Damar Hamlin will start at safety for the Buffalo Bills on Sunday when they take on the Arizona Cardinals, marking the first time he will begin a game since he suffered cardiac arrest during a Jan. 2, 2023 game.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott made the announcement on Wednesday.
“What else can’t this young man do?,” McDermott said. “He went through what he went through on the field, you guys have written about that over and over, and to come back from that — it’s one thing to come back from an ACL or a broken bone.
“It’s another thing to come back off what he came back off. Let alone to decide to play football, and contact football, in full pads at the NFL level — I don’t think I need to say anything more. It’s incredible.”
Hamlin went through a lengthy recovery process and suited up for five games as a reserve last season with the Bills. The 26-year-old Pitt alum started 13 games in 2022 prior to the on-field emergency against the Cincinnati Bengals.
McDermott noted that Hamlin has earned this opportunity to start Week 1 with the work he’s put in during training camp.
“I think it’s consistency and opportunity,” McDermott added. “The opportunity that was there, he took advantage of it and was consistent. [He] built a certain level of rapport with [Taylor Rapp], and that’s important as well at the safety position.”
Making a difference off the field since Jan. 2, 2023
Hamlin’s near-death experience inspired him to help others. His charity, the Chasing M’s Foundation, provided free CPR training during a summer 2023 tour and donated automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to youth sports organizations. The Bills safety has also raised awareness of commotio cordis, a rare cardiac condition that he attributes to his collapse during “Monday Night Football,” and met with President Joe Biden at the White House in support of legislation calling for increased access to AEDs in schools.
When the Bills returned to Cincinnati last November for the first time since his cardiac arrest, Hamlin met with the 10 medical professionals who helped him regain consciousness. Hamlin took the UC Medical Staff members out to dinner and surprised each one of them with a scholarship in their name.