- Bills safety Damar Hamlin was taken off the field in an ambulance after a hit against Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins.
- The game was postponed in the wake of Hamlin's injury and the NFL said Hamlin was in critical condition.
Monday night's game between the Bills and Bengals was postponed after Bills safety Damar Hamlin was taken off the field in an ambulance.
In the first quarter, Hamlin collapsed after tackling Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin was given CPR on the field for several minutes as players gathered around him to pray. About 30 minutes after the initial hit, Hamlin was taken to a hospital in an ambulance. In a statement, the NFL said Hamlin was in critical condition.
Before the game was officially postponed, ESPN's broadcast of the game toggled between the broadcast booth and the pregame desk offering prayers and waiting for updates. When the game was finally called off, ESPN's Scott Van Pelt took over hosting his hour of "SportsCenter."
Commentator Ryan Clark, who played safety in the NFL for more than a decade, was a guest on the show. He gave his thoughts on Hamlin's injury and the way the night shifted from a must-watch game to a night of collective prayer for one man.
"I think the first thing, this is about Damar Hamlin. It's about a young man at 24 years old that was living his dream, that a few hours ago was getting ready to play the biggest game of his NFL career, and there's probably nowhere else in the world he wanted to be. And now, he fights for his life," Clark said.
"When Damar Hamlin falls to the turf, and when you see the medical staff rush to the field and both teams are on the field, you realize this isn't normal. You realize that this isn't just football. So many times in this game, and in our job as well, we use the cliches. I'm ready to die for this. I'm willing to give my life for this. It's time to go to war. And I think sometimes we use those things so much, we forget that part of living this dream is putting your life at risk," he continued.
Clark added that while viewers might grow accustomed to the violence inherent in football, moments like Hamlin's injury shock us back into reality.
"Tonight we got to see a side of football that is extremely ugly," Clark said. "A side of football that no one ever wants to see, and never wants to admit exists. When you see both teams on the field crying in that way, your first thought is Damar Hamlin, your second thought is his family. This isn't about a football player. This is about a human. This is about a brother. This is about a son. This is about a friend. This is about someone that is loved by so many that you have to watch go through this."
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Clark also offered insight from his own experience dealing with injury during his NFL career.
"I dealt with this before, and I watched my teammates for days come to my hospital bed and just cry. Had them call me and tell me that they didn't think I was going to make it. And now this team has to deal with that and they have no answers."
"And so the next time that we get upset at our favorite fantasy player or we're upset that the guy on our team doesn't make the play, and we're saying he's worthless, and we're saying you get to make all this money, we should remember that these men are putting their lives on the line to live their dream. And tonight Damar Hamlin's dream became a nightmare for not only himself but his family and his entire team."
Later in the show, Clark called on the NFL to provide mental health resources to the players who were concerned with Hamlin's health.
"The NFL is a big business, and the NFL has to continue doing business, and the NFL has to continue entertaining, but if the NFL doesn't send somebody into these locker rooms — if the NFL isn't flying people to Cincinnati right now, or to Buffalo, or wherever they're going right now — they are missing the point. The point is: Make sure these men are all right, and then you can play football."
"If you put them out there tomorrow, you're going to get a trash game anyway," he said, adding: "What's important is Damar Hamlin."