So you’re saying there’s a chance!
Damar Hamlin has been vocal that he wants to play in the NFL again after suffering cardiac arrest following a routine tackle of Bengals wideout Tee Higgins during Week 18 of the regular season.
That goal actually appears to be plausible now.
As covered by ESPN’s Bills reporter Alaina Getzenberg, Buffalo general manager Brandon Beame told reporters on Thursday that Hamlin still has a desire to play.
Beame said that the defensive back has at least one more doctor’s appointment, but that things are “trending in the right direction.”
“We’ll get him through all [medical consultations] and then we’ll make sure all of our medical people are hearing all those opinions on each visit and make sure that we’re all on the same page of what it would look like,” Beane said, noting that he believed consultations would end next month but that there could always be more.
Damar Hamlin is ‘trending in the right direction’ for a football return, according to Bills GM Brandon Beane. NBAE via Getty Images
After Hamlin went into cardiac arrest, he was transported to the hospital by ambulance and it was several days of widespread concern before he woke up.
Upon coming to, the first thing he asked doctors was if the Bills had won the game, which got called off after his collapse.
In February, Hamlin made his desire to return to the football field clear.
Damar Hamlin was transported to the hospital by ambulance after suffering cardiac arrest in a January game. Getty Images
“Eventually. That’s always the goal, like I said, as a competitor, you know, I’m trying to do things to keep advancing my situation,” he said. “But I’m allowing that to be in God’s hands. I’m just thankful he gave me a second chance.”
Doctors told him that he should be more concerned with a return to normal life than the gridiron.
“It’s a tough situation,” Hamlin said. “They can’t really tell, because it’s like — it’s an up-to-me thing I guess or, you know, it’s just — it’s a long road. They’re just worried about trying to get me back to normal as much as they can.”
At the time, Hamlin was unable to recall the specifics of his collapse.
“That’s something I don’t really want to get too deep in the details of,” Hamlin said. “That’s something I’m still trying to work through, you know, why that happened to me.”