Anyone familiar with sports, the military or pretty much any kind of team endeavor is familiar with these three words: “Next man up.”
The idiom is a close cousin to “The show must go on” and “You gotta play hurt.”
On Monday we were all reminded that there are limits to the culture of risk-taking and “gutting it out,” especially when we’re talking about entertainment. And football, even at its highest level, is still ultimately entertainment.
Regardless how much money is involved and how fanatical the fans are, it’s still a game.
Yes, normally, it’s much more than that to the players. It’s their profession and their livelihood.
It’s also a fraternity.
That was never more evident than when Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field during Buffalo’s game at Cincinnati. As of Tuesday night, he was still in critical condition in a Cincinnati hospital.
When you play on Monday night the rest of the league is watching. Social media erupted quickly with support for Hamlin, especially from NFL players and alumni.
And just from the body language of the players on both teams, it quickly became apparent that this was one show that could not go on.
One of the things that stands out most to me was how normal the play looked on TV. Even for the first couple of seconds after Hamlin tackled Bengals receiver Tee
Higgins, Hamlin appeared to be moving normally before he fell to the turf.
Then, the sense of urgency of medical personnel and concern displayed by everyone else on the screen showed that this was anything but routine.
“Immediately, my player hat went on,” said retired defensive back Troy Vincent, who is now an NFL vice president. “How do you resume play after you’ve seen such a traumatic event occur in front of you in real time?”
And how could any of us expect them to continue? Once again, we are reminded that even elite athletes who are as courageous as they are skilled are not unbreakable pieces on a chessboard.
“This isn’t about a football player. This is about a human,” said Ryan Clark, another retired defensive back who is now an analyst for ESPN. “The next time we get upset at our favorite fantasy player … (players) get to make all of this money … tonight Damar Hamlin’s dream became a nightmare.”
The only documented death of an NFL player during a game is one of my first childhood memories of football.
Chuck Hughes, a Detroit Lions receiver, suffered a fatal heart attack during a 28-23 loss to the visiting Chicago Bears in 1971. Hughes, a reserve who seldom played, collapsed while running to the huddle a couple of plays after making his first reception of the season.
Maybe it was because it was a different era or maybe it was because there were just 62 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but they finished out the game. Players on both teams knew something was seriously wrong with Hughes, who was pronounced dead an hour later at a Detroit hospital.
“When we got into the locker room, we all got down on one knee and prayed for Chuck,” Bears linebacker Ed O’Bradovich told the Detroit Free Press.
Anyone who watches football has witnessed many tense moments when injured players are tended to by trainers and doctors. Recently, much of the focus has been on head injuries, and former Saint Louis star Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins has suffered two concussions this season.
Unlike many head injuries, Hamlin’s to his heart happened on a legal play. It brings up a whole new series of safety concerns in a game already overflowing with them.
Will there be a change in protective gear for the chest area?
The ultimate question for fans is this: How much can football be changed to make it safer and still maintain its popularity?
“It’s like trying to make a safe cigarette,” ESPN host Bomani Jones said.
The players showed Monday night that they have the final say if the show goes on or not, in the short term.
How young athletes — and their parents — measure risk and reward will determine the sport’s long-term future.
For now, we can all root for Damar Hamlin to pull through.
