NFL player suffered cardiac arrest and is in critical condition

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, 24, is in critical condition after collapsing on the field on Monday night during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Here's what we know:

What happened: Moments after getting up from an open field tackle on Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, Hamlin fell on his back.

Within 10 seconds, Bills team trainers were treating the player. An ambulance was brought onto the field in under five minutes, footage shows, and Hamlin received CPR, according to an ESPN broadcast. He was then taken to hospital.

Hamlin's status: The player suffered a cardiac arrest following the hit from the tackle, and his heartbeat was restored on the field, the Bills said in a statement on Twitter early Tuesday.

Hamlin was transferred to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for further testing and treatment, where he is now sedated, the Bills added.

The game: Play was suspended at 5:58 of the first quarter, then the game was officially postponed. The NFL said more details on next steps would come at an "appropriate time," adding that Hamlin's wellbeing was the priority.

The team: Some of Hamlin’s teammates stayed in Cincinnati while the rest of the team travels back to Buffalo Tuesday morning. Buffalo is in New York state, near the US-Canada border.

Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs arrived at the hospital where Hamlin was being treated late Monday night, ESPN’s broadcast showed.

A bit about Hamlin: The 24-year-old Pennsylvania native joined the Bills in 2021 as a sixth-round draft pick from the University of Pittsburgh. He has played every game this season.

According to his Pittsburgh Panthers player bio, he was redshirted — meaning he sat out games while remaining on the team — in 2016 due to injury. The NFL site added that he also missed time due to injuries in 2017 and 2019.

Former NFL player Ephraim Salaam said he believes the game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills was postponed Monday largely because players on both teams were emotionally distraught by Damar Hamlin's collapse.

“You could see that they were visibly bothered by what was going on on both teams. And I believe it was that reaction from the players that spurred others to realize that this game couldn’t possibly go on,” Salaam told CNN’s John Berman early Tuesday.

“The type of trauma and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) that comes with watching one of your brothers go down like this and fight for his life live on television. Those are the types of things that you just can't shake off in 20 minutes and get back to playing.”

Photos from the game show players on the field crying and taking a knee in prayer for Hamlin after his sudden collapse at the Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.

Salaam noted the game’s postponement speaks to the importance of players’ physical and mental health.

“It is not just about the physical injuries we witness. It is about the mental health. Dealing with the trauma after witnessing something like the Hamlin injury,” Salaam said.

Hamlin, a 24-year-old safety for the Bills, suffered a cardiac arrest moments after tackling Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. He remains in critical condition as of early Tuesday morning at a Cincinnati hospital.

Bob Costas, a CNN contributor and former NBC sportscaster, agreed with the NFL’s move to postpone Monday night’s game following Damar Hamlin’s sudden collapse on the field.

The game could potentially be canceled altogether or be played later, which may cause a scheduling problem in regard to the other games, Costas explained.

Costas noted the scheduling issue is insignificant given Hamlin’s current critical condition.

Hamlin, 24, was playing as a safety for the Buffalo Bills on Monday night when he collapsed on his back during the first quarter seconds after an open field tackle of Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. 

After the game was postponed, Costas explained that if the game is not replayed, some attendees’ tickets may be refunded.

Costas noted that the game’s suspension was for both humane reasons as well as optics.

Former NFL player Coy Wire said he felt physically ill when he saw Damar Hamlin collapse on the field Monday night.

“Nausea was going to my guts. My heart is still racing. It hits home for me. I played six of my seasons in Buffalo as a safety, same position as Damar,” Wire told CNN’s Laura Coates on Monday night.

Wire, who played 10 seasons in the NFL and is currently a CNN sports anchor, recalled similar instances he witnessed throughout his career where players were injured.

"Two, it’s a reminder that there is progress being made. All the talks about players’ safety. All the lives that have been lost. All the lives that have been altered from players who have played this game. Perhaps they are not in vain."

Health impact: The NFL has faced intense scrutiny over the way it handles players’ health, especially for its concussion protocols. The sport’s potential danger to players’ physical health has led to a participation decline among children whose parents are concerned about head injuries and the long-term effects of the intense physical contact.

Wire added that NFL’s pause of the game Monday night shows there has been a change, which could lead to a “trickle-down effect.”

“Player safety, our personal health, is now more important than it used to be,” he said. “That’s going to be important to the college level. That’s going to be specifically important to the high school and the youth levels.”

At an open press call late Monday night, NFL leaders shared details on their decision-making process after Damar Hamlin's mid-game collapse.

"Once the player was down, game stopped" and a pre-planned emergency action plan went into effect, said Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations.

"Obviously we saw the coaches, players, and those who tuned into the game all traumatized."

Vincent, a former NFL cornerback, added that he had no thoughts at the moment about the competition, saying: "Nothing else mattered but the care of Damar."

Dawn Aponte, the NFL's chief football administrative officer, said the league was in "constant communication with both teams," and their decisions were guided by medical advice.

The Buffalo Bills, Hamlin's team, is returning to Buffalo Tuesday morning, though a handful of players would stay behind, the NFL said. They added that next steps regarding the game would come "at an appropriate time," but the priority was Hamlin's wellbeing.

Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications, said the league does not have an update on Hamlin’s condition beyond what was released earlier. The NFL's initial statement had said Hamlin was in critical condition at the hospital.