"We knew the gravity of the situation" - Joe Buck recalls horrifying minutes from booth as medical team administered CPR on Damar Hamlin
The shock and sadness of Damar Hamlin's collapse during the first quarter of Monday Night Football between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals did not end with the fans. ESPN announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were left with a major health situation on their hands out of nowhere as they went through the horrific event in the booth.
It was anticipated to be the best game of the weekend. Instead, Buck and Aikman were live in the middle of a tragedy. As great as they are as announcers, they needed to pivot as the situation changed suddenly.
In an interview with the New York Post, Buck described how he was feeling as the situation unfolded at the Paycor Stadium.
“We didn’t show it, but they were feverishly administering CPR, so we knew the gravity of the situation. My natural instinct at that moment is not to talk,” Buck said on the phone. “That’s the last thing I want to do is to put my words to this serious situation. It’s very counterintuitive as the football play-by-play guy about somebody having CPR administered to him in the center of a stadium with 65,000 people in it and a national television audience. It’s just a weird place to be."
With the ambulance going onto the field and the faces of players and fans absolutely stunned, Buck decided to keep the chatter down for as long as he could. Ultimately, the game was suspended, with Hamlin going to the hospital in critical condition.
The latest update states that, while his situation is still critical, his condition is stable. The Bills returned to Buffalo on Monday night, although some players, such as Stefon Diggs, stayed in the city to remain close to their hospitalized teammate.
Interested in betting? The odds for Week 18 games are out
What happened to Damar Hamlin?
The Bills' safety collapsed during the first quarter of Monday Night Football after a routine tackle on Tee Higgins. Hamlin instantly went into cardiac arrest and had his heartbeat restored while on the field. Many of his teammates were crying on the field while he was receiving treatment.
CPR was administered to Hamlin for several minutes. He spent Monday night at the intensive care unit of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he and his family remain.
The game was suspended after discussions involving Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, Bills head coach Sean McDermott, and game officials.