Why NFL fans called for Monday night’s game to end in the first quarter
The NFL #TheNFL
Monday night’s highly anticipated matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals was suspended in the first quarter after Bills safety Damar Hamlin was injured and administered CPR on the field.
The unprecedented situation arose after Hamlin collapsed after being involved in a tackle. Video of the play shows him getting hit hard in the chest.
Hamlin was quickly met on the field by athletic trainers, who called for an ambulance. As health care professionals attended to him, Bills and Bengals players gathered together to pray.
NFL fans who watched the scary situation unfold took to Twitter to share support for Hamlin and call for league leaders to end the game early.
“I don’t know how you can ask these players to step back onto the field and play tonight,” tweeted Bill Barnwell, a prominent sportswriter for ESPN.
After Hamlin left the field in an ambulance, officials announced that the game was temporarily suspended. Both teams then went to their locker rooms to collect themselves.
Joe Buck, the play-by-play announcer for the game, said the decision as to whether the game would resume rested with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Analyst Booger McFarland, who is offering commentary on the game for ESPN, was among those calling for Goodell to end the game early.
“Nobody is concerned about football right now. America is concerned about one thing: The health and safety of this young man,” he said.
Hamlin, who is 24, was a sixth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
About an hour after Hamlin’s injury, Buck announced that Goodell had officially suspended play for the rest of the night.
“Our thoughts are with Damar and the Buffalo Bills,” the league’s statement said. It noted that Hamlin is in critical condition at a Cincinnati hospital.
The Bills and Bengals will work together to find a date to resume the game, Buck said.
There is just one week left of the NFL regular season and both teams already have games scheduled for this weekend.
Here’s a sampling of the many members of the football community sharing support for Hamlin on social media: