Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin will be inactive for his team’s “Sunday Night Football” matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium, where Hamlin returns for the first time since he went into cardiac arrest on the field last season.
Hamlin collapsed during a game between the Bills and Bengals on Jan. 2. He appeared in one game this season on Oct. 1 against the Miami Dolphins, after Buffalo ruled out safety Jordan Poyer with a knee injury. Hamlin was a healthy scratch for the Bills’ first three games due to other safeties being ahead of him on the depth chart and because he is not a contributor on special teams.
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Hamlin, 25, returned to Cincinnati this summer as his Chasing M’s Foundation launched a CPR tour providing free, hands-on training while advocating for access to automated external defibrillators. Hamlin announced Saturday the foundation will award 10 $1,000 scholarships in each of the next three years to local kids from Cincinnati’s under-served communities in honor of the 10 first responders and other medical professionals who treated him.
Last night I had dinner with my heroes. 10 of the UC Medical Staff that helped save my life.
I surprised them with a scholarship named after each of them that will support youth in Cincy to chase their dreams.
Wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them!🫶🏾 pic.twitter.com/sEOCDkwYvk
— 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐢𝐧 (@HamlinIsland) November 5, 2023
“What happened is in the past,” Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said. “I think everybody remembers it, but you know (we’re) not going to dwell on it. I know he’s not, either.”
Doctors cleared Hamlin to resume football activities in April, and Buffalo’s training staff continued to monitor him closely during training camp. Hamlin didn’t miss a practice all summer.
Damar Hamlin met up with Tee Higgins ahead of Sunday night’s Bengals-Bills game.
It’s the first time the two teams are meeting in Cincy since Hamlin collapsed on the field last season.
🎥 @BuffaloBills pic.twitter.com/auYaQfPCEM
— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) November 5, 2023
He was listed as the team’s backup safety with Cam Lewis throughout Bills training camp and preseason games, and made the Bills’ 53-man roster at the end of August after going through the non-padded ramp-up period to begin camp. He was a full participant in padded practices and a willing tackler and special teams player in full-contact preseason games.
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- Bengals still feel lasting effects of Damar Hamlin game: ‘It always triggers’
- Damar Hamlin’s emergency team looks back: ‘The crowd didn’t exist … it was me, God and that kid’
- Damar Hamlin’s on-field return for Bills was a milestone in his remarkable comeback
(Photo: Bryan M. Bennett / Getty Images)