Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, in his second year, had taken key role

• Hamlin, 24, fell to the ground during a play and abruptly ended the NFL match.
• Hamlin had a limited role as a rookie in 2017 and had two tackles in 14 games.
• The football world came together to support Hamlin.

The Super Bowl-contending team’s 24-year-old Pitt alum had participated in each of its previous 15 games as of Monday night.

Before being taken to a Cincinnati hospital in his second season of professional football, Damar Hamlin had just begun to find his footing with the Super Bowl-contending Buffalo Bills.

On Monday night at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium, starting safety for Buffalo and University of Pittsburgh alumnus Hamlin, 24, fell to the ground during a play and abruptly ended the NFL match.

Hamlin “suffered a cardiac attack following a hit,” the Bills said in a statement early on Tuesday, adding that “his heartbeat was recovered on the field.” In a hospital, Hamlin was drugged and in severe condition.

Hamlin had a limited role as a rookie in 2017 and had two tackles in 14 games.

But up until Monday, he had participated in all 15 games for his first-place side this season and had contributed significantly with 91 tackles, 63 of which were solo, while playing.

He was selected by Buffalo in the sixth round out of Pitt last year, and he started after Micah Hyde hurt his neck.

Buffalo-born governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, tweeted: “wishing Damar Hamlin well. His family, friends, and the whole @BuffaloBills organisation are in our thoughts.”

Before we transferred to Pitt, Hamlin spent his formative years in the western Pennsylvania football mecca of McKees Rocks.

A few months before the Bills called his name at the NFL Draft in 2020, he was named to the second team of the Atlantic Coast Conference. For the Pitt Panthers in 2020, his 67 tackles and 7 pass breakups were team highs.

Josh Shapiro, the incoming governor of Pennsylvania, issued the following statement: “Praying for Damar Hamlin and his family.”

Late Monday night, the Pitt football team’s Twitter header was changed to a picture of Hamlin wearing his No. 3 Panthers jersey, along with the statement: “Damar Hamlin is the greatest among us. We cherish you, 3. I’m praying for you.

In an effort to raise $2,500 as his college football career neared to a close in late 2020, Hamlin created a toy drive and philanthropic foundation. That sum had surpassed $3 million by 4:30 a.m. ET.

The football world came together to support Hamlin and encouraged supporters to pray for the Bills safety.

Derek Stingley Jr., a cornerback with the Houston Texans, tweeted: “Sending prayers to Damar Hamlin and his family right now.”

Stingley is the grandson of late NFL wide receiver Darryl Stingley, who suffered paralysis after being struck by Jack Tatum of the Oakland Raiders in a preseason game in 1978.

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