LISTEN: Bills' Damar Hamlin says he was built to handle adversity even before cardiac arrest
Bills safety Damar Hamlin talks about overcoming a cardiac arrest on the field nearly three years ago, how he’s helping his teammates now while sidelined with another injury and his upcoming role in a Christmas movie.
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MAADDI: Welcome to On Football with me, Rob Maaddi. Week 11 in the NFL. Looks like a playoff schedule. Great game. Seahawks, Rams battle for first place in the NFC West. Chiefs, Broncos in an important AFC West matchup. And then there’s the Eagles-Lions in a game that many thought would be the NFC Championship game last year. It could be this season. Our guest this week is Damar Hamlin. Stay tuned for a special conversation with Damar. The New York Giants fired Brian Daboll this week. So that’s two teams now, the Titans and the Giants, who will be looking for a head coach after the season. Of course, Tennessee and New York get a head start on that. The trend for teams is to look for the young up and coming coordinator. Everybody wants the next Sean McVay. But the Eagles had success twice by hiring assistants that nobody else interviewed. They were mocked for hiring Doug Pederson in 2016. He won a Super Bowl the next season. They were laughed at for hiring Nick Sirianni in 2021. He’s been to two Super Bowls and won last year. It’s not always the most talked about candidates that end up being the best choice.
MAADDI: Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is sidelined by a pectoral injury this season. But Damar has overcome bigger challenges in the past. He suffered a cardiac arrest on the field in January 2023 and returned remarkably to play in the NFL. Here’s my conversation with Damar.
MAADDI: You’re built to handle adversity given what you went through, right? Given everything that has gone on in your life. I mean, I feel like there’s no one who can handle that better than you. Then coming off a season you played last year. You made big contributions to the Bills. How does the past help prepare you for the future? How are you built to handle anything that comes your way? Not just on a football field, but really Damar in life.
HAMLIN: You know the toughness and adversities that I’ve already had in my life to even just make it to the point where I’m able to be an NFL athlete. That was the toughest part of my journey. That was really like the toughest navigation. I was built for the chase and I was built to overcome the adversity. To be able to persevere through, you know, something so heart-wrenching, no pun intended, but you know something so heart-wrenching and something so scary to life, you know, to be able to get myself to a point where I wanted to be able to show that I can compete again at the highest level in the world. So, you know, I think just the foundation, you know, that my parents built in me, the foundation of, you know, things I had to overcome and the mindset that I had to build myself up into a person, you know, carries me through life.
MAADDI: While you’re out now, while you’re rehabbing and you’re around the team, how are you able to still contribute to the Bills, maybe from like a mentorship aspect to some of the younger guys? You’re a veteran now, right? Five years into the league. How are you to help some of the other players deal with, whether it’s defensive situations or anything that they have to go through?
HAMLIN: Oh yeah, obviously, you know, I think I provide a lot of value as far as knowing the details and what we’re trying to get accomplished as far as school. And so I’m able to, at this point, I’ve always felt like a young, up-and-coming player, but I’m year five and I think that I’ve reached that status, so you know I’m able to be that veteran voice, that veteran presence that guys respect and relate to. You know, I can understand the side of the coach, the front office of, you know, what they’re trying to get out of a player. And I understand the aspect of being a player and you know how you need to be coached, how you need to be brung along and be like met where you’re at in the moment. So, you that’s, I think that that piece right there is extremely valued. It bridges the gap to ultimately make everybody go in one direction. But you know also, man, I, I think I stand just, just my presence alone. You know, I stand. Um, for so much. And, just getting through my adversity, with my cardiac arrest, I think I was able to use my teammates to be able to get me through that moment. You know, my teammates were really the thing that allowed me to feel, you know, a part of something. It made me feel, like I got able to escape my situation by being a part of my team. So, you know, I kind of reverse that nowadays, you know, I’m able to allow my teammates to escape their own reality by seeing me go through some adversity, but knowing what I already came through, just the fact that they see me still going and see me not giving up, I’ve been able to see a light spark in my teammates. So, I think it’s a blessing to be a part of the organization that I’m a part of. Everybody that comes in and comes out and comes back, everyone says it’s a special place. So, super blessed, super blessed.
MAADDI: Damar, I’m man enough to admit I love watching Hallmark Christmas movies. I’ll sit there with my wife and the kids and actually I’m the one telling them I wanna watch it because it’s safe, it’s safe television. There’s a lot of garbage out there but Hallmark’s Christmas movies are everything. The “More the Merrier” is coming out November 28th. That’s a partnership with Abbott HeartMates and yourself and you’re featured in that. Tell me about that experience.
HAMLIN: It was so amazing, like you said, it is a lot of jokes to read, but to be able to be a part of the holiday season, I just wasn’t saying anything, I was ready to put up my Christmas tree and get into the holiday season already, but, to be to have this partnership that means so much to me, as I just described, and we’ve always done unique things, which has made it one of my favorite ambassadorships and partnerships. So to be here right now and, you know, we’re here talking about being on a movie is truly amazing. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do first and foremost, so to be able to have a role in a movie and then get to watch myself on the movie screen will be super cool. But I think more important than that to highlight what we do as far as the things that we get accomplished through the Abbott HeartMates Program on the big screen is truly amazing and I’m excited for it.
MAADDI: Time to pick some winners. The Pro Picks 4-pack is 29-10-1 straight up, 26-14 against the spread. We’ll start with the best bet. Green Bay Packers are 5-3-1 on the road against the Giants, who are 2-8. The Packers are seven-point favorites. They’ve lost two in a row. Jordan Love and the offense have struggled. They’ve scored 20 points combined in both of those losses. This was a Super Bowl contender just a few weeks ago, and now they’re fading. The Packer’s need to get back on track, and the Giants are the right remedy. Interim coach Mike Kafka takes over for Brian Daboll. Jameis Winston will likely make his first start if Jaxson Dart can’t play because of concussion. Jameis will make some great plays, he’ll make some bad ones. Micah Parsons could have a big day chasing him all around the field. Packers 32-16. It was tough to find an upset special this week. The Bears 6-3 at Minnesota, they’re 4-5. Vikings are 3-point favorites. Caleb Williams has led the Bears to three comeback wins in the last four games. They’ve gone 6-1 since an 0-2 start under Ben Johnson. Williams is 1-7 in eight starts vs. NFC North teams, including a loss to Minnesota in week one. J.J. McCarthy led the Vikings to that comeback in the season opener. He struggled in his fourth career start last week against Baltimore after an impressive performance against Detroit a week before. It’s tough to sweep teams in divisions that good. Bears, 23-22. I look at one of the big time matchups next. Kansas City, 5-4, at Denver, 8-2. The Chiefs are four-point favorites despite being currently out of the playoff picture. They would be the AFC’s eighth seed right now. The Chiefs still are favorites to win the Super Bowl and they’re favorites on the road in this matchup against the Broncos. The Broncos have struggled on offense. They’ve got a dominant defense. Patrick Mahomes has his playmakers healthy. The Chiefs are coming off a bye. Andy Reid in his career is 22-4 after a bye in the regular season, including 6-1 with Mahomes. I’m taking the Chiefs 24-18. And then Sunday Night Football, the Lions, 6-3, at Philly against the Eagles, who are 7-2. They’re coming off a Monday night win in Green Bay and they’re 2.5 point favorites against Detroit. Dan Campbell, he took over play-calling duties for the Lions last week and the offense went back to being dynamic, scored 44 points. Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown against Philly’s talented defense. It’s going to be an excellent matchup. Can’t wait to see what defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has dialed up. The Eagles are going to need their offense to step up against the Lions. A.J. Brown has to be more involved in the passing game. Saquon Barkley needs more running lanes. Jalen Hurts has made plays when the pressure and the spotlight are on. Campbell and Goff are 13-3 in primetime games. But all three of those losses came when they were underdogs. They’re underdogs here. Eagles, 27-23.
MAADDI: That’s it for this week. Thank you to Damar Hamlin. Thank you for listening to On Football. And thanks to Haya Panjwani. And Guillermo Gonzalez for producing this episode. Please check out apnews.com for the full Pro Picks, On Football analysis and more NFL news.
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