Damar Hamlin: Longtime Friend Gives Health Update on Buffalo Bills Safety

Damar Hamlin continues to recover from suffering a cardiac arrest earlier this month. But when will the Buffalo Bills safety be fully recovered? Jordon Rooney, Hamlin's longtime friend and business partner, told ESPN that Hamlin has a long way to go when it comes to his recovery. 

"Despite being out of the hospital, Damar still has a lengthy recovery," Rooney said. "Damar still requires oxygen and is having his heart monitored regularly. He has visited with the team a few times but he still gets winded very easily. He's upbeat and positive and ready to continue to overcome this."

Hamlin collapsed during the game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2 in Cincinnati. Bills coach Sean McDermott said after Hamlin was released from the hospital, he has been at the Bills facility "almost daily," visiting his teammates and coaches Tuesday and Wednesday. 

"It's limited, just overall," McDermott said of what Hamlin has been doing. "But he comes in and really just started really today or yesterday and just trying to get back to a little bit of a routine and just get himself acclimated again and taking it one step, one baby step at a time here." Hamlin has not attended the Bills' last two games but visited the team on Saturday before taking on the Miami Dolphins in the wild-card round of the playoffs. 

Hamlin, 24, has been with the Bills since the 2021 season. He was drafted by them in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft and became a starting safety when Micah Hyde went down with an injury earlier this season. Hamlin finished the year with 91 tackles, 1.5 sacks and two passes defended. 

With Hamlin collapsing, the Bills-Bengals game was canceled, and both teams finished playing one game less than the other 30 teams in the NFL. And because both teams clinched a playoff spot, the league made a big change with the AFC Championship Game. If the Bills and Kansas City Chiefs win their playoff games this weekend, they will clinch a spot in the conference championship next week. However, the game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta as a neutral site. This decision was made because had the Bills played the game against the Bengals and won, they would have the No. 1 seed over the Chiefs.