INDIANAPOLIS — It would be a fairytale ending if Damar Hamlin is eventually able to make it back onto the football field, but Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane isn’t able to say if that will be the case.
Beane spoke to reporters — including PSN — Monday on the first day of the 2023 NFL Combine, and he gave an update on the Bills safety and former Pitt star.
“We’ll continue to support Damar through this whole thing, and I would love to give the storybook ending that he’s definitely going to play, but we just don’t know that yet,” Beane said. “If he does, we’ll all be very happy for him.”
Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field at Paycor Stadium on Monday, Jan. 2. He was rushed to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for treatment and spent a week being treated in Cincinnati before being transferred back to Buffalo to further recover.
Beane did say that while Hamlin continues to undergo testing from several specialists, he’s doing well. But he’s not done.
“I think he’s got two or three more that he’s gotta see in various parts of the country,” Beane said. “Our medical — we’ve had one or two guys traveling with him to see these specialists because it will be a decision for Damar, but it will also be a decision for us. We want to make sure that we’re hearing everything.”
Aside from meeting with medical specialists, Hamlin has attended a few sporting events — including the NFL Honors event and a Pitt basketball game earlier this month — and Beane likened him to ‘America’s Guest’ at the moment. But of course, he’s just happy that everyone is able to smile about the situation.
Beane knows that Hamlin’s end goal is to get back onto the football field, and while that future is uncertain as the Bills and medical professionals continue to determine whether it will be possible (as both sides want to be in sync regarding the decision), it’s a situation that Beane hopes can have a storybook ending.
“If he’s able to get full clearance and he feels he’s ready to do it, that’s another big smile of a story,” Beane said. “Not that he just got his life back, but he would have his football career back and have an opportunity to go out there and play.”
Hamlin recorded 91 tackles (63 solo), six tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two pass breakups and a forced fumble in 15 games during the 2022 season — cementing a place as a starter in the Bills’ secondary.
In five seasons at Pitt, he recorded 275 tackles (185 solo), 10 tackles for loss, six interceptions, 21 pass breakups and a fumble recovery.
