Sunday night was an emotional one for the Buffalo Bills.
It marked the first time that safety Damar Hamlin returned to the Cincinnati Bengals’ home field since his scary cardiac arrest last January. Hamlin didn’t play and has understandably featured in little action this year as he gradually works his way back in. But his on-field collapse remains one of the more harrowing moments in NFL history. As such, NBC’s Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth took some time to discuss the emotional gravitas of Hamlin’s injury and return to the NFL during the game. There was just one itsy-bitsy problem.
The network’s cameras probably couldn’t have a picked more awkward time to cut to Hamlin on Buffalo’s sideline as he picked his teeth. I’m almost stunned they showed Hamlin in this unflattering position at all:
absolutely losing my mind at Collinsworth and Tirico putting on serious voice to discuss Damar Hamlin's injury while the live sideline cam shows him picking his teeth, then eating the offending morsel pic.twitter.com/CVFGqJ8SwA
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) November 6, 2023
I know the folks at NBC can’t predict what Hamlin or any player on the sideline will do at any given moment. But man, I don’t know. If we’re going to have a serious discussion about someone’s life-threatening injury from football on live national television, perhaps we should ensure we don’t show them from a compromised angle.