Aaron Rodgers addressed the horrifying Damar Hamlin injury during his Pat McAfee Show appearance and the Packers QB had a quite poignant reaction.
The NFL world stopped turning to pray and hope for the health and safety of Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin on Monday night after he collapsed on the field and had to have CPR administered to resume his breathing before he was loaded into an ambulance and taken to a nearby Cincinnati hospital where he receiver further treatment and remains in critical condition currently.
In the aftermath, there has been an unbelievable swell of support around Hamlin with donations being made to the 24-year-old’s toy drive, all 32 NFL teams changing their social media profile pictures to an image asking for prayers for Hamlin, and much more. But the responses from players, both current and former, have been poignant in understanding the gravity of the situation.
During his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers addressed the injury. And he delivered a touching and emotional reminder that this situation happened to a human being, not just a football player, and that his family, his teammates, and his NFL peers should be asked to handle the situation as we would expect human beings too and given the same level of care as well.
Aaron Rodgers on Damar Hamlin injury: ‘Let’s remember what’s really important’
“I don’t think you just gloss it over like, ‘Oh, on to the Sunday Night Football play-in game for the playoffs,'” Rodgers said (h/t Matt Schneidman of The Athletic). “Let’s just take a little timeout here. Let’s remember what’s really important.”
Not only did Rodgers reinforce the harrowing reminder to remember that life is greater than the game of football, he also asked for respect and mercy for Bills and Bengals players and the NFL family as a whole as they deal with the unprecedented and horrifying situation everyone witnessed on Monday night in Cincinnati. Moreover, he asked that these “tough men” be allowed to show their emotions during a time such as this.
“I just think you maybe have an open forum to allow guys to share their emotions,” Rodgers said. “I think as men sometimes, we’re so conditioned maybe to suppress everything, to just put on a good face and, ‘We’re going to tough through this.’ I don’t really think that’s the approach.”
Rodgers also went on to say that he had to stop himself from scrolling social media in search of updates on Monday night in hopes of finding good news.
It’s clear from the reaction throughout the league that Hamlin’s terrifying injury affected the Bills and Bengals players and staffs immensely. It’s also clear that the rest of the league was also affected greatly as well, as Rodgers’ reaction indicates.
And we’re all together, without question, in hopes and prayers for the health and recovery of Damar Hamlin and for peace within his family and friends during this time.