Whatever jitters Damar Hamlin might have been feeling went away midway through the first quarter on Saturday, when he first heard the play call Blitz
York — Whatever jitters Bills safety Damar Hamlin might have been feeling went away midway through the first quarter on Saturday, when he first heard the play call: Blitz.
Four snaps into his first game in a competitive setting since a near-death experience on Jan, 2, Hamlin broke toward the line and stopped Indianapolis Colts running back Evan Hull for no gain on fourth-and-1 from the Buffalo 40.
«Yeah, man, it felt good. It for surely felt like a little weight off my shoulders,» Hamlin said following Buffalo’s 23-19 preseason-opening win. «Amazing. It just makes me feel like I’m back in that element.»
What seemed unfathomable in those frightening first moments when Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated on the field during a game at Cincinnati in January, is closer to approaching reality in the 25-year-old’s bid to resume his playing career.
Hamlin showed no signs of hesitancy or trepidation in finishing with three tackles — the two others coming on consecutive snaps — in playing two-plus defensive series spanning the first and second quarters.
In doing so, he reached the latest and perhaps biggest milestone in a comeback that began with him returning to practice in May followed by enduring his first thud in the Bills’ first padded session of training camp two weeks ago.
«What we just witnessed, to me, is remarkable,» coach Sean McDermott said.
