Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field, was administered CPR

It is possible that this was an undiagnosed heart condition. There have been several young men who have dropped like Reggie Lewis, Lee Bias, and others, over the years.
This could have happened to Hamlin without any contact whatsoever, just working out.
The main thing is that he was able to be revived and is in the care of very good doctors.
As far as the game is concerned, I wouldn't object to giving both teams a win and moving on. This could be unfair to some teams, but life is not fair. I don't think any team will be eliminated, if the have a playoff chance,if this is what they do.
Both players suffered adverse cardiac events caused by cocaine and not by an undiagnosed heart condition.
Except that Commotio Cordis is a well documented syndrome requiring a blow to the chest over the heart.
KC might have a legit objection since the bye is a big advantage in terms of getting players healthy and home field advantage.
 
KC might have a legit objection since the bye is a big advantage in terms of getting players healthy and home field advantage.
As difficult as this has been from a human perspective, there is still a business decision that needs to be made here. I don't envy the NFL at the moment because whatever it is will certainly anger a chunk of their overall fanbase. This game was going to lay the foundation for seeds 1-3 in the AFC and that fact can't be ignored. Now, despite what Troy Vincent claims, it appears the NFL was going to allow for a warm-up before resuming the game and the Bills and Bengals, in unison, declined to resume playing. I support that 100% and, as a spectator, was personally done with watching anymore football for the night after the incident. But in response to PP's non-objection to granting both team's a W, I don't see why the Kansas City Chiefs should be exposed to risking their hold on the #1 seed because of unfortunate circumstances that occurred in a game they were not a part of.

What I would believe needs to be sorted out in the aftermath of this is that the competition committee needs to determine a threshold for if/when circumstances may arise again that could warrant the complete stoppage of a game, and have a pre-determined outcome already decided as to how that game goes down in the record books that everyone has to live with (for example, calling it a draw resulting in a tie). And even then, I don't envy them because how do you determine the threshold for that?

A lot of folks lost their appetite for football after the Tua game in Cincinnati earlier in the year. Would that meet the threshold for stoppage? To me it would not, but to my wife it sure did. And resuming a game that was stopped in week 5 is a whole different animal from resuming a game from week 17. I don't often feel bad for the NFL, but I do in this case.
 
What about this? It still allows Kc, the Bengals and Bills to win the #1 seed. Best I can see.

Week 19
Bengals/Bills
NFC 2 vs. 7
NFC 3 vs. 6
NFC 4 vs. 5
AFC playoff bye week

Week 20
AFC 2 vs. 7
AFC 3 vs. 6
AFC 4 vs. 5
NFC playoff bye week
 
What about this? It still allows Kc, the Bengals and Bills to win the #1 seed. Best I can see.

Week 19
Bengals/Bills
NFC 2 vs. 7
NFC 3 vs. 6
NFC 4 vs. 5
AFC playoff bye week

Week 20
AFC 2 vs. 7
AFC 3 vs. 6
AFC 4 vs. 5
NFC playoff bye week
As fair a proposal as I can think of. Bills and Bengals won't have a chance to earn a traditional bye, but the #1 seed and homefield throughout would sill remain in play, assuming at least Buffalo wins in week 18.

It's either that or the game doesn't get played - which would also be leaving $$$ on the table for the league.
 
As fair a proposal as I can think of. Bills and Bengals won't have a chance to earn a traditional bye, but the #1 seed and homefield throughout would sill remain in play, assuming at least Buffalo wins in week 18.

It's either that or the game doesn't get played - which would also be leaving $$$ on the table for the league.
Have the Bengals/Bills game on a Thurs. It would be short rest, but just like any other Thurs night game. Plus they have already game planned for it so the short turnaround isn't a big deal in that respect. They won't get a traditional bye but it gives them a couple of extra days of rest anyway.
 
On Patriots radio it was said that this heart issue happens in multiple sports. And that "Little League" games have been studied and now have "CPR equipment" for all games.

Never heard about this for little league.
Back in bantams my spring goalie left our 90 minute practice when it concluded and went to his baseball practice. He died running wind sprints in the outfield an hour later. He was healthy as far as anyone knew.

Almost 600 hundred hockey players came to the service wearing suits and their team jerseys including my son.

Both of my sons had an echocardiogram the next week. I was a little paranoid as they were both playing multiple sports (hockey/football/lacrosse) at the time. I got chewed a little by the cardiologist for the exams as he thought they were a waste of his time and unnecessary.
TFB.
 
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As difficult as this has been from a human perspective, there is still a business decision that needs to be made here. I don't envy the NFL at the moment because whatever it is will certainly anger a chunk of their overall fanbase. This game was going to lay the foundation for seeds 1-3 in the AFC and that fact can't be ignored. Now, despite what Troy Vincent claims, it appears the NFL was going to allow for a warm-up before resuming the game and the Bills and Bengals, in unison, declined to resume playing. I support that 100% and, as a spectator, was personally done with watching anymore football for the night after the incident. But in response to PP's non-objection to granting both team's a W, I don't see why the Kansas City Chiefs should be exposed to risking their hold on the #1 seed because of unfortunate circumstances that occurred in a game they were not a part of.

What I would believe needs to be sorted out in the aftermath of this is that the competition committee needs to determine a threshold for if/when circumstances may arise again that could warrant the complete stoppage of a game, and have a pre-determined outcome already decided as to how that game goes down in the record books that everyone has to live with (for example, calling it a draw resulting in a tie). And even then, I don't envy them because how do you determine the threshold for that?

A lot of folks lost their appetite for football after the Tua game in Cincinnati earlier in the year. Would that meet the threshold for stoppage? To me it would not, but to my wife it sure did. And resuming a game that was stopped in week 5 is a whole different animal from resuming a game from week 17. I don't often feel bad for the NFL, but I do in this case.
I agree with just about all of this but for the NFL to cancel the game for this entire week seems a bit over the top. That decision has really compromised the postseason given the two teams involved and as usual the NFL is waiting to see what the fallout is going to be before making a decision, and that means that they won’t get it right as they never do when they decide they are going to be swayed by the court of public opinion.
 
Troy Vincent said there is a possibility that the patriots/bills game does not get played this weekend. If that actually happens then I have no idea how the NFL is going to proceed with the postseason. If the game does not get played then the Pats don’t get the chance to get to the playoffs.
 
Troy Vincent said there is a possibility that the patriots/bills game does not get played this weekend. If that actually happens then I have no idea how the NFL is going to proceed with the postseason. If the game does not get played then the Pats don’t get the chance to get to the playoffs.
I believe that's just more of Troy Vincent's disingenuous drivel. And even if I am wrong, sorry... if the Bills "aren't ready to play" then they forfeit and Pats are the 7th seed.

No problem if the Bills collectively cannot get it together but if that is the case, they need to accept their seeding as a result and prepare for the postseason. This whole situation sucks and it is unfortunate but when it begins to impact other teams' postseason fate, there needs to be some checks and balances.
 
I believe that's just more of Troy Vincent's disingenuous drivel. And even if I am wrong, sorry... if the Bills "aren't ready to play" then they forfeit and Pats are the 7th seed.

No problem if the Bills collectively cannot get it together but if that is the case, they need to accept their seeding as a result and prepare for the postseason. This whole situation sucks and it is unfortunate but when it begins to impact other teams' postseason fate, there needs to be some checks and balances.
I could not agree more. I mean how long do we drag this out for where there is no football? Currently the bills are the top seed in the conference. You cannot penalize the patriots and have us miss the postseason for a team that not is prepared to play.
 
Why is this being discussed as a "danger of football" thing in some quarters? It sounds like the sport was basically irrelevant. It wasn't a hit, it wasn't a risk of football thing at all. It was just a risk of being alive thing.

What am I missing?
 
Why is this being discussed as a "danger of football" thing in some quarters? It sounds like the sport was basically irrelevant. It wasn't a hit, it wasn't a risk of football thing at all. It was just a risk of being alive thing.

What am I missing?
Nothing

~Dee~
 
Both players suffered adverse cardiac events caused by cocaine and not by an undiagnosed heart condition.
Except that Commotio Cordis is a well documented syndrome requiring a blow to the chest over the heart.
KC might have a legit objection since the bye is a big advantage in terms of getting players healthy and home field advantage.
I think that cocaine use was rumored but not proven. Even so Hank Gathers was another and there was not even a hint of any kind of drug use in his case.
And it could be Commotio Crodis is the most logical reason.
Yes KC could object, but someone is not going to be happy no matter what they do. The NFL is not going to listen to me anyway. But my suggestion is the least complicated of all the suggestions that have been put out there so far.
I do believe that if you give the brains in the NFL office too much time to think about it, they will really F things up. :lol:
 
Whatever the NFL does it will piss a lot of people off, not that it matters, they will come out fine in the end no matter what. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered, except this hog is covered in Kevlar. They're like FIFA, it doesn't matter how stupid and corrupt they are, the popularity doesn't wane. They'll probably just record the Bengals/Bills game as a tie and call it good.
 
I think that cocaine use was rumored but not proven. Even so Hank Gathers was another and there was not even a hint of any kind of drug use in his case.
And it could be Commotio Crodis is the most logical reason.

I think Reggie Lewis' wife sued the Celtics' doctors for malpractice for not diagnosing him and for publicly spreading the claim that his death was cocaine related. I don't remember if she won, though.
 
As difficult as this has been from a human perspective, there is still a business decision that needs to be made here. I don't envy the NFL at the moment because whatever it is will certainly anger a chunk of their overall fanbase. This game was going to lay the foundation for seeds 1-3 in the AFC and that fact can't be ignored. Now, despite what Troy Vincent claims, it appears the NFL was going to allow for a warm-up before resuming the game and the Bills and Bengals, in unison, declined to resume playing. I support that 100% and, as a spectator, was personally done with watching anymore football for the night after the incident. But in response to PP's non-objection to granting both team's a W, I don't see why the Kansas City Chiefs should be exposed to risking their hold on the #1 seed because of unfortunate circumstances that occurred in a game they were not a part of.
Very well stated. I've been tuning into NFLnetwork every few hours to see if there is any news, but all I see are talking heads looking decidedly uncomfortable and spouting safe cliches like
speculating on anything regarding how the league might resolve the competitive issues will get them in trouble. I could only take a few minutes of that before I had to just turn it off,
because I already understand what happened Monday Night and now want to think about how me can move on from here.

I think you are right to wonder about how this affects the Chiefs and everybody else, including us.

What I would believe needs to be sorted out in the aftermath of this is that the competition committee needs to determine a threshold for if/when circumstances may arise again that could warrant the complete stoppage of a game, and have a pre-determined outcome already decided as to how that game goes down in the record books that everyone has to live with (for example, calling it a draw resulting in a tie). And even then, I don't envy them because how do you determine the threshold for that?

It's a better idea than a lot of people have come up with, but imagine if the Bengals knew that stopping that game would result in a draw which could negatively impact their contention. Would they have been as supportive as they were and have been universally praised for? It's a hard question, but we're going to have a bunch of them coming up surrounding this tragedy, especially if he doesn't make it.

A lot of folks lost their appetite for football after the Tua game in Cincinnati earlier in the year. Would that meet the threshold for stoppage? To me it would not, but to my wife it sure did. And resuming a game that was stopped in week 5 is a whole different animal from resuming a game from week 17. I don't often feel bad for the NFL, but I do in this case.

The Tua thing was sickening to see, and the same thing happened with my wife, but just because we were shown a guy having a seizure-type episode, which is very visceral, it didn't make me
change my core belief that we have to either accept the nasty stuff that is an occasional by-product of violent collisions, as the players do when they sign their contracts, or we stop watching and following the sport altogether. Ensuring that everybody is safe means the sport is either outlawed entirely or rendered unrecognizable by massive changes to the rules -- something that
would be impossible to legislate in the case of Hamlin who was injured during a routine tackle which appeared 100% legal.

When I learned the reality of CTE a few years back it bothered me for a while and it made me feel like a Roman watching slaves get torn apart by Lions for a time, but the truth is that I do accept the violence. I don't glory in it and I support all sensible safety measures, but I don't want to stop being a fan of the sport of NFL football because of what happened to Hamlin. He, regardless
of his ultimate outcome, was tragically unlucky and nobody can really do much about it now except hope he gets to live a full life that won't involve being a professional athlete in a very
risky sport.
 
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I think Reggie Lewis' wife sued the Celtics' doctors for malpractice for not diagnosing him and for publicly spreading the claim that his death was cocaine related. I don't remember if she won, though.
The C's doctor(and his team) gave the right diagnosis, she sued the doctor they got the 2nd opinion from and who told them what they wanted to hear, that he was fine. And many think she was behind not accepting the first diagnosis, which wasn't from just one cardiologist but 12. That whole thing still makes me so sad and angry, such a talented and likeable kid, he deserved better.
 
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