There was NO warmup talk to resume play between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals after Damar Hamlin collapsed, the NFL’s vice president insisted – as he blasted five-minute preparation reports as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘insensitive’
The NFL has made it clear that no talks have been held about Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals stars warming up to resume play 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 publicly defended him before he was taken to hospital where he remains in a critical condition.
The game was suspended while he received emergency treatment on the field and the NFL denied reports that there were discussions about restarting the Monday Night Football matchup.
The NFL has clarified that no talks have been held about Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals stars warming up to resume play after Damar Hamlin collapsed and went to the hospital
ESPN reported on the MNF broadcast that the league initially told players they were being given five minutes to warm up before resuming play amid stressful scenes.
‘I’m not sure where that came from,’ NFL Executive Vice President of football operations Troy Vincent said in a media conference call Tuesday morning.
‘Honestly, there is no time for the players to warm up.
‘Honestly, that’s the only thing we’ve ever asked [referee] Shawn [Smith] talk to both head coaches to make sure they have the right amount of time in the locker room to discuss what they think is best.
‘So I’m not sure where that came from. A five-minute warmup never crossed my mind, personally. And I was the one… that was communicating with the Commissioner. We didn’t, to be honest, it didn’t occur to us to talk about warming up to continue playing. that’s ridiculous. That’s insensitive. And that’s not a place we should go.’
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