NFL Thread

[Carey]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

I get this sentiment but this weekend would have been the final week in the football season.  So this didn't happen because they expanded the season. This happened because there's an inherent danger in the sport. It's also a pretty unusual situation. I can't recall ever seeing something like this.

And it's easy to blame the NFL but the NFLPA agreed to the expansion and all of us who watch the sport are complicit.  Does the NFL "care" about player safety?  Not more than money.  Do viewers care about player safety?  Probably not more than they enjoy watching the sport.  And do players care about player safety?  Probably but they're also young and probably don't fear the worst.

It makes me wonder if the NFL has a protocol for something like this. 

Fair points, but I hardly think the NFLPA and the players/fans were in control when the new CBA became a priority.

BTW, the Bills and Bengals would not have been playing each other in past seasons, and there would not have been a MNF game either.

Still, I can't blame the NFL for what happened to that young man.  The anger is based on the fact that they took forever to act & that they've been pushing for more football for years.  Then add the fact that "Y'all have 5 minutes before it's time to resume the game," and that was ammo for ripping the league

[Calvada]

Yes, I hope the Bengals player involved in the play is getting all the support he needs.  I'm glad he has his mom with him.  

 

[meowmommy]

1 minute ago, Carey said:

The anger is based on the fact that they took forever to act & that they've been pushing for more football for years.  Then add the fact that "Y'all have 5 minutes before it's time to resume the game," and that was ammo for ripping the league

That's the thing they're going to have to explain. 

The NFL's been getting tragedy wrong for sixty years, since they made the teams play on Sunday after JFK's assassination.

[Carey]

9 minutes ago, KAOS Agent said:

By all accounts, the Bengals' Higgins was devastated as he was the player who made the contact. I hope they get him some real support. It's not his fault, but he's likely feeling it is. I was happy to hear that he left the stadium with his mom who had her arm wrapped around him.

I'll pretty much cancel out anyone that actually blamed the guy for what happened.  Too bad IT exists.

Not sure how one could blame Higgins. To be realistic, I'm not sure how anyone could spend seconds of their life posting or expressing blame toward Tee for what happened tonight.

The Cincinnati Bengals were trying to win a damn football game.  They have unfinished business & they're going to be up against it by teams in their own conference and whoever wins the NFC.  This is coming from a fan of a team in the division.  ALSO, I understand the stress in Cincy; the stadium was the site of the Tua thing and on a related note, the Shazier career ending injury.

[Colleenna]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

Poor timing.

Eeep. Apologies.  Praying that Mr. Hamlin recovers. 

[Danielg342]

Here's what should happen as far as I'm concerned.

I know there are those who are thinking about the need to reschedule this game, if that's even possible. I know I, as a fan, have thought about it.

However, I really don't think anyone should ever start thinking about rescheduling Bills-Bengals- let alone starting to talk about it- until there's an actionable update on Damar Hamlin's health, however long that takes and there's been some time to process it. I'm shook right now and still trying my best to process what happened and I've never met Hamlin in my life. So, I can only imagine what the Bills, the Bengals, Hamlin's family, etc. must be feeling.

Their heads are not clear right now. They can't be, since mine isn't and they're closer to Hamlin than I am. If there's any talk about what to do with the postponement, it should not begin until those heads are clear. Which may not be a while.

Just once I hope the NFL can realize there really are things bigger than football. Because I'm afraid that come tomorrow, the NFL might get restless and insist on rescheduling the game- if not asking the players to play tomorrow- and that would just be the wrong thing to do.

Until the people tasked to play the game can get back into the frame of mind to play the game the NFL has no business asking them when to play it. Because to do otherwise would be a disaster. If we have to delay next week and delay the Super Bowl into March just to make this whole thing work, fine.

This is an unprecedented situation and I hope the NFL realizes this. Damar Hamlin deserve no less.

[meowmommy]

NBC reporting that Troy Vincent said the story about having five minutes to warm up and go back out there was not true.  Not that I necessarily believe anything the league says when it's trying not to look bad.

[Carey]

The effing year isn't even 50 hours long. I think I may be ready for 2024. I might be done with 2023.

[Carey]

33 minutes ago, meowmommy said:

NBC reporting that Troy Vincent said the story about having five minutes to warm up and go back out there was not true.  Not that I necessarily believe anything the league says when it's trying not to look bad.

Death, taxes, and taking anything Troy Vincent says (or doesn't say) with a grain of salt

[Bastet]

Take this for what it may be worth, as it's the late-night on a holiday weekend team, but I was going around the dial and came across someone (I didn't catch his name and didn't recognize him) who was said to be on the NFL's recent conference call just reported on CNN that there actually is a protocol for a situation like this (I don't know what "like this" is) and it kicked in, instigating communication between the league's VP of Operations, Goodell, the head of the NFLPA, and the two head coaches.  He said it was initially decided okay, for now, go into the locker rooms and assess, and then at some point it was both head coaches who said the players are too traumatized and the game cannot go on.

[Bastet]

Nothing we didn't already figure, but: Official confirmation he suffered cardiac arrest following the collision, and rhythm was restored on the field before transport to the hospital, where he remains sedated in critical condition.

"Time is of the essence" is the key here, and he had the necessary treatment - shocking the heart back into rhythm via defibrillator and, in the interim, keeping oxygen flowing via CPR - very quickly, so fingers crossed.  There's still a lot to be evaluated, and to trot out another cliché "Only time will tell". 

But his existing health was quite good, so of the people to whom this could happen and the availability of prompt treatment, he's got good odds.  So it's nice to confirm what we think happened is what happened, and he had the timely intervention necessary to give someone a shot, so we'll wait and see and hope for the best.

I also particularly love the fans from other teams donating to his one known charity, given the history of the Bills and their fans donating to the charities of other teams/players when someone, even an opponent, gets a win that propels them into the playoffs.  The beleaguered Bills seem to have a good sense of humor about themselves, and turn out in a big way to support the causes of those who inadvertently help them.

Edited January 3, 2023 by Bastet

[merylinkid]

The Bills returned to Buffalo last night.   Which I cannot imagine getting on a plane at 1:30 a.m., then landing at almost 3 a.m. then having to drive yourself home after this.   I hope the team arranged transport for players who might need it.  

If the team went back to Buffalo that game is not being played any time soon.

Troy Vincent can stop with the cover up.    It was said ON THE FIELD.   The officials were talking ot the coaches.   Then Zac Taylor walked across the field to talk to Sean McDermott.   If they were just going to the locker room to regroup, no need to talk to the HC right then.   You can do that when the teams are in the locker room.   As Burrow and a bunch of players did.  You can also tell when the two HCs are talking that they are saying "no way we can play this game."  

There is nothing in the rule book for this.    The usual system is to resume play.   Guy tears his ACL, start the game back up.   Guy paralyzed, take a few minutes, start the game.    Unless it is preseason, the game goes on.  Even after 9-11 they were set to play until the New York teams said 'We can't.  We just can't."

But before we slam NFL too hard, SM was full last night of people saying what would happen at THEIR jobs.  It wasn't pretty.   I think it says something about the culture at large more than the NFL.   Or you know Rich White Guys expecting everyone else to just keep hustling for the RWG's bucks.

Edited January 3, 2023 by merylinkid

[Carey]

If there's anything positive to take away from the aftermath of last night the following is it:

Damar Hamlin's GoFundMe page, which had a $2,500 goal when it started a couple years ago, has now hit over $3 Million in donations as of this morning.

[DrSpaceman73]

And right on cue as I suspected.  Nfl says no we never told them to start playing again in five minutes. 

 

https://www.totalprosports.com/nfl/nfl-exec-vehemently-denies-league-planned-to-have-players-warm-up-and-continue-playing-after-damar-hamlin-injury-during-intense-conference-call/

 

Then who made that decision....we all heard it on tv

They're lying like always. 

As far as the game easiest thing is to call it a tie for seeding purposes. 

Edited January 3, 2023 by DrSpaceman73

[Danielg342]

17 minutes ago, merylinkid said:

SM was full last night of people saying what would happen at THEIR jobs. 

SM? "Social media"?

My cringe-y social media moments were seeing lunkheads claim the vaccines did this to Damar Hamlin. To which I can only think that's very low of them. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, there is no place for using Hamlin as a political pawn. Especially considering that those that are doing so are in no position at all to make that kind of assertion.

At the very least, I would tell that group "wait until all the facts are out before running your mouth and bringing up politics". Not that I'd be comfortable with exploiting someone's health crisis anyway because it's still dishonourable and disrespectful, but it's a whole other level of disrespect and dishonour to exploit the situation based on nothing more than something someone pulled out of their derrière's.

Just like how now isn't the time to talk about rescheduling the game, now is also not the time to bring up political angles. This should only be about Damar Hamlin and getting him through his struggle.

[mojoween]

Playing devil’s advocate for a moment and I’ll give the NFL, who doesn’t really deserve it because they hate women, a little bit of grace.  Because as much as the “five minutes” issue looks heartless, the NFL is still a business.  And they have owners and investors who have stakes in what happened last night, and what the outcome of the game meant going forward.  It’s possible for two things to be true - they felt devastated for that young man, and also had to come up with some logistics on the fly.

[Haleth]

I had JUST turned on the game and noted that it was going to be a good one when this accident happened.  Gosh, the look of shock on the faces of the players and coaches tells it all.  Good for them for saying a big NOPE to going back on the field.  

Prayers for Damar and his family.

[Carey]

Eventually the speculation and the movement toward whether this game gets played will occur, whether people like it or not.  I don't think today is that day, but maybe tomorrow.  That doesn't mean I'm going to stop talking about or caring for Damar.

As for those on Social Media, I think several of those folks need to worry about their own jobs and careers.  Most of them aren't very good at their professions & have no room to talk when it comes to the well being of someone else & how actual real people handle it.  Couldn't agree more with Danielg342 here.  They're no need to speculate anything.

BTW, the "If this happened to me at my job, my company would move forward without me as it nothing ever happened" line I heard (and seen in the past) is laughable.  Every job & career is different, and it depends on what one does for a living.  The fact is for most of those on Social Media and in the real world, no one turns on the TV to see a regular civilian perform his or her job on a typical day

[Notabug]

1 hour ago, Carey said:

Eventually the speculation and the movement toward whether this game gets played will occur, whether people like it or not.  I don't think today is that day, but maybe tomorrow.  That doesn't mean I'm going to stop talking about or caring for Damar.

As for those on Social Media, I think several of those folks need to worry about their own jobs and careers.  Most of them aren't very good at their professions & have no room to talk when it comes to the well being of someone else & how actual real people handle it.  Couldn't agree more with Danielg342 here.  They're no need to speculate anything.

BTW, the "If this happened to me at my job, my company would move forward without me as it nothing ever happened" line I heard (and seen in the past) is laughable.  Every job & career is different, and it depends on what one does for a living.  The fact is for most of those on Social Media and in the real world, no one turns on the TV to see a regular civilian perform his or her job on a typical day

If nothing else, if one of our coworkers collapsed on the job and required CPR in an incident witnessed by the entire workplace; even the most heartless of employers would be hard pressed to force us all back to work just 5 minutes later.  Had that employee suffered the arrest due to the dangers of the job itself, I think it is even more likely that work would not resume as usual just minutes later.

I heard part of Troy Vincent's conference call this morning.  He should be ashamed of himself.  I get that everyone was stunned and it probably took a bit to decide to just postpone the game, but, at no time should anyone have been told they had 5 minutes to get their act  together and get back on the field.  If the league didn't say it, who did?  We saw the coaches, players and even the on-field officials with our own eyes.  Not a single one ever looked for a moment like they were ready to resume play.

Back in ancient Rome, they'd drag the dead gladiator's body off the field and immediately bring on the next match.  Is that the standard the NFL wants to uphold?  Shame on them all.

[Chit Chat]

One reporter on the sideline said that it was one of the Bills' players who was trying to rally the team to go back onto the field.  She said the players then went back to the bench, or standing around, and ignored the pep talk and continued to pray/meditate/sit in silence, etc.  

If true, I'm sure that player meant well, but was in shock (as was everyone else).  It's hard to process seeing someone at age 24 getting CPR.  He's an athlete.  He's presumed healthy, so it's a tough thing to witness something like that when you're probably thinking that what you're seeing can't possibly be real.  Shock will leave you dazed and confused.  

Edited January 3, 2023 by ChitChat

[mojoween]

They showed the pep talk - it was led by Stefon Diggs.  I bet if you asked him about it today he would have no idea what he said.

I wonder if the five minutes was misconstrued as “five minutes and then play” when it was meant as “five minutes while we figure out what to do?”  I dunno, Joe Buck did get that from somewhere and it seems like it would be hard to misinterpret.

[Black Knight]

Joe Burrow had his helmet on and was making throws to somebody who was off-camera. So I definitely feel like he was given the "5 minutes to warm up and then we start playing again" instruction that the NFL is now denying. Every other player around that point in time seemed to be ignoring it though - helmets off, standing or kneeling numbly, or crying.

[Chit Chat]

14 minutes ago, mojoween said:

They showed the pep talk - it was led by Stefon Diggs.  I bet if you asked him about it today he would have no idea what he said.

That's who the sideline reporter said was rallying the team.  Again, they were all in shock, so I can understand him just trying to give the team some hope.  

 

[Notabug]

22 minutes ago, mojoween said:

They showed the pep talk - it was led by Stefon Diggs.  I bet if you asked him about it today he would have no idea what he said.

I wonder if the five minutes was misconstrued as “five minutes and then play” when it was meant as “five minutes while we figure out what to do?”  I dunno, Joe Buck did get that from somewhere and it seems like it would be hard to misinterpret.

I can see that Diggs' initial reaction was probably denial and a desire to return to the familiar, to pretend it had never happened.  That is a common reaction in these situations.  However, no matter what he was telling his team mates, he wasn't the one who told Joe Burrow to warm up to resume play.  Maybe Burrow was also in a state of shock and started throwing the ball around to try to regain his equilibrium, but it certainly appeared that he had the impression that play was about to resume.

[Calvada]

I saw a story on Chris Pronger, the NHL player who took a slap shot to the chest and suffered cardiac arrest on the ice.  Eerily similar in that he took a step or two before collapsing, just like Hamlin getting up and then collapsing.  Pronger was very fortunate; he recovered fully and returned to playing.  The key was getting immediate medical assistance.  

I give the NFL and all involved a bit of a break for the chaotic response in that first hour or so following Hamlin's collapse, given that this was not like other injuries on the field.  I also wonder if anything would have been different if this had been a Sunday game, one of many happening at the same time.  This was a national broadcast and players across the league were reacting as it was happening.  A few years ago in a regional office of the organization I work for, an employee died in the office.  It happened in her individual office; it was estimated she died at least 30 minutes before she was found.  There were many varied reactions - people who couldn't stop crying, people who wanted to go back to work, people who sat quietly in shock, and so on.  People said and did things that later they had no memory of saying or doing.  A traumatic incident causes a traumatized response.  

The league's plans for a sudden stop to a game probably are more focused on some type of terrorist incident - person runs onto the field with a gun type of scenario.  They've probably thought more about a coach suffering a massive heart attack on the field than the possibility of a player needing CPR.  

 

[Black Knight]

Yeah, I don't fault Burrow or Diggs for anything. There are always going to be a few people who try to follow through when told that they have to continue. You could see how Diggs's exhortations had zero effect on his teammates. They just wandered away looking as sad and shell-shocked as before. The NFL sucks for even trying to resume play. It's obvious the coaches and team leaders said it wasn't going to happen and shut it down, no matter what the NFL is trying to claim now.

[cambridgeguy]

5 hours ago, merylinkid said:

But before we slam NFL too hard, SM was full last night of people saying what would happen at THEIR jobs.  It wasn't pretty.   I think it says something about the culture at large more than the NFL.   Or you know Rich White Guys expecting everyone else to just keep hustling for the RWG's bucks.

Given that social media is an infinite pool of crap, I assume there were (and still are) a whole lot of people expressing self righteous outrage at anyone and everyone (the NFL, Goodell, various members of the media, other fans, etc.) who didn't say or do "the right thing".

[JTMacc99]

13 hours ago, Bastet said:

I don't know who Joe Pompliano is (I mean, I did a quick Google search, but I still don't really know anything about him), but he shared this:

 

Last I heard, this was up to $3 million. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

12 hours ago, galaxygirl76 said:

 

Thanks for the confirmation.  Sadly, I am not surprised.

[Jane Tuesday]

27 minutes ago, Calvada said:

I give the NFL and all involved a bit of a break for the chaotic response in that first hour or so following Hamlin's collapse, given that this was not like other injuries on the field.

Agreed. People react in all kinds of ways to trauma. Add in the pressure of thousands in the stands and millions watching on television, and I can extend some grace to anyone who didn't react perfectly in the moment. In the end, the right decision was made.

Praying for Hamlin and his family. They must be so worried. I remember the incident with Pronger, and I hope this young man recovers as well. 

[Black Knight]

I can understand the NFL having some trouble making up their minds quickly about what to do.

But somebody at the NFL did make a decision: "5 minutes and then we'll resume play!" and that's pretty egregious. It's hard to believe that they didn't have the broadcast on in their office, and just looking at the players should have made it very obvious that even if they could somehow resume playing anytime that night, it sure wasn't going to be within the next five minutes.

My guess is that initially the coaches intervened and told the refs that 5 minutes was impossible, and pulled their teams off the field. And then in the locker rooms the players and coaches decided they definitely were not going to play again that night and informed the NFL - who'd probably been hoping that the teams would be willing after a little time in the locker rooms.

[Chit Chat]

Burrows leads Bengals team captains to Bills' locker room to check on them.  

"Was told that after the teams were brought back in to wait inside, QB Joe Burrow gathered the Bengals captains and they walked over as a group to the Bills' locker room to check on the Buffalo players. In these sorts of situations, NFL players take care of each other," said Albert Breer. "

[DrSpaceman73]

It's rare but this really is a situation the nfl SHOULD have thought about and prepared for ahead of time. 

They have contingency plans in place for worse situations like plane crashes and deaths off the field. High School players have died in fact several happen every decade. College basketball it's happened.  High school basketball.   Yes it's horrible to think about but not by any means unforeseeable in the nfl.  So sure I give then a little leeway but the response was poor and disorganized whether they said '5 minutes and play' or not.  And this is a situation you could see potentially happening. 

Also I know some are comparing it to the soccer player that collapsed on the field but if you read about it they are nothing alike.  He was defibrillated once came back around and was conscious and talking to his teammates again before they restarted play. 

[Carey]

Whenever there’s a situation where one’s life is at risk or ends, amid the mourning, people often speculate on the cause or a business situation related to the tragedy.  For example, if a celebrity dies suddenly, people will speculate the cause before at least someone would respond with, “Can’t y’all let it be?  Let the guy RIP!”  Or in this case, what will happen to the final MNF game.  The reply would be, “A man nearly died on the field and it on life support.  Give it a rest.  Life is more important!”

That is fair enough, and to worry about it in the (immediate) aftermath is not cool.  However, the saying of moving on without someone is a fact.  Furthermore, it’s possible to do both; it’s possible to plan the future (with several options) AND still care for a fallen victim.  That’s why I sometimes roll my eyes on the notion that people aren’t allowed to speculate or make future plans.

That being said, there were talks about a tie.  At first, I thought that would be unfair, however I think I changed my tune.  I’ll save that for later.

There were “talks” about having Bills/Bengals in Week 18, with the other 15 games being pushed back.  From there, the postseason (pre Super Bowl) would be pushed back a week, which would work since there’s no Pro Bowl anymore.  The thing is, I don’t know or think all the games need to be pushed back.  Definitely the Ravens/Bengals, Miami/Jets, Pats/Bills, Steelers/Browns, and maybe even Vegas/KC.  However, games with not playoff stuff could still be played.  No need to have just one game next weekend.

They probably are not going to push the postseason back just for Bills/Bengals.

This is/was my idea.  Whoever has a higher Week 18 point-differential between Buffalo & Cincinnati gets a winning credit for that MNF game if it’s cancelled.

At the end of the day, a tie works.  It’s better than a forfeit, but it’s fair.  The players/coaches and others decided that they weren’t going to continue.  That is so understandable, so give them the tie.  That would not help Buffalo if KC wins, and it would also eliminate Baltimore from the division.  However, the latter blew half a dozen double-digit leads.

Whatever happens, people will praise the league, rip the league or say, "Not ideal but fair enough."  I'm in that neutral part

[Jane Tuesday]

I would not be surprised if the five minutes is some kind of standard for a pause after an injury.  Football has lots of injuries, so I'm sure there are guidelines.  They just should never have been applied to an injury like this.

I've seen lots of takes about how this proves football is too dangerous, and the NFL hasn't done enough to protect players.  It is, and they haven't, and if I had a kid they'd never strap on a helmet.  But this particular injury can and has happened in other sports.  It's really just a horrible tragedy.

[mojoween]

In baseball a game is official after five innings.  I don’t think half of one quarter is the football equivalent, but I also don’t think a tie is the way to go when the score clearly shows it wasn’t.

I feel badly for the Hamlins.  They just want to be with their son, and the entire country wants all the details of how he is doing. We all feel like we’re part of this because we were “there” when it happened.

[Notabug]

1 hour ago, JTMacc99 said:

Last I heard, this was up to $3 million. 

Over 4 million now.

[roamyn]

After watching most of the sports shows this morning, I'm on Troy Vincent's side.

In all the confusion and shock, the "assesment" time that was talked abt was probably misconstrued.  Burrow might have been warming up just to keep his arm ready just in case.  No one really knows,  and I think it's inappropriate to talk blame abt a stupid game when a man's life is in the balance.

Also 'Get Up' had a former GM (I don't know his name) said that contingencies for this type of an emergency are practiced every year in practice by the team, before each game by stadium personnel and on field medical personnel, including routes to the nearest hospital.  Several players, including Dominique Fox former head of the Players Assoc, did not refute these claims.

As an aside I'd like to commend the Bengal fans for their support & respect.

[Carey]

Even though I "destroyed" the NFL earlier, I too have to give them the benefit of the doubt.  Part of my anger & frustration was in the moment stuff, and some of the criticism has been brought on themselves.  However, the NFL didn't "take out" Hamlin.  And as mentioned, this could've happened to anyone, anywhere.  Not even in football or any sport, and not to a (professional) athlete.

It's an unprecedented situation, and it's sad.  Hopefully it will not happen again.  There are no guarantees; even without this, at least most people take care of themselves & make adjustments for their well being.  No 2 people are similar so one may have to do more, but in this case, I have no idea what, if anything, happened that led to this.

Nick Wright probably put it best, but he basically just said there's no need for any blame here for something unforeseen.  It's just tragic, that it.

[Chit Chat]

7 minutes ago, roamyn said:

Also 'Get Up' had a former GM (I don't know his name) said that contingencies for this type of an emergency are practiced every year in practice by the team, before each game by stadium personnel and on field medical personnel, including routes to the nearest hospital. 

That's a good standard to go by.  We do that in the dental office.  Every workplace should practice their exit procedures in case of fire; or where the first aid kit and AED (if you have one) are located in case of medical emergency; one person designated to call 911; one person gets the AED & medical kit; which exit we take our patient to and where we meet outside in case of fire, etc. 

In sports, where injuries are likely, it's a MUST that they all know what they're supposed to do so there's no guessing when it's a worst-case scenario.  

[Carey]

 

[JTMacc99]

33 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

It's rare but this really is a situation the nfl SHOULD have thought about and prepared for ahead of time. 

The way I see it, the NFL was extremely well prepared for the only thing that mattered, and that was the medical emergency. They practice emergency drills like this one in every stadium. There is a full set of doctors, paramedics, and staff on hand, each with a specific role to play in case of emergency. The local trauma center is on stand-by when games are being played. 

The fact that everybody necessary to save his life was there, ready, and jumped into action is something the NFL did right. And like I said, that is all that really matters to me.

 

[KittenPokerCheater]

18 minutes ago, Notabug said:

Over 4 million now.

When he wakes up and his healthy enough, I hope he gets a wonderful kick out of how much money the people raised via the GoFundMe.  It's going to be a life changer for his foundation= he's going to be able to do so many good things with the money.

Get well Damar.  Prayers for you.

[mojoween]

Business continues to revolve, and at this point the outcome of several week 18 games will probably determine if they even need to finish Bills/Bengals.  

[mojoween]

No matter which team you root for, it is incredibly difficult to not like Mike Tomlin. 

 

[Notabug]

8 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

The way I see it, the NFL was extremely well prepared for the only thing that mattered, and that was the medical emergency. They practice emergency drills like this one in every stadium. There is a full set of doctors, paramedics, and staff on hand, each with a specific role to play in case of emergency. The local trauma center is on stand-by when games are being played. 

The fact that everybody necessary to save his life was there, ready, and jumped into action is something the NFL did right. And like I said, that is all that really matters to me.

 

As a physician, I was impressed in the way the medical situation was handled.  It appeared that the medical staffs of both teams were well-trained and prepared for a life-threatening emergency and they got into place and did their jobs just as planned.  It is tough to follow protocols in an emergency, they have to be practiced again and again so that the actions become second nature and everyone can do their job without stopping to think of the next move in a crisis.  That looks like what happened.  No signs of indecision or panic or any delay in providing the best care they could.

Presumably, this was at least in part due to NFL and player's union policies on emergency medical care and they are to be commended.

The people down there on the field: the trainers, the EMT's, the assistants, the ambulance personnel were the real heroes last night and they deserve our praise and congratulations for a job well done.  They gave Damar their best efforts and the best chance to survive and return to health that he could've had under the circumstances.  

[meowmommy]

1 hour ago, roamyn said:

Burrow might have been warming up just to keep his arm ready just in case.  No one really knows,  and I think it's inappropriate to talk blame abt a stupid game when a man's life is in the balance.

I suspect it could be more as something he did to manage his emotions, the way someone might scrub their kitchen floor when they're under severe stress.

[mojoween]

 

 

[merylinkid]

Re:  Stefon Diggs "pep talk."   He was crying while they were working on Damar.   He ubered to the hospital and talked with the security to be let in (the ESPN guy had to explain who he was).   I can only think he was thinking "If we go out there win with one for Damar, he will be all right.   It will all be okay."     Guy is devastated.

Niagara Falls will be lit up blue in Damar's honor tonight.   There is an earth cam from the Canadian side that will show it well:

https://www.earthcam.com/world/canada/niagarafalls/thefalls/?cam=niagarafalls2

 

[Moose135]

2 hours ago, Jane Tuesday said:

I would not be surprised if the five minutes is some kind of standard for a pause after an injury.  Football has lots of injuries, so I'm sure there are guidelines.  They just should never have been applied to an injury like this.

Somewhere last night, I saw mention that it might have been the refs who told the teams they had a 5-minute warm up period before restarting the game, as that is the standard for an extended delay, and that the refs don't have the authority to do more than that. They may have given that instruction to the teams while waiting to hear more from league officials.