Damar Hamlin: NFL VP insists there were no talks about resuming Bills-Bengals game

The NFL has clarified no talks were held about Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals stars warming up to continue playing the game after Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest.

The 24-year-old was given CPR on the field after collapsing following a tackle on Bengals’ Tee Higgins. Emotional teammates surrounded him and shielded him from public view before he was taken to hospital where he remains in a critical condition.

The game was suspended while he received emergency treatment on field and the NFL has denied reports there were discussions over restarting the Monday Night Football matchup. 

The NFL has clarified no talks were held about Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals stars warming up to continue playing the game after Damar Hamlin collapsed and went to hospital

ESPN reported on the MNF broadcast that the league initially told players they were being given five minutes to warm up before resuming the game amid the worrying scenes. 

‘I’m not sure where that came from,’ NFL Executive Vice President of football operations Troy Vincent said on a media conference call Tuesday morning.

‘Frankly, there was no time period for the players to get warmed up. 

NFL Executive Vice President of football operations Troy Vincent has clarified the NFL

‘Frankly, the only thing that we asked was that [referee] Shawn [Smith] communicate with both head coaches to make sure they had the proper time inside the locker room to discuss what they felt like was best.

‘So I’m not sure where that came from. Five-minute warmup never crossed my mind, personally. 

‘And I was the one… that was communicating with the Commissioner. We never, frankly, it never crossed our mind to talk about warming up to resume play. That’s ridiculous. That’s insensitive. And that’s not a place that we should ever be in.’ 

ESPN announcer Joe Buck said numerous times teams were handed five minutes to prepare while Hamlin was being attended to by medical staff. 

Teammates surrounded Hamlin and the game was postponed after he was taken to hospital

Bills head coach Sean McDermott and his Bengals counterpart Zac Taylor spoke on the sideline before both sets of players went to the locker room as the game was suspended.

The game was postponed 30 minutes after the medical emergency with the league’s slowness to react met with criticism on social media. 

‘The league can say whatever it wants to say about [playing the game]… a group of men locked arms on different sides of a sideline and said no we’re not,’ commentator Scott Van Pelt said on SportsCenter later on Monday night.

‘I think obviously the correct decision was made because the context became clear to everyone that this game could not be played right now.’