Watching Humanity as We Pray for Damar Hamlin

As I watched the ESPN coverage of Damar Hamlin’s collapse on the field in the Buffalo Bills versus Cincinnati Bengals game, I sat stunned. As a father of several young football players, as a coach in a local youth league, and as a person, I could not hold back the tears. Our family and friends who were together eating, talking, and watching football put everything aside and stopped to pray for this man and his family. As we left our time together, we remained glued to ESPN coverage for the remainder of the evening, waiting and hoping for some kind of good news about Damar Hamlin. My youngest cried as he heard the news, my oldest called, and the rest of us took in what we were seeing and hearing. In the moments surrounding the events of the night, I couldn’t help but watching the response to humanity, even as we continue to pray for Damar Hamlin. Here are a few observations that I found very encouraging – in addition to the fact that he lived!

The Game Is Secondary to the Individual

In sports at any age, the fact that the game is secondary to the individuals playing in it is always true. We teach our children and youth that their character, the respect for other players, and the character of the coach always weighs heavier than a play, a missed assignment, a dropped ball, a blown call by an official, a missed call, or whether or not our team wins a game. The game always remains in second place as to what is truly important – everyone involved is a person.

In 2019, I remember while watching my daughter play in a tournament on the road one game when an official made a few bad calls. I was very upset. I was not necessarily being very vocal about it; yet, it was really burning inside me. “The official has one job to do and can’t get it right!” In that moment, a very sweet voice simply reminded me that officials are people too and that I should keep that in mind as I watch. I am not sure that anybody else can even remember this game or tournament; however, it stuck in my head. I didn’t hear anything different than I both knew or had not heard before, yet in this instance, it stuck. I have been able to keep perspective ever since.

My quick story communicates the challenge all of us face as we watch and participate in sports. Literally, these contests are just games. In all of life, winning or losing a game literally does not matter. The much, much greater priority in every game and at every sporting level is the humanity of those who play and officiate – even others that cheer for and against your favorite team or athlete.

Last night, in an instance when Damar Hamlin stood up after a tackle and immediately fell backwards to the ground, we all collectively remembered this. Opposing players hugged, prayed, and talked to each other. Opposing coaches worked together with league officials to do what was best for everyone involved. Fans around the world of these two teams and football generally came together to focus on the individual athlete – a person in the midst of a life and death health crisis.

This serves as a great reminder to all of us that the individuals involved in the game are 100% always more important than the game itself, the game as a business, and the desire to win a competition. Always.

The Business Is Secondary to the Individual

I will just briefly mention this issue as well; however, it is worth noting on the way by: the business is secondary to the individual. Although much was made by one of the commentators on ESPN about the NFL office desiring to continue play – as he stated in his speculation alone, the best decision was made in a timely manner to move the game from temporarily suspended to permanently suspended. Yes, it took a few minutes to get to that stage of the decision, although I realize everyone had to do what they could do at their level.

The officials made the call to temporarily suspend the game, which is their job.

Both head coaches lobbied for their respective players and coaches regarding what they thought would be best.

The league office called and discussed how to make the best decision and how best to communicate that decision.

All of these things take time. In game after game with weather delays and player injuries, there is a normal protocol which almost always includes finishing the game. In this instance, the league, coaches, players, and other executives got it right. The business is secondary to the individual fighting for his life and all those other individuals associated with the game itself.

I commend ESPN, Monday Night Football, and a bunch of individuals in their coverage and insistence upon the importance of humanity throughout the evening. In a shocking series of events, the night flipped from “football business” to a human crisis. No one asks to do what Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, Suzy Kolber, Booger McFarland, Adam Schefter, Scott Van Pelt, Ryan Clark, and many others at ESPN had to do. Yet, they did exceptional work.

The Spiritual Connects to the Humanity

Another observation related to the events of last night: everyone moved toward the spiritual. One Twitter user stated, “I’m gonna do something I’ve never done as an atheist. Pray to God. So, God, if you can hear me and thousands of others across the country — Please keep Damar Hamlin here with us. He’s to [sic] young to be taken away so suddenly. He needs to live. Please let him live & be healthy.”

When we see the combination of all the events including player reactions and begin to learn the backstories, we are drawn to the spiritual.

One Cincinnati Bengals fan made a sign which stated to simply pray. ESPN showed him. It has been viewed in multiple Twitter threads millions of times.

Emmitt Smith and many more like him tweeted a prayer. Prayer emojis were all over the internet on every type of social media.

When faced with death, we all get a better sense of spirituality. We are reminded as those who are in the image of God that it is God to whom we ultimately must respond.

My friend, Blake Shaw, summarized it this way:

This gives me hope. When ESPN, coaches, players, and fans all collectively call out for prayer, it is a reminder of the significance of the image of God ingrained in each one of us. My prayer is that the events on the field and afterwards would help people turn to God, hear the truth about Jesus, and be eternally impacted.

Additionally, I pray for Damar Hamlin and his family.

The Charity Giving Demonstrates Humanity

Quickly after Damar Hamlin’s injury, someone shared his GoFundMe account for his charity which supports the daycare associated with his mother. At the beginning of the game, it is reported that it had just over $10,000 worth of donations. By the time I am finishing this blog, over $3.352 million with 130.1k donors.

Again, how encouraging. My youngest son was following this last night as we watched the coverage. He was so encouraged too. People want to demonstrate their care and humanity; they want to do something. Many of them decided they could do something and gave to Damar Hamlin’s charity through GoFundMe. This is another glimpse of our humanity.

As I mentioned above, I pray for Damar, his family, his team, and everyone involved. I also pray that God uses this providentially to help reach people with the Gospel of salvation and sanctification. Additionally, I pray that we would all be encouraged to see the unity of humanity in the midst of tragedy.