Thoughts on Damar Hamlin
To start this off, I want to say I was shocked at what happened on Monday night and continue to pray for Damar Hamlin.
In case you don’t know what happened, I want to give a quick recap of what happened.
On probably the biggest Monday Night Football game of the NFL season, you had two great teams facing off, the Bills and Bengals. In the middle of the 1st quarter, what looked like a routine tackle was far from routine. Safety for the Bills Damar Hamlin, as he’s getting up, collapses on the field due to cardiac arrest. His heartbeat was restored on the field via CPR and defibrillation and rushed to the hospital for further evaluation. At the time of this writing, he is in the ICU and improving daily.
As far as the game goes, they have decided to cancel the game entirely and adjust how the NFL will determine playoff seeding.
Through this awful situation, as a way for me to process and hopefully encourage you, here are a few thoughts through this tragedy.
There were actually great moment of unity. It’s one of those unique times where everyone came across team lines to unite and pray for this young man. You saw it in so many ways from all the NFL teams switching their profile pics to support from fans across different teams. While it being on the biggest stage shocked more people than if it were during a preseason game or something else, it was nice to see people put down their rivalries to rally around this young man. People get so passionate about their teams or favorite players. I loved seeing people put that aside to pray for Hamlin.
Life is precious. I was watching this game just hours after my grandma’s funeral who passed away two days before Christmas. She was in hospice care and was 93 years old. Between remembering her and seeing the Damar Hamlin situation, it was a strong reminder for me that life is precious. It’s a cliche but you really aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. You need to take advantage of every day God gives you. Don’t take any life (especially yours) for granted.
Live life like you do sports. I can’t take credit for this quote as I heard it on Colin Cowherd’s reaction video. People get so passionate when it comes to sports. All I have to ask is who do you think is the best team in sports or how do you feel about Tom Brady or who is the GOAT in the NBA and you can see the passion. But in the end, who really cares about who you root for when you’re fighting for your life. I love the Yankees (please don’t hate me 😬) but it doesn’t define who I am. Life is meant to be lived, not just through sports. Put as much passion and effort in your life as a Cowboy fan after a loss or a Rams fan after they won the Super Bowl.
Things are bigger than sports. This incident is one that for sure transcended all of sports. What to me showed that his condition was bigger than sports was the fact that they suspended the game. It’s not official yet but sources say they will not make the game up and rework the playoff seeding and potentially the format. The health and well-being of this young man was much more important than finishing the game. Sometimes it’s important to take stock as to what is actually important. Hot take (but not really): Ministry is not more important than your mental health and your family.
Bad things can create an amazing positive outcome. If you have not seen this amazing community impact despite the horrible circumstances, prepare to have your mind blown. So, Demar Hamlin is a very charitable athlete wanting to give back to his community. He has a gofundme (click here for the link) with a goal of $2,500, the fundraiser has raised over $7.4 million with the highest amount being about $25,000. Over 226,000 people have donated to the cause. As a nonprofit leader I love seeing people rally behind a cause. Obviously it helps having guys like Tom Brady, Robert Kraft, Davante Adams, Shannon Sharpe, and Andy Dalton donating but it’s amazing to see how a collective community can make a huge impact. Imagine what $7 million can do for a community as opposed to $2500. Don’t underestimate the power of community.
With that, it’s not the first blog post of 2023 I intended but one that’s important. As of this writing, Hamlin is improving and looking great. He asked who won the game and the doctors told him he won at life. Pray for Damar Hamlin during this time.