A Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals was suspended Monday after Bills player Damar Hamlin took a hit that required emergency medical personnel to administer CPR for a reported nine minutes.
Per ESPN announcer Joe Buck, who was calling the game being held in Cincinnati, Bills safety Hamlin went down around 8:55 pm, stood and then collapsed soon after. When the broadcast came back from a commercial break, the team had gathered around Hamlin and the emergency medical personnel who were treating him on the field. Buck later told the audience that EMTs had been administering CPR to Hamlin for at least nine minutes.
Damar Hamlin (NFL)
After Hamlin was removed from the field, the game was set to resume but soon was temporarily suspended. Players on both teams appeared shocked, some in tears, as they returned to their locker rooms. Buck later reported that the ambulance left the stands shortly after 9 pm. Hamlin’s family accompanied him to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he was in critical condition, per the NFL.
Bills safety Damar Hamlin remained down on the field after a scary hit.
According to the broadcast, medical personnel have administered CPR. pic.twitter.com/JKCWmfzaLT
— ESPN (@espn) January 3, 2023
The Bills and Bengals have both left the field and the game has temporarily been suspended. pic.twitter.com/pb4QZPgHtn
— ESPN (@espn) January 3, 2023
The game was temporarily suspended after Hamlin’s injury. The NFL officially suspended the game at 10 pm.
A University of Pittsburgh alumni, Hamlin was drafted by the Bills in 2021, in the sixth round. Heading into Jan. 2, across 15 games this season he has the second-most total tackles for the Bills, with 91 (tying fellow safety Matt Milano and trailing only LB Tremaine Edmunds’ 95).