The harrowing scenes of Damar HamlinB次元官网网址檚 on-field collapse after suffering cardiac arrest have forced some fans to confront yet again a truth theyB次元官网网址檝e always known but hated to think about: Football, a game with violence in its DNA, can go from exciting and joyous to dark and tragic in a flash.
Now, as the Buffalo Bills defensive back remains in in a Cincinnati hospital, fans like Max Cerone are reflecting on their relationship with the sport they love.
Cerone, age 24 like Hamlin and a high school guidance counselor in the Buffalo area, grew up minutes from the Bills stadium, attending games from childhood with his dad B次元官网网址渋n pre-season and 90 degrees, or negative degrees and snowing.B次元官网网址�
Settling in at home with two buddies to watch MondayB次元官网网址檚 high-stakes matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals, Cerone and his friends watched in horror when only minutes into the game, Hamlin completed what seemed a routine tackle, stood up quickly and then limply, frighteningly backward to the ground, legs splayed, motionless. They watched stricken teammates weeping, kneeling and praying as medical staff fought to revive the 6-foot, 200-pound playerB次元官网网址檚 .
B次元官网网址淧eople sometimes look at players like theyB次元官网网址檙e in a video game,B次元官网网址� Cerone said B次元官网网址� as avatars, and fodder for fansB次元官网网址� fantasy leagues. B次元官网网址淲e watch them for entertainment, and complain when theyB次元官网网址檙e not playing well. But these people are putting their lives on the line every time theyB次元官网网址檙e going out there and putting on the pads.B次元官网网址�
ItB次元官网网址檚 exceedingly rare for a player to go into cardiac arrest on the field, and the injury Hamlin suffered l, or even sports.
Still, it came immediately after a hit, and was a stark reminder that human beings arenB次元官网网址檛 built to crash into other human beings repeatedly at high velocity, as football requires. And for some fans with kids, it sparked more thought about whether those kids should be allowed to play.
Like many fans interviewed in the days after the game, Cerone doesnB次元官网网址檛 see himself abandoning football anytime soon. But he definitely wants to see the NFL continue to do more about health and safety, especially as regards to head injuries.
Former fan Laurie Goldberg has made a different calculation.
Goldberg, a public relations professional who spent years working with a sports trading card company, says she soured on the sport over the last decade as she learned more about traumatic brain injury and the risks of CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, her awareness sparked by the 2015 movie B次元官网网址淐oncussion,B次元官网网址� in which Will Smith played the real-life doctor raising the CTE alarm, and the book on which itB次元官网网址檚 based.
B次元官网网址淚 loved football, and I miss it,B次元官网网址� says Goldberg, 63, originally from Baltimore where she grew up as an avid Colts fan, and now of Marina del Rey, California. But, she says, B次元官网网址淚 couldnB次元官网网址檛 watch anymore. I felt like I was watching the gladiators, watching people sacrifice their lives. This isnB次元官网网址檛 ancient Rome B次元官网网址� Watching it just seems like weB次元官网网址檙e adding to the problem.B次元官网网址�
Mark Oldfield, a lifelong Bengals fan, prefers to focus on the hope that tragic incidents on the field will lead to lifesaving improvements.
B次元官网网址淚 feel like this is going to be one of those moments that will actually make football better,B次元官网网址� says Oldfield, 59, a teacher at Springmyer Elementary School in Cincinnati and a Bengals season ticket holder for the last 36 years.
Oldfield was sitting in the stadium, three rows from the north end zone, when Hamlin took the hit. He was also at the recent game when Miami Dolphin quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a frightening concussion on a play that knocked him unconscious and had him stretchered off the field.
Oldfield hopes Tagaovailoa wonB次元官网网址檛 play again this season. But he notes thereB次元官网网址檚 been steady progress in dealing with the risk of brain injury, though not enough. B次元官网网址淎s long as you see growth, thatB次元官网网址檚 a good thing,B次元官网网址� he says.
Khalil Springs, also 24, a Bills fan who works in real estate in Buffalo, agrees the sport has been gradually improving in terms of safety. B次元官网网址淭he game has changed B次元官网网址� you can see it in the tackling where they try to let up a bit. People are aware of it, and thatB次元官网网址檚 maybe all you can do in a sport so violent. ItB次元官网网址檚 only going to get better.B次元官网网址�
In a broader sense, Springs is certain that B次元官网网址渟omething good will come out of this.B次元官网网址� Actually it already has, he notes; fans have joined to donate millions to HamlinB次元官网网址檚 for a childrenB次元官网网址檚 toy drive, which now tops $7 million.
Like many, Jason Fond feels the Hamlin episode will lead to some kind of positive change in player safety. One small change, he notes, has already happened: the youth team he coaches sent an email the morning after the NFL incident, requiring that coaches be certified to use a defibrillator.
B次元官网网址淗ow do we digest this?B次元官网网址� asks Fond, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist in Nanuet, New York. B次元官网网址淧eople who are against violent sports are going to say, B次元官网网址業 told you so, this is awful, why is football even allowed?B次元官网网址� Other people are going to say B次元官网网址業tB次元官网网址檚 a one-off and weB次元官网网址檙e never going to see this in our lifetime again.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
He himself tends more toward the latter category, as a fan, coach, father, and player in his youth. He says the huge increase in concussion awareness makes it feel safer for kids like his 11-year old son, who plays tackle football (his three kids play multiple sports). Fond says he told him: B次元官网网址淵ou get one concussion and youB次元官网网址檙e done.B次元官网网址�
If his son wanted to play in college, where B次元官网网址渕assive peopleB次元官网网址� are running at you, B次元官网网址渢hat conversation would be a tough one for me,B次元官网网址� he adds.
In some parts of the country, reverence for the sport can allow for a permissive attitude toward tackle football for young children, says Joel Fields of Biloxi, Mississippi, who founded the Gulf Coast Sharks Youth Football Club in 2021.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檒l be playing teams from all over the country, but we play mostly southern teams, and weB次元官网网址檝e seen B次元官网网址� five and six-year-old tackle football teams,B次元官网网址� said Fields. He doesnB次元官网网址檛 think children should play tackle football until they are eight, and hopes HamlinB次元官网网址檚 injury reminds coaches to teach kids safer ways to play.
For every parent, the calculation is different. Kim Staley, a Kansas City mother and account manager for a pharmaceutical company, is herself a huge football fan B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址測outh, high school, college, NFL, Monday night, Thursday night, Saturday and Sunday,B次元官网网址� she quips. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 THAT mom.B次元官网网址� She was horrified by the Hamlin injury and is praying for his recovery, as is her son, Hunter, 17.
But, says Staley, 55, B次元官网网址淚 would not stop my child from playing because of it.B次元官网网址� She says too little is known about what caused HamlinB次元官网网址檚 collapse, and that friendsB次元官网网址� children in other sports have experienced more injuries than her son in football. Hunter hopes to play in college. B次元官网网址淚 support him playing the sport he loves,B次元官网网址� Staley says. B次元官网网址淯ntil he tells me otherwise.B次元官网网址�
Lisa Burtin has made a similar call for her son Deon, also 17, whoB次元官网网址檚 been playing since he was five, and also wants to play in college.
B次元官网网址淚t was definitely jaw-dropping, horrific,B次元官网网址� Burtin said of the Hamlin injury. B次元官网网址淲hen itB次元官网网址檚 life and death, everything stops. Nothing else matters.B次元官网网址� She was glad to see the game was canceled. But she says there are still questions to be answered: B次元官网网址淲as it because of the tackle, because of football, or something underlying?B次元官网网址�
Burtin, 55, a nurse in Kansas City, said a bigger worry is head injuries, which are much more common.
But either way, she says, B次元官网网址淵ou just donB次元官网网址檛 live your life in fear. My son wants to play football.B次元官网网址� And as a fan, she says, she remains loyal: B次元官网网址淚 know itB次元官网网址檚 a rough sport. But I think it brings people together.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址擩ocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press
