Published 01/03/2023, 7:30 AM EST
Right in the middle of playoffs, Buffalo Bills’ safety, Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field. And it left the entire sporting world in shock, but what stirred situations further was the way the NFL handled it. Bubba Wallace‘s spotter, Freddie Kraft, took it upon himself to let the world know how poorly everything was handled as he argued with a TikTok “celeb”.
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It seems like NASCAR knows how to deal with sensitive situations better than the rest.
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In the playoff match between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, the Bills’ safety fell on the ground after a tackle. Mid-way through the first quarter, Damar Hamlin took a hard hit during a tackle. He stood up momentarily and collapsed on the ground. It left the crowd in shock and the field stopped and everything remained silent.
But the heat towards the NFL came when they announced that the teams have 5 minutes to warm up so they can resume the match. Naturally, that has bound to leave the sporting world in shock because the sport wanted to continue playing despite having someone’s life in danger. Later, they announced that Hamlin was in critical condition, leading the match to be postponed.
Surprisingly enough, not everyone felt they had poorly handled the situation. And that includes Robbie Harvey, a TikTok personality who argued with Freddie Kraft but seems to be put in his place by Bubba’s spotter.
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It’s unfortunate what happened, and the rising concerns about safety in sports are reaching a point where serious actions need to be taken. This isn’t the first time the NFL is facing issues with players collapsing this year, though.
Damar Hamlin isn’t the first unfortunate victim this year
Before Hamlin, Tua Tagovailoa faced concussion- symptoms after competing, too. The series of concussions isn’t just in the NFL either. NASCAR also faced its fair share of victims this year with Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman. In fact, it put Busch out of his job because of these. And his boss, Denny Hamlin, took it upon himself to call out the situation in the sporting world.
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 15: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota, sits in his car during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 15, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Denny Hamlin, co-owner of 23XI Racing, argued that it’s not about one hit, but a cumulation of multiple hits. Naturally, that would weaken a driver as intense racing exposed them to more and more crashes. In fact, he compared it to what happened with the NFL player Tua Tagovailoa.
“All these hits add up,” Hamlin had previously said about Tagovailoa. “We saw it with Tua — you can’t just keep getting hit, hit, hit and nothing happens.”
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Injuries and concussions in sports are inevitable. But drivers being put out of commission, players facing cardiac arrests, and being put in critical condition have put the sporting world in a serious situation. Fortunately, NASCAR has announced its plans to improve the car in 2023. But what will the NFL do to tackle this?