Damar Hamlin announces NFL comeback bid, reveals cause of his on-field collapse
Damar Hamlin became a global story last season in the NFL as he fought for his life after collapsing on the field on Monday Night Football. However, after a long road back to full strength, the next chapter of his journey just reached storybook proportions.
In a press conference earlier this afternoon, Hamlin announced his intentions to return to the NFL. He started off by thanking those around the Buffalo Bills organization who have created a positive atmosphere for him. After that, while Hamlin understands how that moment changed his life forever, he said doesn’t want that to be the end of his story in professional football.
“First, I want to just start with saying I’m thankful and I’m blessed,” Hamlin said. “I’m blessed to have a wonderful medical staff and wonderful trainers who treat me with the care of their children. That tender, love, and care gives me confidence, faith, strength. All the wonderful things to keep going on this journey that I’ve been on so far.”
“With that being said, I also would just to say how thankful I am to have wonderful coaches and teammates here in Buffalo that allow me to just grow mentally, physically, spiritually each and every day,” Hamlin added. “I’ve learned so many different things from my coaches here, my teammates here, the vets here. I’m always learning here. That’s a wonderful environment to be in and to be around.”
“Over these last few months, I’ve been on a journey. I’ve seen some of the top professionals across the country. Their answers to me were pretty much all the same,” stated Hamlin. “This event was life-changing but it’s not the end of my story. So I’m here to announce that I plan on making a comeback to the NFL.”
As the press conference went on, Hamlin confirmed that his incident was one related to commotio cordis. Commotio cordis is a specific, rare type of cardiac arrest that’s caused by a chest blow at a precise spot at the wrong moment within the heartbeat. However, with that knowledge now available to him, he says he plans to use his platform to bring more awareness to the dangers of the condition that nearly cost him his own life.
“The diagnosis of what happened to me was basically commotio cordis. It’s a direct blow at a specific point of your heartbeat that causes cardiac arrest. Five to seven seconds later? You fall out. That’s pretty much what everyone has seen from January 2nd,” Hamlin said. “Commotio cordis is the leading cause of death in youth athletes across all sports. So that’s something I personally will be taking a step in to make a change.”
This was the best possible ending to this part of Hamlin’s story, especially considering how shocking the initial moments were that night in Cincinnati. Now, with the green light to continue forward, he hopes the next chapter of his football career features far more impactful moments both on and off the field.