There is a big difference in comfort between a trach and having a tube into your mouth and down your throat.
He does not qualify for a pension. He’s a second year player. You have to complete three years to be eligible for the pension. It only averages $43,000 a year anyway. From what I can see his current contract only has $160,000 in guaranteed money. He was in the middle of a 4 year contract averaging $900,000 a year. He was not a big star. He wasn’t even a starter at the beginning of the season. He wasn’t making star money.
Maybe, but he’s going to need some form of insurance and health care for a while and starting at the bottom of the coaching ladder involves years and years of un- or underpaid work, often starting as an unpaid intern (with long hours to boot) and often little to no insurance. That’s assuming it’s something he would even want to do or have the aptitude for.
I hope between the Bills and the NFL, they figure out a way to make sure he’s taken care of. At least for up to a few years until it’s clear he’s got a clean bill of health. That’s the least you can do for somebody who literally sacrificed his body for you on the job.
Yes, the league and the Bills should make sure he’s set for life, but he should also (health permitting) find abundant opportunities off the field. He’s by all accounts a smart, well-liked guy, and now his visibility and name recognition are off the charts.
This morning’s news is that Hamlin’s doctors removed the breathing tube last night – he’s now able to breathe on his own, as well as being able to speak.
He’s been talking with his family, and making Facetime calls with his teammates.
The brain has enough reserve for five minutes of not breathing and more when CPR is quickly applied. The real question is whether he plays again. Although being hit at the wrong time can cause dysrhythmias, probably some people are at greater risk than others. I mean, how many thousands of tackles are there in any given week of college and professional football?
I hope he makes a fast and full recovery. Learning CPR is easy and makes a difference! Consider doing it, your local ambulance service offers inexpensive courses.
One notable advantage for both Buffalo and Cincinnati is that their players effectively got most of the physical rest that a bye week would have given. Kansas City had to play a full game last Sunday but the Bengals and Bills each only played 1/5 of a game, thus getting more rest.
“Back in the day” possibly even more so. Players would stumble to the sidelines after a hit with symptoms of concussion, then be back on the field minutes later.
I assume they had to get off his pads in order to do CPR. I wonder how they did that. Those never seem easy to get off, even more so if the player is unconscious.
Not sure of the NFL pads, but most shoulder pads have a strap under the arms, and are laced in the front or back. So 2 cuts and unlacing or cuts in the laces, and you can slide them away.
Eric LeGrand is on the Rutgers football radio broadcast after being paralyzed in a game. Being a radio commentator on a local broadcast probably doesn’t pay a ton but they did what they could.
Tee Higgins, who Hamlin collided with, has received criticism and even death threats, with another sports media “shock jock” trying to call him responsible.
Higgins was a receiver and Hamlin tackled him. Trying to blame him is insane and disgusting. And Higgins reached out to Hamlin’s family, and has given his support, and Hamlin’s family even called on people to stop blaming Higgins.
Odd, isn’t it, when the dominant football safety trope in this situation is about protecting the receiver, not the tackler. (Of course, in fact, the receiver in this case was not defenseless and nothing in the play looked particularly hard-hitting; everything looked clean and relatively safe.)
But yes, brainless blamemongers and clickbait trolls are hard to ignore.
Tackling technique is crucial. A player can hurt themselves very badly. The most famouus case is Nick Buoniconti’s son. He had a habit of ducking his head on tackles. He tweaked his neck in a couple games. He was permanently paralyzed in the next game. His high school coaches should have seen the problem and corrected it. Or even benched the kid until his tackling technique improved.
Hamilin is a pro and technique shouldn’t be a problem for him.