Some great commentary on TV coverage of the Hamlin story by the Buffalo News reporter Alan Pergament:
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Monday Night Football postponed - Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin collapses
- Thread starter crainbebo
- Start date
How did this game get postponed? The players apparently said they were not going to play:
www.npr.org
You can see it from their faces. They were horrified at what they saw. They were in no condition to play after that experience.
It made me wonder if that's something unique to this generation of players, given the way they were raised, coupled with the strength of the players union.
The Bills-Bengals game looked like it might resume. Then the players left the field
After a traumatic injury to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, players had seemingly been preparing to continue their game. But they left the field moments later, and never returned.
www.npr.org
You can see it from their faces. They were horrified at what they saw. They were in no condition to play after that experience.
It made me wonder if that's something unique to this generation of players, given the way they were raised, coupled with the strength of the players union.
and still others like The People's CDC might blame long covid
It seems like many of the current pro football generation players have been paying attention to what's happened to those who came before them. Permanent neurological disease caused by traumatic brain injuries and a subsequent high rate of suicide have caused today's players to rightfully look toward their personal future. Seeing one of their peers/colleagues essentially drop dead on the field on national TV hammers home the potential danger of the game that much more.
I know there are some politicians that made that claim in the past 3 years but the mother of a deceased student athlete came forward and said her son died from a previously unrecognized heart defect and it was before COVID-19 was even reported.
Deceptive videos used to link athlete deaths to COVID shots
Jake West was a seemingly healthy 17-year-old when he collapsed during high school football practice in Indiana and died of sudden cardiac arrest. A video widely shared online falsely suggests COVID-19 vaccination is to blame, weaving headlines about him into a rapid-fire compilation of news...
apnews.com
Basically it was because the victim happened to face the same situation as NFL star Damar Hamlin is facing today. Only difference is that the victim in 2013 died and a decade later we are hearing about Damar Hamlin fighting for his life.
I just heard on Fox 8 that the game has playoff implications, so apparently it needs to be finished.
There's a reporter whose stories appear on the 4:00 news and I'm waiting for that.
There's a reporter whose stories appear on the 4:00 news and I'm waiting for that.
That is correct, especially with regards to Cincinnati.
NFL Week 18 playoff picture, scenarios: What's at stake in last week of regular season
There is just one week left in the NFL regular season and there are still some things left to be decided in the AFC and NFC NFL playoff races.
Whatever would have happened Monday night had the game been played to a finish would have also affected the AFC wild card race. New England needs to beat Buffalo in Week 18 to get in. If Cincinnati were to have beaten the Bills in Week 17, Buffalo's coach might have decided to play second and third stringers in place of the Bills' key starters against the Pats, accepting a lower overall seed while insuring that the players that matter most have no chance of being injured before the playoffs start. Not knowing when or if Bills-Bengals will be restarted/replayed now means the Bills must play their regulars in a do-or-die game against a desperate New England team, Will they then be forced to come back on short rest vs. the Bengals -- further risking injury to players in a game the players likely want no part of at this point -- just to fulfill their obligation to league/ticketholders/television/FanDuel/Corporate America?
It's a very unusual situation. It's clear that stopping the game was the right decision. I wonder though if the same medical emergency had happened to one of the referees on the field if the game continues? It's a tough subject. Hopefully, Hamlin makes a full recovery.
The Bengals and Bills had already clinched playoff spots no matter the outcome. The only matter is the seeding positions of the AFC. It's still undecided if they will finish the game. That would require pushing back the playoffs by one week. The NFL may not want to do that. It would be an easier decision if both teams had been eliminated from playoff contention, then it's simply cancelled. It's a strange predicament...
During the 2020 COVID season, contingencies and procedures were put in place in case some teams had games cancelled due to outbreaks. Maybe they need to refer to them. I couldn’t tell you what would happen with the roof, but I mentioned above that the opening Cincinnati Reds game in 1996 saw the death of an empire on the field, literally at first pitch. They did cancel the game, and make it up. It was a controversial decision at the time.
The ump was John McSherry, who weighed close to 400 pounds. He collapsed seven pitches into the game. His fellow umpires, very understandably, were in no frame of mind to continue at that point and the players supported their decision. The only controversy was sparked by Reds owner Marge Schott, who was politically incorrect well before that term was coined. From Wikipedia:
Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott was quoted as having said, "Snow this morning and now this. I don't believe it. I feel cheated. This isn't supposed to happen to us, not in Cincinnati. This is our history, our tradition, our team. Nobody feels worse than me." Schott's statement was criticized as a public gaffe, though supporters contended that she was thinking of the some 50,000 fans who had expected to see a baseball game and might be unable to attend a makeup game. Schott sent flowers to the umpire's dressing room, but a story in the Dayton Daily News later said that the flowers had been given to Schott on Opening Day by Reds television partner SportsChannel Ohio. According to the story, Schott hastily wrote a sympathy note and attached it to the flowers.
The NFL's stance was "Every game must be played". They rescheduled and moved many games during the 2020 season due to players testing positive. This situation is different because it's late in the season. The only option to play the Buffalo vs Cincinnati game is by pushing back the playoffs by one week. That would require only one week between the Championship games and the Super Bowl (instead of 2). That's an option, but the NFL doesn't seem ready to do that. They may just cancel the game and decide the playoff seeding positions by coin flip or some other way...
So, what do you think would happen to the Pro Bowl Games, which is scheduled for February 5, the Sunday between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl?
Hamlin is still in the ICU but he seems to be improving. Instead of 100% oxygen needed, he only needs 50% oxygen according to his uncle...keep those prayers up!
www.wkbw.com
No word on the status of NFL wild card games for Sat/Sun.
Damar Hamlin shows improvement, still in critical condition at Cincinnati hospital
The NFL Network spoke with Dorrian Glenn, the uncle of Bills safety Damar Hamlin. Glenn confirmed to the NFL Network that Hamlin is still on a ventilator. But he is now only using 50% oxygen.
www.wkbw.com
No word on the status of NFL wild card games for Sat/Sun.
The Pro Bowl is very low priority and many fans don't care about it at all. For many years it was played after the Super Bowl. Players got a free trip to Hawaii.
If Cincinnati beats Baltimore this week, they win the division. The NFL may wait for that outcome and then decide whether to play the Bills vs Bengals game. Nobody seems to know right now...
Canceled due to lack of interest?
The NFL's silence is an indication to me of just how much money is involved in the play/don't play decision. There is no easy way out. Perhaps the worst-case scenario is this:
The NFL orders that the game be played, the players have no desire to play it and decide to stage the game at half-speed as a light-contact scrimmage. League steps in and tries to disqualify both teams from the playoffs, only to have a huge lawsuit filed that prevents any playoff games from happening until a decision is reached. The universe then implodes.
How's that for a dystopian outcome?
I figured as much. It has been many years since the last time I watched the Pro Bowl.Canceled due to lack of interest?
With players from the two Super Bowl teams not being allowed to play, there is even less interest than there was when it was after the SB. It's far and away the most useless all-star game in the four major pro sports, as far as fan and player interest is concerned.
I can remember when the Pro Bowl ran after the week after the Super Bowl
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