The entire sports world was shaken to see Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffer cardiac arrest after a tackle in Monday night’s game against the Bengals. Come Tuesday, prayers continued to come in for Hamlin who remained in critical condition at UC Medical Center.
That included a personal perspective from Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
Hamlin played his college football at the University of Pittsburgh and went to high school in Pittsburgh. Tomlin had gotten to know Hamlin over the years, so when it came time for his Tuesday press conference, the Steelers coach wanted to speak about Hamlin before taking any questions.
Coach Tomlin shares his very personal thoughts on Damar Hamlin: pic.twitter.com/gymuijitfp
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) January 3, 2023
He said:
“Before I open up for questions, I’ll say this about Damar Hamlin. That is a really personal thing for me being a Pittsburgher and that young man being a Pittsburgher. I’ve known that guy probably since he was about 12. Just got a lot of respect and love for him as a human being, his commitment to the pursuit of his goals and dreams of doing what it is he’s doing right now, which is playing in the NFL. To watch him make personal decisions and make that a realization –it’s just an honor to get to know young people like that. I had the opportunity to express that to him whenever I see him. We played Buffalo each of the past two seasons, and he and I get to have a moment. Because it’s just cool to not only appreciate these guys in terms of where they are now but to know them since they were younger people and to watch their maturation and development. To watch them earn what they’ve been chasing is just really a cool thing. He’s an example of that. I got a lot of love for that young man. We lifted him and that organization up in prayer. Reached out to Sean McDermott to lend whatever assistance I could.”
Fans also appreciated the remarks from Tomlin.