game should go on.  Guaranteed.  
 

 

[Special K]

16 minutes ago, Governor said:

McD will do the right thing and insist on the forfeit. You can’t punish the other team.

 

If a forfeit is forced, I’m not totally convinced the Bengals would accept a win given the circumstances. They experienced the same thing the Bills experienced on that field....would they really want to benefit from such a terrible situation?

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

1 minute ago, UKBillFan said:

Cynically, can’t help but think what else would he say? Feel bad for wondering it but the NFL and player safety protocols have not been the best of bedfellows this year.

I’m a little confused but I want to trust him…multiple ESPN commentators said that announcement was made. Maybe a ref amidst the chaos was informing teams of the standard ambulance protocol?

[What a Tuel]

1 minute ago, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

not that I disagree with your overall points but the players having to push back is pretty serious as far as public perception goes imo if that’s in fact the case.  
 

I just have trouble believing the nfl officials weren’t in contact with the head office informing them Hamlins heart had to essentially get restarted on the field and asking what they should do before that ‘be ready to play in 5 minutes’ announcement.  Of course the nfl may clear up the timeline of who said what to who etc.  

 

 To me it’s more likely than not at this point that the game would’ve gone on if both coaches didn’t pull their players off the field but we are still in the early aftermath of this where things tend to get exaggerated. 

 

True and maybe they need to be criticized for that aspect of being so out of touch with the seriousness of the situation and its effect on players. I still believe the 5 minute thing was prexisting protocol for extended injury situations and not the NFL saying "ok he's gone, you've got say....5 minutes to get back on the field"

 

But even then I don't think the NFL listening to player/coach feedback and then reversing course on a decision is a bad thing either.

[Draconator]

Trey Lance and Christian McCaffrey also donated $1000 a piece. 

[Heavy Kevi]

2 minutes ago, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

I would be very happy if this is true…even SVP and the ESPN commentators were saying the 5 minute announcement was made though so I’m curious who that all is getting sourced from.  I admittedly can’t remember if they said they were seeing it from tweets or not though. 

 

2 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

Cynically, can’t help but think what else would he say? Feel bad for wondering it but the NFL and player safety protocols have not been the best of bedfellows this year.

 

 

Yeah I don't think Troy (Aikman) made it up. 

 

Though there's a fair chance that him saying that on air was everyone's source.

 

But this idea that it was never considered, thought up, or implemented just seems like... Damage control

 

I'd like to ask Aikman where he heard/saw it and that might just clear alot of this up.

[CorkScrewHill]

 

[Sierra Foothills]

27 minutes ago, JGMcD2 said:

I get what you’re saying… but this is quite different. His teammates and coaches watched him receive CPR on the field and he’s fighting for his life. 
 

It’s not 1 person processing their grief. 53+ players and an entire staff have to process this grief… and if they even want to step on the field again. Rightfully so. 

 

22 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

I’d argue it is in a sense, although it depends on the individual as well. But playing football - or any activity - can serve as a distraction from grief when it has occurred elsewhere. But, in Damar’s case, the football field is where it happened. Someone gets tackled - does he get up? If he does, will he fall down straight away again? Is he really ok? Or how about, if it happened to Damar, could it happen to them too? Even though it is probably a one in a billion occurrence. 
 

Going out on the field will not be easy in terms of mindset, especially for either the Bengals or Bills. That could be best, for that reason, that their next game is against each other.

 

Yes, grief is one thing. Trauma (and PTSD) quite another.

 

18 minutes ago, djp14150 said:

How exactly with a week left that does not affect playoff games?

 

if they play Wednesday/ Thursday they can’t play Sunday which then can cause problems in competitive balance.

 

In the two Covid years the NFL had numerous games played on 3-4 days rest. Don't rule out the possibility of a condensed schedule. 

 

2 minutes ago, Draconator said:

Trey Lance and Christian McCaffrey also donated $1000 a piece. 

 

Some people prefer to donate anonymously... which is a GoFundMe option btw.

 

[LOVEMESOMEBILLS]

1 minute ago, Draconator said:

Trey Lance and Christian McCaffrey also donated $1000 a piece. 

 

 Over $2.4 million now. Wow.  Come on Mr. Hamlin you have to pull through, you got alot of gifts to give away!!

 

 

 

 

[appoo]

saved Damar’s life in the moment. I know it’s their job, but it’s not to be taken for granted.

 

they did wonderfully tonight

[What a Tuel]

Just now, Heavy Kevi said:

Yeah I don't think Troy (Aikman) made it up. 

 

Though there's a fair chance that him saying that on air was everyone's source.

 

But this idea that it was never considered, thought up, or implemented just seems like... Damage control

 

I'd like to ask Aikman where he heard/saw it and that might just clear alot of this up.

 

The key is what happened when Dane Jackson was taken by ambulance? I am guessing a 5 minute warm up period before play resumed. My bet is either the officials enacted the preexisting protocol, or someone in the broadcast booth threw it out there as what will happen.

[ColoradoBills]

1 minute ago, Special K said:

 

If a forfeit is forced, I’m not totally convinced the Bengals would accept a win given the circumstances. They experienced the same thing the Bills experienced on that field....would they really want to benefit from such a terrible situation?

 

I'm speculating, but the owners were there too and seen what happened and talked to their coaches and players.

Then it was reported they visited with each other.  I'm willing to bet they will have a say in it.

I have some faith in what you say.  

 

As emotional of a guy that Terry Pegula is I'm sure Mike Brown will look at Damar and the Bills players and do what he thinks is right.

I bet Terry is a wreck.

[saundena]

16 minutes ago, What a Tuel said:

 

No, a KC loss or a Cinci loss next week would give them 2 seed.

 

Edit: with a Bills win over the Pats of course. A Loss to the pats guarantees 3rd seed.

 

No.  If we lost / lose / forfeit to the Bengals, we could still end up with the number one seed if both the Chiefs and Bengals lose next week and we win.

 

I don't think you can fairly use win percentages in such a small sample size of games, letting the other 30 teams play 17 games and the Bills and Bengals 16.  Assuming the Chiefs and Bills all win next week, the Chiefs would have a higher win percentage than Buffalo 14-3 versus our assumed 13-3.  I suppose the league could also consider our head to head victory over the Chiefs since we didn't get a chance to play 17 games. 

 

In light of what happened, I think the simplest thing to do would be a coin flip to determine the "winner" of tonight's game (since it was likely to be a close game anyway) solely for playoff seeding.  In other words, the Bills and Bengals final regular season record will be based on 16 games, but playoff seeding will be based on the results of the coin flip.

 

All that said. Prayers to Hamlin.  We have a tough team and they are family to each other. Don't underestimate prayer and positive thoughts.  We will come out of this stronger, sometimes it just hard to see the forest through the trees. 

[HappyDays]

5 minutes ago, BIGFOOTspaceman said:

Just saying because I know a thing or two about large corporations and money. 
 

100% there were people, somewhere in an office discussing the monetary impact of all this and having active debates on why the game should go on.  Guaranteed.  
 

 

 

People have been way to quick to criticize the league's handling of an unprecedented situation. In fact all of the NFL's preparedness and on-field protocols for a situation like this may have saved Hamlin's life tonight. I choose to focus on that, instead of how many minutes they waited to announce the game was postponed.

[Airseven]

A 5-minute warmup is likely SOP for prolonged stoppages. It clearly took some time to process the situation, coordinate and confer with the teams, and determine that a 5-minute warmup was futile. The appropriate decision was ultimately made.

[Hsker4life]

Can we please use a different thread to discuss playoff seeding and what not? I’m constantly refreshing hoping and praying to see positive news about Damar. 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

1 minute ago, What a Tuel said:

 

The key is what happened when Dane Jackson was taken by ambulance? I am guessing a 5 minute warm up period before play resumed. My bet is either the officials enacted the preexisting protocol, or someone in the broadcast booth threw it out there as what will happen.

I remember aikman saying something like they were trying to get him loaded into the ambulance and the 5 minute announcement was made but then they could not get him in the ambulance at that time. He said it in a way that implied it actually happened but he absolutely could have misspoke 

 

[John from Riverside]

1 minute ago, Airseven said:

A 5-minute warmup is likely SOP for prolonged stoppages. It clearly took some time to process the situation, coordinate and confer with the teams, and determine that a 5-minute warmup was futile. The appropriate decision was ultimately made.

The problem is, I’m not convinced that the NFL made it. I am wondering if this was a case where the players were just refusing to come back out on the field