The NFL community is thinking about Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who collapsed on the field and went into cardiac arrest during the Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The NFL called off the game after Hamlin was hospitalized, but fans were angry after seeing a report that said the league told the players after Hamlin was loaded into an ambulance that they had five minutes to warm up before resuming play.
Troy Vincent, NFL executive vice president of football operations, took part in a conference call about Hamlin and said the players were never told to warm up. “I’m not sure where that came from,” Vincent said, per Pro Football Talk. “Frankly, there was no time period for the players to get warmed up. Frankly, the only thing that we asked was that [referee] Shawn [Smith] communicate with both head coaches to make sure they had the proper time inside the locker room to discuss what they felt like was best. So I’m not sure where that came from.”
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“Five-minute warmup never crossed my mind, personally. And I was the one . . . that was communicating with the Commissioner. We never, frankly, it never crossed our mind to talk about warming up to resume play. That’s ridiculous. That’s insensitive. And that’s not a place that we should ever be in.” Here’s a look at fans blasting the NFL for the report.
The Report
One fan wrote: “I 100 percent agree he reported what he was told, and that whoever was on sight whether it be the NFL executive or the head ref just went with protocol. [NFL] trying cover after the backlash. Head guys may of thought it and said it but didn’t relay the message to the ppl on sight.”
Player Safety?
Another person wrote: “I think it was up to the coaches, and then they reconsidered and decided to suspend.”
Overruled
One person tweeted: “Seriously, WTF.The players union should fine the league offices for conduct unbecoming.”
Priority
A Twitter user said: “Absolutely a joke. Don’t have any conditions to continue the game today. The important at this point it’s to guarantee the integrity and health of Damar.”
Taylor Hale Weighs In
A fan said: “If I were them I would definitely lean towards postponing the game to a later date.”
Doesn’t Understand
One fan replied: “Unfortunately it’s not just the NFL. It’s Amazon, Tesla, and anywhere else where a billionaire corporation can exploit workers for profit, safety be damned.”
Get it Right
And this person wrote: “Whoever suggested the players would get ‘five minutes to warm up’ after this happened should be fired immediately.”
