CINCINNATI –
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field Monday night and was given CPR before being taken to a hospital, where the NFL said he was in critical condition, and Buffalo’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals suspended for the night.
The NFL announced just over an hour after the injury that the game would not be resumed. When or if the teams would return to the field was not immediately clear.
“Our thoughts are with Damar and the Buffalo Bills. We will provide more information as it becomes available,” the league said in a statement. “The NFL has been in constant communication with the NFL Players Association, which is in agreement with the postponement of the game.”
Hamlin collided with Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins after completing what appeared to be a routine, if violent, hit. He stood up, appeared to adjust his face mask with his right hand, and then fell back about three seconds later and lay motionless.
Hamlin was treated on the field by team and independent medical personnel and local paramedics, the NFL said. He was surrounded by stunned players from both teams.
An ambulance was on the field four minutes after Hamlin collapsed, with many players in tears, including cornerback Tre’Davious White. The quarterbacks – Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow – embraced.
Hamlin collapsed at 8:55 p.m., and when he was carted off the field 16 minutes later, the Bills gathered in prayer. He was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Five minutes after the ambulance left, the game was suspended and the players slowly walked off the field and into their locker rooms.
Hamlin’s uniform was cut off and he appeared to be receiving CPR from medical personnel. ESPN reported on its broadcast that Hamlin was also given oxygen.
“Nobody’s been through that,” NFL quarterback Troy Aikman said on ESPN’s broadcast. “I’ve never seen anything like it either.”
The Bengals led 7-3 in the first quarter of a game between teams battling for the top seed in the AFC playoffs. Cincinnati entered at 11-4 and led the AFC North by one game over Baltimore, while AFC East champion Buffalo was 12-3.
The aftermath of the injury was reminiscent of when Bills tight end Kevin Everett was motionless on the field after making a tackle on the first play of the second half in Buffalo’s 2007 season opener against the Denver Broncos .
Everett suffered a spinal cord injury that initially left him partially paralyzed.
Hamlin, 24, spent five years in college at his hometown Pitt, appearing in 48 games for the Panthers during that span. He was a second-team All-ACC player as a senior, was voted team captain and was chosen to play in the Senior Bowl.
He was drafted in the sixth round by the Bills in 2021, played in 14 games as a rookie and then became the starter this year after Micah Hyde was lost for the season with injury.
Entering the game, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Hamlin had 91 tackles, including 63 solo and 1 1/2 sacks.
A tweet from Pitt’s football account was simple and clear: “Damar Hamlin is the best of us. We love you, 3,” the tweet said, referring to Hamlin by his college jersey number. “Praying for you.”