The NFL community and fans around the world have come together this week to support Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin. That support continued this weekend with celebrations and tributes across the league.
The tributes began on Saturday when players from the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs wore shirts and hoodies in support of Hamlin. Later that evening, players and support staff from the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans joined together in midfield for a prayer circle while the crowd remained quiet.
Teams around the league painted his number (3) in blue on the 30-yard lines, and the ESPN television crew flipped the company’s logo around on their microphones on Saturday to make the “E” look like the number three. On Sunday, the Colts and Texans also had a moment of communal prayer for the 24-year-old’s recovery before the game, and Bengals players wore “Love for Damar” shirts during their pre-game warm-up.
That was just another example of Cincinnati’s continued tributes. Cincy Shirts created a special Damar Hamlin shirt earlier in the week. Sales have reached over $60,000, all of which will go to Hamlin’s foundation. Sarah Taylor, the wife of Bengals coach Zac, asked 53 different local schools to make cards for the Buffalo safety. She then collected all the cards and personally delivered them on Friday.
In Buffalo on Sunday, the team honored their training staff before the game and then Hamlin’s teammates all wore No. 3 patches, Hamlin’s jersey number, on their uniforms. When the Bills stormed the field, led by quarterback Josh Allen, they had Hamlin’s number on multiple flags.
Josh Allen and the @BuffaloBills take the field with #3 flags in honor of Damar Hamlin.
Incredible scene. pic.twitter.com/8PHCzF2Nzv
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 8, 2023
The Buffalo safety suffered cardiac arrest while making a tackle during the Bills’ Monday Night Football game against the Bengals and had to be resuscitated on the field. After being intubated and in a medically induced coma for a couple of days, Hamlin showed incredible signs of progress during the week and was even able to FaceTime his teammates on Friday.
On Saturday, Hamlin himself took to social media to thank everybody for showing support, tweeting “Putting love into the world comes back 3xs as much… thankful for everyone who has reached out and prayed. This will make me stronger on the road to recovery, keep praying for me!”
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