What if the Bills refuse to play the Patriots?

[Epstein's Mother]

1 hour ago, TH3 said:

This thread marks the official “run out of things to speculate about” point…

 

1 hour ago, HOUSE said:

Nope, it is being discussed in the media, this is a real possibility 

 

Well if the media is talking about it then it must be a real thing.

[WotAGuy]

2 minutes ago, davefan66 said:

That’s the question, isn’t it? Does the team move forward? If the team doesn’t move forward, how does it impact the season?  

 

Thats up to them to decide. If they choose to play, it is their decision.  If they choose to not play, it is their decision.  I don’t expect McDermott or Beane to force a single one of these guys to do play now, or later.

 

Looking at the players reactions while it happened spoke volumes to me.  This is something a number of them won’t “get over” in 6 days, weeks or maybe months. 

Agree. These guys aren’t trained essential workers who have been prepared to see death on the job and need to resume their jobs for the health and safety of the public. They are entertainers.  Their jobs aren’t essential and football has been halted before due to innocuous actions like labor strikes. If they decide to not play, it really won’t affect anything of importance.  

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 hour ago, JLO said:

I get the severity of the situation but whatever happened to a team dedicating the rest of the season to a fallen comrade? There have been millions of tackles in the 103 year history of the NFL and this is the first time something like this has occurred. I'm sure alot of players would rather get back on the field and re-focus instead of crawling into fetal position and quitting. 

This is NOT the first time a player died on the field. Actually, Damar would have died had they not brought him back with treatment and modern technology.  Damar was no doubt saved by the AED.

 

Happened in 1971, Bears/Lions game... Lions player, Chuck Hughes, was taken off field on stretcher... They say he died later, but he probably died right there like Damar would have without modern emergency attention...

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/widow-of-nfl-player-who-died-on-field-very-emotional-over-damar-hamlins-collapse/ar-AA15Y5Z6

 

"It was a similar scene to when Sharon's husband, who was a wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, collapsed on the field on Oct. 24, 1971 during a home game against the Chicago Bears. Chuck had suffered a fatal heart attack due to a blood clot that was dislodged after he was tackled. He is the only NFL player to ever die on the field."

 

"During the 1971 game, the Lions were down 28-23 and Chuck had just caught his first pass that season. He was tackled. Then, several plays later, with 62 seconds left, he fell to the ground while clutching his chest. After multiple attempts, the medical team could not resuscitate him. The stunned crowd watched as his body was wheeled off in a stretcher."

[davefan66]

Just now, Buffalo03 said:

I think they know they have no choice but to move forward. They know they have to. It will be hard this week but they have to do it

Why is it that they have no choice?  The league has said they will support the Bills in their decision.

 

I think whatever they do will receive support from the other players and teams in the league.  Look at how shook Aaron Rodgers was if you saw his interview. How others spoke of the situation, coaches and players. 
 

I think this team is incredibly close, more so than any other in the league maybe. That is a big part in how devastated they are. 

[TheWeatherMan]

Simple, the result would be the Bills lose Pats win and also get 10 random comp picks from the NFL.  

[WotAGuy]

31 minutes ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

It was a freak thing that happened to Damar Hamlin.  Its upsetting sad and scary for all of us.  But football is a violent game.  The players all know that.  They can be upset.  But they still will need to focus on what they are paid quite well to do.  And that is to block out the distraction and be a baller for 3 plus hours this Sunday.  And keep doing that until they win the Super Bowl or are eliminated.  

Ok tough guy.  I would love to see you tell this to Trey White or Dane Jackson or Diggs and see how that goes. 

[HOUSE]

8 minutes ago, Epstein's Mother said:

 

 

Well if the media is talking about it then it must be a real thing.

It started when the league left the game in limbo. There has not been a decision yet. 

[BillsFanSD]

4 minutes ago, WotAGuy said:

Ok tough guy.  I would love to see you tell this to Trey White or Dane Jackson or Diggs and see how that goes. 

I'll bet they would all recite that post back to you.  You mentioned Dane Jackson.  He was nearly paralyzed earlier this season and he's back out there.

 

Edit: Also, Diggs took it upon himself to be the guy who gets his teammates back into game mode on Monday night.  I think you might have picked two of the worst possible examples to support the argument you're trying to make.

Edited January 5, 2023 by BillsFanSD

[ExiledInIllinois]

This is probably why the Bills team is so stunned.  They were the wall around Damar.  Nobody else could see what was going on... He was surely going to be a dead man had they not brought him back to life!

 

Why... They couldn't play...

Edited January 5, 2023 by ExiledInIllinois

[Buffalo03]

7 minutes ago, davefan66 said:

Why is it that they have no choice?  The league has said they will support the Bills in their decision.

 

I think whatever they do will receive support from the other players and teams in the league.  Look at how shook Aaron Rodgers was if you saw his interview. How others spoke of the situation, coaches and players. 
 

I think this team is incredibly close, more so than any other in the league maybe. That is a big part in how devastated they are. 

My God, dude. At some point they have to move forward. All these people saying "just cancel the season, we don't need the Lombardi. I don't care" are insane. We all want Damar to improve and we all want the best for him and to see him make a full recovery, but they HAVE to move forward. That's just the way it is. Hamlin won't get better by having us not play. 

[WotAGuy]

1 minute ago, BillsFanSD said:

I'll bet they would all recite that post back to you.  You mentioned Dane Jackson.  He was nearly paralyzed earlier this season and he's back out there.

I’ll take that bet.  Just listen to Dion’s interview this morning talking about the fact they are “human beings” and people need to keep that in mind when they criticize their performances.

It’s one thing for a player to come out and say they must play this week and play until they blah, blah, blah, but it carries no weight when @Paup 1995MVP makes his little rant/pronouncement. 

2 minutes ago, Buffalo03 said:

My God, dude. At some point they have to move forward. All these people saying "just cancel the season, we don't need the Lombardi. I don't care" are insane. We all want Damar to improve and we all want the best for him and to see him make a full recovery, but they HAVE to move forward. That's just the way it is. Hamlin won't get better by having us not play. 

Why do they “have” to?  Don’t they have the right to do whatever they choose to do?  It’ll be ok if you don’t get to watch the Bills this week - really, you’ll be ok. 

[HOUSE]

All it takes is a guy like Tre White to say, I'm not playing and that's pretty much it.

No game

[Buffalo03]

3 minutes ago, WotAGuy said:

I’ll take that bet.  Just listen to Dion’s interview this morning talking about the fact they are “human beings” and people need to keep that in mind when they criticize their performances.

It’s one thing for a player to come out and say they must play this week and play until they blah, blah, blah, but it carries no weight when @Paup 1995MVP makes his little rant/pronouncement. 

Why do they “have” to?  Don’t they have the right to do whatever they choose to do?  It’ll be ok if you don’t get to watch the Bills this week - really, you’ll be ok. 

This isn't hard to figure out, we can't only play 15 games when the rest of the league plays 17 games. It's gonna cause problems with playoff seeding, are the Bills gonna refuse to play playoff games to? We have to move forward, plain and simple

[VaMilBill]

Gotta move on. Can’t dwell on it forever. I know that sounds callous, but these guys need to compartmentalize. It’s a trait every human should learn where you can still function in whatever profession or relationship you are in. 

[davefan66]

5 minutes ago, Buffalo03 said:

My God, dude. At some point they have to move forward. All these people saying "just cancel the season, we don't need the Lombardi. I don't care" are insane. We all want Damar to improve and we all want the best for him and to see him make a full recovery, but they HAVE to move forward. That's just the way it is. Hamlin won't get better by having us not play. 

I understand the emotions.  I do.

 

My question is, why do they “have to move forward”?  Especially on others timelines?  Just asking.

 

I’ll be honest. If they decide to play, good for them. If not, I’ll support the team. Thing is in this league you need to be 100% your mind in the game.  If not, you are at risk for injury, and obviously at risk for losing the game. I’m not saying what they should do, just saying I would support these men in whatever decision they make.

[WotAGuy]

4 minutes ago, Buffalo03 said:

This isn't hard to figure out, we can't only play 15 games when the rest of the league plays 17 games. It's gonna cause problems with playoff seeding, are the Bills gonna refuse to play playoff games to? We have to move forward, plain and simple

Why can’t they?  What exactly is the driving force behind forcing them to play?  Other than “they have to”?

[Cheektowaga Chad]

I fully expect a handful of players not to nor want to play this weekend

[Buffalo03]

1 minute ago, davefan66 said:

I understand the emotions.  I do.

 

My question is, why do they “have to move forward”?  Especially on others timelines?  Just asking.

 

I’ll be honest. If they decide to play, good for them. If not, I’ll support the team. Thing is in this league you need to be 100% your mind in the game.  If not, you are at risk for injury, and obviously at risk for losing the game. I’m not saying what they should do, just saying I would support these men in whatever decision they make.

Let me say this in terms you can understand. They HAVE to move forward because we can't have 2 canceled games and only 15 games played when it comes to playoff seeding when the rest of the league, minus the Bills and Bengals has 17. It's going to cause major issues. If this happened with someone you worked with at your job that you were close with, eventually you have to continue going back to work, right? These guys know they have a job to do. We can't have 2 canceled games. They have to play. 

[Evansfan322]

What would Damar do? Seriously people. Stomp the Patriots? My uneducated guess is &$%# Yes! He IS Bills Mafia 

[WotAGuy]

19 minutes ago, BillsFanSD said:

I'll bet they would all recite that post back to you.  You mentioned Dane Jackson.  He was nearly paralyzed earlier this season and he's back out there.

 

Edit: Also, Diggs took it upon himself to be the guy who gets his teammates back into game mode on Monday night.  I think you might have picked two of the worst possible examples to support the argument you're trying to make.

 

It’s not so much that they won’t eventually move on, it’s anonymous posters telling them what they “need” to do and how soon they “need” to do it. It’s hilarious actually. Even if the player agreed with what you’re saying they would still make sure you know your opinion of what they need to do doesn’t matter.