Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills fans cheer and hold a sign in support of safety Damar Hamlin Jan 15, 2023; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills fans cheer and hold a sign in support of safety Damar Hamlin (not pictured) before a NFL wild card game against the Miami Dolphins at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

One of the problems with people who buy into conspiracy theories is that once they believe one, it’s very easy for them to believe a second, then a third, and so on. Eventually, they see the world as one giant conspiracy theory. And those people have latched onto Damar Hamlin by spreading an ugly conspiracy theory about whether or not the injured Buffalo Bills player is actually showing up at public events.

Hamlin attended the Bills-Bengals game at Highmark Stadium this past weekend to support his teammates on. Footage of him at the stadium was a bit hard to make out because of the inclimate weather. However, some nutjobs have taken that as a sign that the NFL doesn’t want you to know that he wasn’t actually there.

As the theory goes, that wasn’t Hamlin at the game because the NFL player is actually in much worse condition than we have been led to believe. There have even been some particularly stupid theories that go as far as to say Hamlin has been cloned. It’s unclear why that would benefit anyone or why they’d go to such great lengths to make something like this happen, but such is the nature of conspiracy theories.

The NFL world is not pleased with the spreading of these stupid unsubstantiated rumors.

“Can we as a community block every single person, media outlet, and/or family member that tweets a conspiracy theory about Damar Hamlin?” asked former NFL wide receiver Torrey Smith.

“The dumbest part of the Damar Hamlin conspiracy isn’t even that he’s dead and it’s some secret cover-up. It’s that these dipshits think the NFL went through the process of LITERAL HUMAN CLONING instead of having some random guy put on a mask and pretend to be Damar,” said Cover the Corner’s Matt Lyons.

https://twitter.com/mattrly/status/1617885357785088001

“I have run into Damar Hamlin conspiracy theory TikTok and woo buddy,” said Bunkie Perkins.

Hamlin appears to be on the mend and that’s all that matters. As for all these dumb conspiracies, hopefully, the spreader will move on to the next dumb thing they’ll make up very soon

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.