The NFL and football as a whole have been the topic of much speculation in recent days amid the devastating and tragic injury of Buffalo Bills Safety Damar Hamlin. On Monday, January 2nd, the world got to witness the unfortunate reality of the sport of football. In the middle of the first quarter in a crucial playoff matchup between the Buffalo Bills, and the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin attempted to make a tackle on Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins.

At first glance, the hit didn’t seem like anything major, but just minutes later Hamlin would require chest compressions on the field in front of 50,000 fans and the entire world watching at home.

video of the Damar Hamlin hit pic.twitter.com/6jqqM5zZxo

— Seymour Waters (@___Water_______) January 3, 2023

Both sidelines came together in prayer and unity as they witnessed the 24-year-old Pitt alum, escorted from the field in an ambulance.  Hamlin was rushed to The University of Cincinnati Medical Center where he was sedated and given a ventilator. According to, Hamlin’s uncle Dorian Glenn, Hamlin had to be resuscitated at least two separate times after his breathing came to a stop.

At the time of this writing, Hamlin is home in Buffalo receiving supervision from his family and professional caretakers,  after spending nearly ten days in intensive care at UC Medical Center. The NFL community, and quite frankly the entire globe came together to donate nearly ten million dollars to Hamlin’s toy drive set up before the holidays. An extremely tragic and nearly fatal collision turned the NFL world on its head, but Hamlin is said to have no neurological damage after receiving CPR  for nearly nine minutes. The world prayed for a miracle and quite frankly Damar received it. These types of scary incidents are unfortunately becoming common occurrences in the game. And people are starting to catch on.

Howard Bryant of, Meadowlark Media thinks there should be at least some sort of discussion for change. ” And it’s just an incredibly cynical thing for me to even consider that this wouldn’t be some form of a call to action. We’ve said over the years that football is in many ways and just very clearly – it’s a death sport.” Although football is a multi-million dollar juggernaut, the discussion of adjusting some of the rules or outlawing the sport completely is under speculation from critics. Howard isn’t the only person who thinks there should be some adjustments made for players’ safety/ health.

Shanon Sharpe a longtime Tight End for the Denver Broncos, has shown his remorse for the situation and shares his thoughts and prayers as many have done. He also recalls his time in the NFL and says he hasn’t seen anything of this magnitude before. “As a brotherhood in the NFL, when injuries happen, and we know injuries are a part of the game … but I’ve never seen anybody have to be revived and fight for their life on the field.”

The Damar Hamlin injury wasn’t the first scary injury that shocked the NFL world this year. In a week four matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins, the NFL world had to witness Dolphins quarterback Tua Tageavialo, suffer a serious concussion on the field. Tua had to be carted off the field and evaluated by medical professionals.

Even with the rise in scary hits, the NFL has yet to plan any substantial changes for the game. Although injuries are a part of the game, the NFL should shift its focus from collecting revenue to protecting the players who the game.