Damar Hamlin, a safety for the Buffalo Bills, collapsed during a Monday Night Football game after a routine second-quarter hit on Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins.
Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest and received CPR on the field before being carted away to the local Cincinnati hospital.
Hamlin remained in critical condition, though his vital signs are normal, he remains in a medically induced coma on a breathing machine, according to his marketing agent early Monday morning.
NFL executive Troy Vincent, speaking to reporters on a conference call, revealed the decision-making process that went into deciding how to handle the shocking event.
“It was really about Damar and making sure — look, I’ve never seen anything like it since I’ve been playing, so immediately my player hat went on,” Vincent added, via Pro Football Talk. “How do you resume playing when such a traumatic event occurs in front of you in real-time? And that’s the way we were thinking about it, the commissioner and I.”
The NFL suffered major blowback on social media for refusing to cancel the game for over an hour following Hamlin’s shocking injury.
The League remains uncommitted to what happens following the cancelation. Vincent revealed that some Bills players stayed in Cincinnati in anticipation of a quick resumption of play while others traveled back to Buffalo following the tragic injury to their beloved teammate.
