Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin simply can't win. After nearly dying on the football field in 2023, any time or chance that Hamlin gets to step out onto the gridiron is a miracle. The 26-year-old spent most of last season just trying to get into form again, and many made jokes about how he was only kept on the team because of the incident that happened the previous season. But this year, Hamlin is a defensive starter for the Buffalo Bills, and has had a couple of great games to start the season. However, that's going to be overshadowed thanks to what happened on Thursday Night Football, when Damar stepped up to tackle Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa and
knocked Tua out of the gam e. It's believed to be his fourth concussion since the start of the 2022 season. https://twitter.com/Rate_the_Refs/status/1834416752400420987 Now in Hamlin's defense, it was a bang-bang play. The Bills safety was just doing his job, stepping up to try and stop the rushing Tagovailoa from getting a first down on a critical 4th-down play. One could argue that Tua was the one who lowered his head and initiated the contact - which resulted in the young QB being knocked out and removed from the game (he walked off the field under his own power). Shortly after the conclusion of the game, Damar sent out a message on X (formerly Twitter) that was wishing Tua the best after the scary on-field incident:
" My love and prayers are with Tua for sure. Sending you strength and healing for a speedy recovery. M uch love broski." https://twitter.com/HamlinIsland/status/1834455123273154615 That was a very thoughtful, well-received message. But it came about 40 minutes after a different message that Hamlin sent out, which was a repost of a video featuring the safety hyping up the Bills fans (Bills Mafia) that had traveled to Miami for the game. Again, Hamlin should be able to celebrate any moment he wants since he almost died playing football, but considering what had just happened in the game - even though it wasn't a dirty hit - this post didn't go over well online:
"Feels good to be balling again." https://twitter.com/HamlinIsland/status/1834445400406655330 Some social media users thought saying it's "good to be balling again" was a little tone deaf considering Hamlin was the one that delivered the blow to Tua Tagovailoa that some are arguing could - or should - cause him to retire. And to be fair, if anyone knows about a devastating injury on a bang bang play, it's Damar Hamlin. When the dumb internet came down hard on Tee Higgins for initiating the hit that literally stopped Damar's heart on the field, Damar was quick to dismiss any notion that it was Tee Higgins' fault. But nevertheless, as you might imagine, football fans called out Hamlin in the replies below his post:
That reply right there might be why Damar sent out his "thoughts to Tua" message a little bit later...
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