One of the most anticipated games on the schedule of this country's most popular sport came to a standstill in the first quarter when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed after making a tackle. An ambulance took Hamlin to the hospital after he was given cardiopulmonary assist.
In a second, life can be different. The world watched as Roger Goodell wasted them.
Like a fire, worry and concern spread. There was a high level of anxiety. The tick of the clock was louder than the tick before it.
As players, fans, and media members waited for the man who makes over $60 million per year to make the easiest decisions of his career, the worst commissioner in all of professional sports earned his reputation.
We were waiting.
Time doesn't stop, but it does crawl. An hour can feel like five minutes when you're having fun. Five minutes feels like an hour. The decision was finally made to delay the game. There was a decision that only needed a second thought.
The statement was eventually read by the league.
“Tonight’s Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game has been postponed after Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin collapsed, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced. Hamlin received immediate medical attention on the field by team and independent medical staff and local paramedics. He was then transported to a local hospital where he is in critical condition. Our thoughts are with Damar and the Buffalo Bills. We will provide more information as it becomes available. The NFL has been in constant communication with the NFL Players Association which is in agreement with postponing the game.”
There is a he- said/he- said battle going on. The teams had five minutes to warm up before the game could start. The executive vice president of football operations for the National Football League denied that was the case.
This is not a battle the league will win. The mismanagement of player safety has been the worst this season. We have watched this league and the sport transform into an example of "play on" despite what's happened on the field. Even though the league may be telling the truth in the case of Buck getting it wrong, the benefit of the doubt has not been earned.
One of the most devoted fan bases in the league has suffered a lot over the last few months. As we watch Buffalo deal with a racist mass shooting, a catastrophic winter storm that killed at least 39 people, and now this, we are praying for good news about Hamlin.
The contest will either be resumed or forfeited at some point in the future. There is only one week left before the playoffs begin, and 2020 proved that the NFL will do whatever is necessary to get to the Super Bowl, even if it means playing during the peak of a flu epidemic.
Hopefully, the league, the players, the media, and fans learned a lesson from Monday's game. Football is just a game, it is never really that deep. It took Hamlin's life to hang in the balance before so many people realized that. It was a wake up call on Monday night.
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