After Damar Hamlin’s horrific injury, his teammates decided to stop playing, marking the first time an NFL game has been postponed because of an injury — or more precisely, because of the emotional trauma in its wake.
Buffalo Bills players react after teammate Damar Hamlin was injured against the Cincinnati Bengals during the first quarter at Paycor Stadium on Jan. 2, 2023, in Cincinnati.
Once the ambulance left the field, the NFL’s command center in New York directed players to start warming up because the game would pick back up in five minutes, according to ESPN play-by-play announcer Joe Buck, who noted the league’s guideline at least four times on the broadcast. Just as players are expected to compete through injuries, so too are they expected to lock back into focus after seeing their colleagues seriously hurt.
For those watching it live on television, the horror intensified in sudden snippets. The camera was panning the crowd when Hamlin collapsed, and you could hear the collective wince inside the stadium among those who noticed it in real time. When the camera was back on the field, trainers were clustered around a Bills player on the ground. The announcers took us to a commercial break. When the broadcast returned, Hamlin was on a stretcher.
In the hours that followed, the sports world was unified in expressions of well-wishes for Hamlin, and unanimous in agreeing that the game couldn’t continue. Former players and longtime analysts said they’d never seen anything like this. Everyone was sure to note that Hamlin’s health was the top priority and that trivial questions about game logistics and season implications should wait.
Last night, though, for the first time, NFL players refused to play. Games have been postponed because of field problems or severe weather but never because players simply didn’t feel like participating. Football, more than any other team sport, requires an unwavering focus to navigate its constant dangers.
But ultimately, the players all seemed to know better than to put themselves back at risk while processing whatever thoughts were pouring through their heads. It was clear to anyone watching that nobody wanted to play football, and as the dozens of distraught young men stood around the field with their helmets off and their faces dripping with fear and pain, they seemed to understand that nobody could make them play.
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