Speaker 1: All right, Welcome to Around the NFL. Dan Hans is
Speaker 1: here with Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler remotely. This is
Speaker 1: obviously our first time connecting with you guys since the
Speaker 1: horrible events of Monday night involving Damar Hamlin and um.
Speaker 1: We just wanted to talk to you and talk with
Speaker 1: the audience about it. And we're gonna have the great
Speaker 1: Cameron Wolf of NFL Network on and just a bit
Speaker 1: who's at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, getting the
Speaker 1: latest from him and his vibes at what it's like
Speaker 1: to be this close to the story of this magnitude.
Speaker 1: Greggy Uh and Mark, I'll start with you. Gregh. This
Speaker 1: has been obviously one of those stories that you never
Speaker 1: forget and we we've all been tracking it minute by minute,
Speaker 1: hoping for positive updates about tamar Um. How you doing.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's it's something that when we all watched it,
Speaker 1: I think everyone recognized immediately that never seen anything like
Speaker 1: this on a football field, that it was a life
Speaker 1: and death situation in any sort of precedent that you
Speaker 1: saw how teams were handling, how the NFL is gonna
Speaker 1: end up hand handling it, and everything is is different
Speaker 1: because tomorrow, Handlin's you know, young man fighting for his life,
Speaker 1: and we've been waiting, you know, to do this podcast,
Speaker 1: partly hoping, you know, seeing what the news is gonna be,
Speaker 1: and uh, it is encouraging. As we were about to
Speaker 1: start taping, the Bill sent out a release that said
Speaker 1: tomorrow remains in the i c U and critical condition,
Speaker 1: with signs of improvement noted yesterday and overnight. And yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll get into that with with Cameron Wolf who has
Speaker 1: more details and everything. But I do feel like when
Speaker 1: it comes to his health, and that's just been the
Speaker 1: focus here, like we're in a better place than we
Speaker 1: were Monday night. Yeah, I mean it's it's such a positive,
Speaker 1: uh in situation from a day ago, and I think that,
Speaker 1: you know, everything just was put on holding my my
Speaker 1: feeling watching it, Um was so surreal, and I you know,
Speaker 1: I have thought back even sort of as it was unfolding,
Speaker 1: and you could tell that it was just the length
Speaker 1: of time that they were on the field um attending
Speaker 1: to him that you're starting to think, yourself, this is unprecedented.
Speaker 1: I never watched anything like this happen in football. Been
Speaker 1: watching football sinceour and it just stood out as something
Speaker 1: completely different, where the game um just faded into the
Speaker 1: complete background, into the ether. And you know, this stuff
Speaker 1: that stood out to me was we have an idea
Speaker 1: of who, like Josh Allen is right, like he's this
Speaker 1: superstar athlete who does things that um, the human body
Speaker 1: just doesn't typically do. And then you're watching the other
Speaker 1: side of Josh Allen where like the look on his face,
Speaker 1: that just something that will stick with me, just the
Speaker 1: look on his face, and like you're realizing, wait a minute,
Speaker 1: these guys, UM they live together, they eat together, they
Speaker 1: spend all their time together. They know each other's personalities
Speaker 1: so well. There their brothers, they love each other and
Speaker 1: just like the few line of players watching that happen
Speaker 1: to another player probably just obviously dug so deep into
Speaker 1: their own internal world of what it means to go
Speaker 1: put your body on the line each day. And so,
Speaker 1: if anything, the thing I think that's come out of
Speaker 1: it for me is just seeing like the community of
Speaker 1: NFL players UM band together in such a way that
Speaker 1: is kind of rare, and like just the way the
Speaker 1: coaches handled it. I mean it was just um a
Speaker 1: very human event, and I thought it was handled by
Speaker 1: the both teams in the most um humane way possible.
Speaker 1: And I thought that was the most encouraging thing about it.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you brought that up about Josh Allen because
Speaker 1: I was going to do the same thing, Mark, like
Speaker 1: when they came back from the break, when it first
Speaker 1: happened on the on the tackle of Tee Higgins and
Speaker 1: you saw Josh Allen with his kind of hands over
Speaker 1: his mouth, obviously in a state of shock. We didn't
Speaker 1: know at the time, but I think obviously that was
Speaker 1: the moment when the CPR was going on and and
Speaker 1: all the life saving um medical techniques were being used
Speaker 1: to help Tomorrow Hamlin and uh, that's stuck with me.
Speaker 1: That will always stick with me. And and the NFL.
Speaker 1: I think part of what made it, you know, so
Speaker 1: shocking is the NFL doesn't stop. The NFL does not stop.
Speaker 1: We just went through a global pandemic um where you know,
Speaker 1: countless lives were lost and impacted, and the NFL found
Speaker 1: a way to keep going. Um. You know, you go back.
Speaker 1: For those of us that are older, you remember nine
Speaker 1: eleven and how the NFL that stopped the NFL for
Speaker 1: a week, um, and they had to recalibrate some things
Speaker 1: and that's the only other time where just the actions
Speaker 1: stopped and you could feel it. As we've covered the
Speaker 1: league now, um, all of us have been with it
Speaker 1: with the company for well over a decade. Like uh,
Speaker 1: the way um that everything halted UH this week, whether
Speaker 1: it was media availability, team practices, other kind of league
Speaker 1: announcements like the Pro Football Hall of Thames, UM, announcements
Speaker 1: about the upcoming vote for Canton, everything kind of just disappeared,
Speaker 1: and it just and the league went into lockdown mode.
Speaker 1: And that that in it in itself. As someone who's
Speaker 1: covered the league for a long time, it just hammered
Speaker 1: home how surreal everything was and it all came out
Speaker 1: of greggy Bills versus Bengals. This like Titanic matchup, the
Speaker 1: matchup of the year with everyone watching it did remind
Speaker 1: me of one of my earliest sports fans sports fan
Speaker 1: memories as being a nine year old kid watching uh
Speaker 1: the World Series between the A's and Giants and just
Speaker 1: in the um irony of all ironies, UH, the earthquake
Speaker 1: that shocked the central coast of California and killed a
Speaker 1: lot of people, injured a lot of people, and that
Speaker 1: shut down the World Series. All eyes were on the
Speaker 1: World Series that year when this mega event happened, and
Speaker 1: similarly here um, everyone was watching this game in a
Speaker 1: prime time between two of the best teams at football,
Speaker 1: and it just made it all the more surreal. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you you appreciate, um, the medical responders as we as
Speaker 1: we tape this Wednesday. I think the NFL teams are
Speaker 1: keeping DeMar in their minds and you can hear that
Speaker 1: in their press conferences, but they're also starting the process
Speaker 1: of moving forward with their week. Teams are practicing it's
Speaker 1: On Wednesday, Zach Taylor, the Bengals coach, spoke for the
Speaker 1: first time, and that's why that the medical responders were
Speaker 1: first on my mind. He he spoke really emotionally and um, well,
Speaker 1: just about his gratitude for them, how prepared they were,
Speaker 1: and how they've given Tamar Hamling like, um, the best
Speaker 1: possible chance, um to to get through this, and that
Speaker 1: the positive signs that we're seeing now we're all all
Speaker 1: started there like in the it a battle. And he
Speaker 1: he also spoke about Sean McDermott and in his leadership
Speaker 1: in that moment, and I think that was telling that
Speaker 1: you know, he said he learned who Sean McDermott really was,
Speaker 1: and listening to Zach Taylor, I really appreciated the way
Speaker 1: he spoke about it so clearly and openly today and
Speaker 1: we do have some of those comments about McDermott where
Speaker 1: he revealed a little more like how everything went down, Um,
Speaker 1: when Hamlin first collapsed, when I got over there, Uh,
Speaker 1: the first thing he said was I need to be
Speaker 1: the hospital of Tamar, and I shouldn't be coaching this game.
Speaker 1: And so that to me provides all the clarity because
Speaker 1: there were there was no unprecedented the world that gets
Speaker 1: thrown out a lot about this situation because that's what
Speaker 1: it is. But in that moment, he really showed who
Speaker 1: he was that that all his focus was just on
Speaker 1: Damar and being there for him, being their first family
Speaker 1: at the hospital. And and at that point, um, I
Speaker 1: think everybody everything trend in the direction of the trend
Speaker 1: and the right decisions from me there. But um, again
Speaker 1: just just uh the way that I really felt Sean
Speaker 1: McDermott led in that moment for his players. He was
Speaker 1: their first players. He processed the right way, which is
Speaker 1: incredibly difficult, and uh, it really helped us get to
Speaker 1: the solution that we needed to get to well. I
Speaker 1: mean you think also even before this incident, that what
Speaker 1: the Bills have been through this this season where they
Speaker 1: had that situation where they you know, couldn't play at home,
Speaker 1: they were snowed out, they were in Detroit for two weeks,
Speaker 1: and like that takes leadership, but this was next level.
Speaker 1: And I you know, we had a chance to talk
Speaker 1: to McDermott um early in his career, before the Bills
Speaker 1: became what they were, and I think we all we
Speaker 1: kind of all right awake, felt the connection to him
Speaker 1: and liked him because he just was, um, a real dude.
Speaker 1: And I I can only imagine that like if you're
Speaker 1: a Bills player, the way you feel about there's coaches
Speaker 1: all over the league where like players aren't connected to him.
Speaker 1: Sean mcdermot's completely different and in this situation where you
Speaker 1: have to make a choice one way or another, um,
Speaker 1: and he handled so perfectly and it was so organically
Speaker 1: and it came from who he was. And it tells
Speaker 1: me a lot about the Spills team. And I think that,
Speaker 1: you know, my hope for them. I'm sure it's going
Speaker 1: to be such a struggle and so odd to have
Speaker 1: to go play after all this, But um, if anything,
Speaker 1: like what we know about the Buffalo Bills is that
Speaker 1: it's it's probably brought them together in a way that
Speaker 1: few other teams could um say they've experienced. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: it's that is the kind of others the football story
Speaker 1: side of this as well as like what happens next,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna obviously what we do. We cover the league.
Speaker 1: Everyone that listens to the show knows Thursday is our
Speaker 1: preview episode, and it's just like we don't know yet.
Speaker 1: Nobody really knows because this is unprecedented, just like when
Speaker 1: everything went down on Monday night and there was confusion
Speaker 1: about is the game restarting? Like what's next? The people
Speaker 1: and that is building not knowing what was going on.
Speaker 1: Everything is this is uncharted territory. So um, it is
Speaker 1: going to be interesting to see how the NFL figures
Speaker 1: out in terms of the endings and with how this
Speaker 1: impacts maybe the playoffs and the scheduling. But all of
Speaker 1: that obviously remains on the back burner and we we
Speaker 1: find out and wait to find out and hopefully get
Speaker 1: good news about mar Hamlin, and you just wonder how
Speaker 1: the NFL will go about, um figuring out how to
Speaker 1: take the next step while also monitoring what's obviously still
Speaker 1: a very fluid situation UM at the University of Cincinnati
Speaker 1: Medical Center. Yeah, it's been interesting to hear a couple
Speaker 1: of the ex players talk about the media just how
Speaker 1: the next snap of football is just gonna be heavy.
Speaker 1: You know, yeah they I so. I mean, the whole
Speaker 1: thing was so surreal. On Monday night, I go through
Speaker 1: my my routine throughout the day Monday in terms of
Speaker 1: writing the Power Rankings column. Then I'm downstairs and I'm
Speaker 1: alone and I'm wrapping up Power Rankings as I'm watching
Speaker 1: the first quarter of Monday night football business as usual.
Speaker 1: It just happened to be the biggest game of the year.
Speaker 1: And you know, when this went down, and immediately it
Speaker 1: just obviously felt different and was scary, and you all,
Speaker 1: you get thrown out of the football side of it.
Speaker 1: I just I went upstairs and I had my iPad
Speaker 1: and I called my wife over My kids were sitting
Speaker 1: on the couch luckily not watching the game UM, and
Speaker 1: showed it to her and like, you know, just like
Speaker 1: see her reaction and and you know, the the outpouring
Speaker 1: obviously of concern and support has been u uh, pretty amazing,
Speaker 1: but again surreal because we're we're in especially us what
Speaker 1: we do, We're in this bubble, this NFL bubble, and
Speaker 1: we're just rolling through another long season, and for this
Speaker 1: to happen in week seventeen, it's been so jarring, like mentally,
Speaker 1: um and obviously you can't even imagine where the players
Speaker 1: and the Bengals are preparing to play, and obviously Tee
Speaker 1: Higgins involved directly with the play has been um going
Speaker 1: through some things. Um uh. But the Bills, I mean
Speaker 1: the Bills if if they're if the weeks on the schedule,
Speaker 1: they have to play football. So it's man, ma'm man,
Speaker 1: this has been crazy, and I hope this guy is okay.
Speaker 1: I think we're all you know, obviously speak for everybody
Speaker 1: on that this. We need a good outcome on this one.
Speaker 1: It's like unfortunately, like is a life and death situation
Speaker 1: which obviously is bigger than football, and like we've we've
Speaker 1: experienced a life and death situation with their great friend Chris,
Speaker 1: and this is like a professional thing, but it does
Speaker 1: have you step back at the moment, I guess, and
Speaker 1: just kind of realized like what matters and and some
Speaker 1: of the UM videos of Damar Hamlin talking about like
Speaker 1: cherishing life and learning about demor. Hamlin actually has been
Speaker 1: a positive about this, and we'll talk about that with
Speaker 1: with Cameron Wolfe. But just like that in the moment too,
Speaker 1: I don't know, they think about what what all matters here,
Speaker 1: and suddenly a lot of things don't seem as important,
Speaker 1: like the Seahawks, UM, you know, having to play earlier
Speaker 1: in the day than the Lions when the Lions might
Speaker 1: be eliminated sometimes somehow, you know, suddenly feels like a
Speaker 1: very like asinine thing to be arguing about. And I
Speaker 1: think we're all like forever impacted obviously by UM Chris
Speaker 1: and and and how his life was cut short in
Speaker 1: such a tragic and unfair way, and it did, it
Speaker 1: did summon memories of that for me also just because
Speaker 1: in addition to how sad that ending was the fact
Speaker 1: that it happened that Super Bowl weekend and how surreal
Speaker 1: that was, and even to the point of us doing
Speaker 1: instead of a super Bowl recap show, we did an
Speaker 1: episode just talking about Chris two days after he passed.
Speaker 1: UM again, like the real world and life UM all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, like showing how small all this other
Speaker 1: stuff is uh man, Okay, you know we were gonna
Speaker 1: talk to that Monday night recap with when Nick was
Speaker 1: text and he, as you guys know, he was gonna
Speaker 1: go gonna go to that game, ended up not not
Speaker 1: going because he thought it was going to be cold
Speaker 1: and then he got called called the pond. So we'll well,
Speaker 1: hopefully have Nick on later this this season for a
Speaker 1: Bengals playoff game, which we'll have a different feel and
Speaker 1: hopefully be a great celebration. The whole season has a
Speaker 1: different feel now and now let's uh without further ado.
Speaker 1: We did speak with NFL Networks Cameron Wolf, who has
Speaker 1: been boots on the ground in Cincinnati since uh this
Speaker 1: went down. Greg and I had this conversation um with Cameron.
Speaker 1: So um listening and here we go. All right, now
Speaker 1: we have a guest joining us. He has been all
Speaker 1: over the coverage of damorrow hamlet situation. He is NFL
Speaker 1: Networks Cameron Wolf, joining us from uh well, a car
Speaker 1: near the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Cam, welcome back
Speaker 1: to around the NFL. How are you doing, buddy. It's
Speaker 1: been I'm sure a pretty hectic forty eight hours. Yeah,
Speaker 1: manager man definitely been hectic, really, thirty six hours of
Speaker 1: NonStop attention on tomorrow Hamlin's health and where his recovery is.
Speaker 1: So just trying to do our best job, me and
Speaker 1: my producer Laura jack Nick, trying to figure out how
Speaker 1: we can tell this story and give everybody the updates
Speaker 1: they need. Yeah, you've done an amazing job. I've seen
Speaker 1: how hard you've been working. Just kind of where we
Speaker 1: stand now and we're talking right afternoon East Coast time
Speaker 1: on Wednesday. Just give us kind of an update of
Speaker 1: how DeMar Hamlin's doing the most that you know at
Speaker 1: this hour. Yeah, we're here outside the hospital where we're
Speaker 1: really getting an hour to our update on how Demor
Speaker 1: Hamlet is doing. It's really small updates, but as we know,
Speaker 1: we're trying to get any context on how he's doing.
Speaker 1: And so the most recent one is Wednesday morning to
Speaker 1: spoke with his family spokesperson Jordan Rooney, who told us
Speaker 1: essentially that things are moving in a positive direction. And
Speaker 1: that's the quote that I think sums up really the
Speaker 1: last twelve hours of damorrow. Hamblin's process a small step,
Speaker 1: but a stump step nonetheless, and he remains a critical condition.
Speaker 1: He has sedated UM. He remains in the I see you,
Speaker 1: the intensive care unit UM, but he has received an
Speaker 1: improvement and his breathing in particular UM with how he's
Speaker 1: working for the ventilator. And so when I say that
Speaker 1: he was using a of the ventilator to brief for
Speaker 1: him when he first arrived. Now it's fift and so
Speaker 1: he's starting to breathe a little bit more by on
Speaker 1: his own. But they still want to continue to have
Speaker 1: him progress UM to where he can fully breathe on
Speaker 1: his own. And so that's what they're watching now. They're
Speaker 1: watching his lungs and trying to get those recovered UM
Speaker 1: and reaching out to the hospital. They have no information
Speaker 1: right now they're able to share, but you know, we're
Speaker 1: keeping in touch with them to see UM where they are,
Speaker 1: and so just reaching out to his family, reaching out
Speaker 1: to UM the hospital and right now we're all in
Speaker 1: a waiting game and to get what we hope is
Speaker 1: eventually that good news that his status is upgrade. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's you know, obviously extremely fortunate. As you've learned
Speaker 1: more about the story and how the mechanisms of the
Speaker 1: NFL machine works in terms of how they handle an
Speaker 1: emergency incident. Jordan Rodrigue, The Athletic wrote a good piece
Speaker 1: outlining how it works, the fact that University of Cincinnati
Speaker 1: is a Level one trauma center, which it appears like
Speaker 1: he is getting, um, the the best type of medical attention.
Speaker 1: Uh he could get. Right now, what is the scene
Speaker 1: in or around the hospital itself for the medical center? UM,
Speaker 1: I imagine obviously a strong media presence, But do you
Speaker 1: have a lot of uh just onlookers or people you know,
Speaker 1: camped out front? Like what is the vibe there? Yeah,
Speaker 1: probably about thirty to forty media cameras at the peak
Speaker 1: at times, and you have people driving around who obviously
Speaker 1: look at us doing TV and wondering what's going on
Speaker 1: in other people who stopped by and say, hey, we're
Speaker 1: praying for him. Um, you know they know what the
Speaker 1: story is. Half of the city, the west side of
Speaker 1: the city was lit up blue um last night for
Speaker 1: Damar Hamlin. And you know there was a visual out
Speaker 1: here right on the corner of the hospital about a
Speaker 1: blockdown with about forty to fifty people at eight pm
Speaker 1: and about an hour that was literally a day twenty
Speaker 1: four hours after um. You know, Damar Hamlin suffered at
Speaker 1: the cardiac arrest on that Monday night football game, and
Speaker 1: so players, you know, the fans, they're essentially we're saying,
Speaker 1: they wanted to support tomorrow, pray fir them. They were
Speaker 1: giving motivational messages, they were singing amazing Grace and the family, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, saw all the support they've they've got, whether
Speaker 1: it be the fans outside of the building, whether it
Speaker 1: be the coaches and players and gms who have constantly
Speaker 1: given them support. I know, talking with his uncle, he
Speaker 1: mentioned just how powerful it was for a family, for
Speaker 1: the family to see the entire Bills team around him
Speaker 1: showing the motion. Seeing that because you know, we know
Speaker 1: the NFL is a game, but and and some people
Speaker 1: know it's a brotherhood, but you don't usually get to
Speaker 1: see that element of it, you know, the true love
Speaker 1: and care that these people have for their brother and so, UM,
Speaker 1: the family definitely appreciates and feels the support, and right
Speaker 1: now they're encouraged. UM, but it's still very much a
Speaker 1: waiting game. Yeah. I heard your report this morning, UM
Speaker 1: and your your interview with the with his his friend
Speaker 1: Jordan's saying, you know that the one thing they didn't
Speaker 1: want was anyone throwing any negativity tee Higgins way because
Speaker 1: they said that was a normal football play and they
Speaker 1: actually have a background with te Higgins going going back,
Speaker 1: way back, and I guess I'm curious along that lines, like,
Speaker 1: have you we heard initially that some Bills players were
Speaker 1: staying back in Cincinnati? Um, do you know if if
Speaker 1: if some are still there? Have you seen players around?
Speaker 1: And then just because you know, I've been watching you
Speaker 1: on TV and those have to be short parts off,
Speaker 1: if you have anything just on what you're last thirty
Speaker 1: six hours, what what you've seen going back to Monday
Speaker 1: night at the stadium, or any anything else in terms
Speaker 1: of things that you've been able to see and what
Speaker 1: that experience has been like from from the player's point
Speaker 1: of view and everything that's happened. Yeah, Gregg, first, I'll
Speaker 1: start with te Higgins because I think it was good
Speaker 1: for the family to come out and express uh their
Speaker 1: feelings there. That was something that was really the family initiated.
Speaker 1: They wanted to make clear that they wanted to stop
Speaker 1: the criticism for tagginst to stop and that it was
Speaker 1: not his fault. And I think that's important because I
Speaker 1: was leaving UM the stadium on Monday, and I saw
Speaker 1: Tee Higgins with his mom Are who had an arm
Speaker 1: wrapped around him, and he was emotional. And so naturally,
Speaker 1: whether it's right or wrong, if you're involved in a
Speaker 1: player that has a player injury, you're gonna blame yourself.
Speaker 1: And it appeared that T was having some emotional periods there.
Speaker 1: And so we've heard some some wild comments on on
Speaker 1: on places about Tea and just kind of how uh
Speaker 1: he is at that point, and I think the family
Speaker 1: wanted to be clear that they did not they did
Speaker 1: not support any criticism for him. And so the Bengals
Speaker 1: returned to work today and they'll go through their walk
Speaker 1: through the Wednesday afternoon, and eventually we will hear from T.
Speaker 1: But right now they are dealing with the emotional trauma
Speaker 1: just like many of us are, Like the Bills are
Speaker 1: trying to continue their week, and so that that's what
Speaker 1: I want to say in that respect, and in regards
Speaker 1: to really the last thirty six hours, it's been a
Speaker 1: heavy story. Just being real, like a lot of our
Speaker 1: jobs as reporters is to remove our emotions and tell
Speaker 1: the story and give people the updates um that they
Speaker 1: need to hear. UM. But you just kind of see
Speaker 1: how it impacts everyone. I've seen some of the Bills
Speaker 1: players faces and their reactions. I've seen the Bengals reactions.
Speaker 1: I've seen fans here, um. And you see some of
Speaker 1: the family members that I've met over the last you know,
Speaker 1: twelve eighteen hours, and Garson's uncle and the family friend
Speaker 1: who's a spokes to person. Those people are trying to
Speaker 1: give you clear answers. But you can tell that this
Speaker 1: is not easy. And so that's the biggest thing that
Speaker 1: I think, um, I may not have you know, been
Speaker 1: able to share fully on NFL network because you're trying
Speaker 1: to tell the facts, is that the emotions um of
Speaker 1: this thing are are hard to manage, and so um,
Speaker 1: you know, just kind of going through this process, I
Speaker 1: think it's it's really showed me the humanity of people, um,
Speaker 1: you know it, but just kind of see the support.
Speaker 1: You know, go fund you page has over six million
Speaker 1: dollars that he's received really over the last twenty four
Speaker 1: hours of people that don't know this man. For the
Speaker 1: most part, Um, you have, uh, people who come up
Speaker 1: in strangers, as the families told me, who paid for
Speaker 1: food for them every day since they've been here. Jeff Rubies,
Speaker 1: which is a steakhouse out here in Cincinnati, is catering
Speaker 1: the family dinner um, you know, uh tonight. And I
Speaker 1: know because I went to Jeff Rubies last night. Jeff
Speaker 1: Rubies is expensive, and so they're they're definitely um showing
Speaker 1: as much love and support. And I think everybody badly
Speaker 1: across the NFL and across America and particularly here in
Speaker 1: Cincinnati are just waiting for that positive news that atmar
Speaker 1: Hamlin is Okay. Yeah, that's really well said, Kim. And
Speaker 1: I think a story that's this big, um, you know,
Speaker 1: there's always gonna be some darkness in it, whether it's
Speaker 1: people with their phony go fund me or somebody that
Speaker 1: might be coming after Tee Higgins on social media. All
Speaker 1: that's absurd. And I like that the family their use
Speaker 1: of the word frustrated that anybody would even think to
Speaker 1: do that. But I think like what's really come out
Speaker 1: in these situations is like the humanity and the love
Speaker 1: and just the public outpouring of the support that you're
Speaker 1: talking about there. This has been kind of I don't know,
Speaker 1: it's in a really trying time from a human standpoint,
Speaker 1: it kind of lifts your spirits to see um Cincinnati
Speaker 1: lit up and blew on a Monday night game that's
Speaker 1: started with the Bills as the enemy, and this idea
Speaker 1: that the a f C could come down to this game.
Speaker 1: The fact that that all kind of just disappear eared
Speaker 1: and it became about this one player, um and and
Speaker 1: this one person who is in this fight for his life.
Speaker 1: It's it's been jarring. I know, I can. I know
Speaker 1: you have a different background than Greg and I in
Speaker 1: terms of your media training and journalism path, but it
Speaker 1: is jarring when we like for me, for instance, I
Speaker 1: got into sports because like that was where I felt
Speaker 1: comfortable and what was I wanted to do something fun
Speaker 1: in my life for a career path. And then something
Speaker 1: like this comes along and it's like the real world
Speaker 1: intercepts and it does feel it could be jarring. And
Speaker 1: I just want to thank you and everyone that's been
Speaker 1: covering this story, uh for handling it because it can't
Speaker 1: be easy. I appreciate you saying that it's not, but
Speaker 1: I think you know, we've got to tell the story right,
Speaker 1: you know. I think our job as journalists are always
Speaker 1: being storytellers, no matter if the story is what we
Speaker 1: love to cover, which was at thirty five Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: Josh Allen game, which I went there Monday hoping to
Speaker 1: see to a player fighting for his life. I think regardless, UM,
Speaker 1: we're here on the ground to tell whatever the story is,
Speaker 1: and for for this weekend, it happened to be the
Speaker 1: scariest story we've had all year, in quite some time
Speaker 1: in the NFL. And so, UM, you know, I think
Speaker 1: that we have to process that this is a game
Speaker 1: we love, but there's also risks and dangers that come
Speaker 1: with it, and this is one of it. And so
Speaker 1: I think that you know, the whole league. I've received
Speaker 1: so many text message and calls from people who are
Speaker 1: not related to the Bills, the Bengals or Damar just
Speaker 1: checking in, and so the whole league is literally, um
Speaker 1: watching this situation and really caring for for this man. Um.
Speaker 1: And I just think that that's one thing that has
Speaker 1: been a positive through the light. You know. The uncle
Speaker 1: mentioned this to me as well. It's just you know,
Speaker 1: you're seeing just how much the NFL is a community,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's not just Bills fans, it's not
Speaker 1: just Damar Hambling fans, it's everyone. And UM, I think
Speaker 1: that you know, as we move forward through this process,
Speaker 1: I think Damar, and this is something that the family
Speaker 1: has really wanted to wanted to express, is that Damar,
Speaker 1: when he hopefully wakes up and it is back to
Speaker 1: a point where he can understand what's going on, will
Speaker 1: will be overwhelmed with just the support that he's received throughout.
Speaker 1: I think his uncle had a great quote to me, said,
Speaker 1: a lot a lot of times, we don't get to
Speaker 1: see how people how much people love us when we're
Speaker 1: still alive. And now Damar has a chance to fight
Speaker 1: through this and get a chance to see just how
Speaker 1: much from people he may have known that loved him
Speaker 1: and people who may not have known at all. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, sometimes we wish it didn't take this, but
Speaker 1: it also, you know, it's a a reminder of just
Speaker 1: how much instances can impact people. And so you know,
Speaker 1: you mentioned just sort of the city. I was in
Speaker 1: Uber last night and I was talking on the phone
Speaker 1: with someone and the Uber driver said, man, I've been
Speaker 1: praying for that kid for three hours, and uh, it
Speaker 1: just hit me. I'm like, man, um, this story is
Speaker 1: really touched everyone. So yeah, I appreciate you. Uh, Cam
Speaker 1: the last thing and if you got to go just
Speaker 1: let us know, and um, I just wanted, I guess
Speaker 1: because I've learned about Tomorrow Hambling a little bit, you know,
Speaker 1: over the last two days. It wasn't you know, I
Speaker 1: wasn't familiar with this story and just like before we
Speaker 1: let you go, I guess just curious of anything you
Speaker 1: learned about Tamar Hamlin. What what you knew about him before,
Speaker 1: even uh you know, as a players, as a man
Speaker 1: and everything before. This is getting to know who he
Speaker 1: is a little bit. Now, that's a great question. I
Speaker 1: was talking to a buddy about this. Tomorrow AMML has
Speaker 1: been the start and safety for the number one team
Speaker 1: in the a f C for most of the year,
Speaker 1: and I'd say probably football didn't know who his name
Speaker 1: was before this week, and so um that's the reality
Speaker 1: of like so many players in this league. But I
Speaker 1: guarantee you that more people know his name and the
Speaker 1: story now than than had ever had. And so, you know,
Speaker 1: I was learning about Damar throughout this process. I've really
Speaker 1: just learned how much he is a family loving person. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, he has a loving set of parents who
Speaker 1: who are super supportive of him, super strong. He has
Speaker 1: a little brother, seven year old Demere who is really
Speaker 1: his world. He's his role model there. And it really
Speaker 1: hit me when I was talking to his uncle that
Speaker 1: his little brother, Demir, who seven, was watching this game
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh with the family and he was the first one,
Speaker 1: the little brother, to see his big brother hurt on
Speaker 1: the field. And he started crying, and then the uncle
Speaker 1: started to uh console and they started to console each
Speaker 1: other essentially, and they that's when they decided to pack
Speaker 1: up the two cars after the game was canceled and
Speaker 1: drive up to the hospital where they've been since. And
Speaker 1: so I've learned just how much the family has impacted him,
Speaker 1: but then also just how he loves to give back,
Speaker 1: you know. Um, you know, he goes to pee wee
Speaker 1: games and random cities just to go hang with kids.
Speaker 1: You know, that's that's his his love that he likes
Speaker 1: to do in the offseason. He's a guy who, um
Speaker 1: we know about his toy drive. He has had a
Speaker 1: mission to give back to his communities, and now he
Speaker 1: has a chance to do so with over six million
Speaker 1: dollars um of money, you know, to help him medically,
Speaker 1: but also to help people there. Um. You know, you've
Speaker 1: learned just how much Um, He's a fun loving dude.
Speaker 1: You know. I've talked to a couple of players and
Speaker 1: coaches who the first thing they mentioned to me about
Speaker 1: Damar is man, every time I see Demorrow laugh, he
Speaker 1: makes people laugh, like and he's like, you know you
Speaker 1: hear that and you're like, oh, what he was like, No, man,
Speaker 1: I can tell you some of the jokes Tomorrow told me,
Speaker 1: whether whether whether they're they're good to share or not.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, Marrow would make you laugh even if
Speaker 1: you're the first first time you met him. And so
Speaker 1: you know, these are some of the things that I've
Speaker 1: learned about him as a person. And just being real,
Speaker 1: I've never met DeMar Handling before, like one on one setting,
Speaker 1: and I've spent the last thirty six hours sharing your
Speaker 1: story and I can't wait. I can't wait. I was
Speaker 1: just telling my producer, UM, two moments I can't wait
Speaker 1: for is the moment that, um, you I get to
Speaker 1: meet DeMar for the first time and and and talk
Speaker 1: with him hopefully and be able to uh, you know,
Speaker 1: get insight on how he's reacting to everybody else's spirit
Speaker 1: and in that moment where Damar joins his team again,
Speaker 1: whether as a player, even if he's just at the stadium, UM,
Speaker 1: soaking it in and just kind of seeing that emotion
Speaker 1: UM that I'm sure Bills fans builds players and Bills
Speaker 1: coaches will have surrounding him. Um. Those are the moments
Speaker 1: we have to look forward to. As of now, we
Speaker 1: don't have any set timetable and when we'll get those moments, UM,
Speaker 1: but I choose to as we continue to work those stories,
Speaker 1: think about those moments UM as we you know, wait
Speaker 1: for more and more information. Absolutely, Kim, that's a great
Speaker 1: way to put it. And we look forward to that
Speaker 1: situation unfolding as well. And I did you mentioned the family, um,
Speaker 1: and the nephew when he found out there was just
Speaker 1: something that kind of hit me emotionally when it comes
Speaker 1: to family that they got in the car they drive
Speaker 1: three miles through what felt like a hurricane according to
Speaker 1: the uncle. Yeah, to get to uh their guy and
Speaker 1: be there to support him. Cam, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for joining us foul Cam on NFL Network on Twitter
Speaker 1: at Cameron Wolf and keep keep up the good work.
Speaker 1: And I hope you get some rest down the line
Speaker 1: when we get good news on what's happening inside that building.
Speaker 1: Thank you appreciates there he goes Cameron Wolf and uh,
Speaker 1: that was great. It was great to hear from Cam
Speaker 1: and like Greg, you know before we say goodbye. Um,
Speaker 1: it is again like a very human story. And even
Speaker 1: um a colleague like Cam I camped out there. You
Speaker 1: could see how this story has affected him on a
Speaker 1: personal level, especially the more you learn about Tomorrow Hamilin
Speaker 1: and who the who this guy is. So just hearing
Speaker 1: from Cam, I could tell that this isn't just a
Speaker 1: typical story for him to cover. Yeah, I think everyone
Speaker 1: wants to do something, and you know, of the things
Speaker 1: he did there, which I think is good to do,
Speaker 1: is put put that pot, you know, you put that
Speaker 1: positive energy out into the world. But on a more
Speaker 1: practical level, he's doing something in in reporting and so yeah,
Speaker 1: compartmentalizing that while while also being a human. Uh, he's
Speaker 1: one of our best. So I'm not surprised he's he's
Speaker 1: doing it. And that's like we'll be watching him, you know,
Speaker 1: like him and and and Ben Baby has been doing
Speaker 1: a good job over ESPN everyone reporting this story, Like, well,
Speaker 1: we'll be watching them, hoping open for the good news
Speaker 1: as soon as we can for sure. Um, okay, so
Speaker 1: we set here obviously from and around the NFL standpoint, UM,
Speaker 1: like everyone else, will be tracking the stories that goes
Speaker 1: along and get UM back with updates when when they come.
Speaker 1: We have, of course like kind of spinning forward because
Speaker 1: the NFL, and that's a whole other story around this,
Speaker 1: like what happens next for the NFL. But as of
Speaker 1: right now, Week eighteen is on as scheduled, and you'll
Speaker 1: hear from us again UM on Thursday, UH, and we'll
Speaker 1: we'll take a look back at what's going on in
Speaker 1: the NFL. But obviously this everything kind of has taken
Speaker 1: a back seat right now to what's happening around the
Speaker 1: Bills and tomar Hamlin and UM, what's the next step
Speaker 1: for him? So for Mark Sessler UH and Greggy and
Speaker 1: Grave Digger behind the virtual glass, we will be back
Speaker 1: in touch with you guys soon. Until then, he the
Speaker 1: call