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Buffalo Bills Safety Damar Hamlin Collapses After Hard Hit, Given CPR On The Field; Hospitalized In Critical Condition. Aired 12- 1a ET

Aired January 03, 2023 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:01:31]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, good evening, everyone. I'm John Berman. The breaking news national concern tonight over a 24-year-old man, a human being who was playing at a football game. I'm talking about Bills' safety Damar Hamlin, and at this moment what we know or what we're being told is he's in critical condition. He collapsed after he tackles someone.

Again, it was a hard hit that he placed on a wide receiver during the first quarter of tonight's game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Hamlin fell on his back just moments after getting up from this open field tackle. The Bengals wide receiver was Tee Higgins.

Buffalo Bills team trainers got to Hamlin within 10 seconds after he collapsed, he stood up, appeared to take a step and then collapsed.

An ambulance was brought onto the field and he was administered CPR. That was what everyone saw in the stadium. That is what everyone saw who was watching the game on T.V.

Beyond that it's been piecing together what we've been reading on social media and hearing from official statements.

We know that Damar Hamlin was taken to the University of Cincinnati Hospital. We again are told he is in critical condition. We've also been told by the hospital they will not be having a news conference tonight.

So, we're waiting and hoping for more information on his wellbeing. You can see the pictures there from before the football field.

This game was suspended, postponed. They waited around for an hour, the players did for word but it seemed pretty clear that none of the players on either team felt well enough to get back on the field and play football again, not with their teammate, not with the opposing player, not with their really brother in arms Damar Hamlin without any information about how he was doing.

So, the game has been postponed that is according to the NFL. We have no word on how or if or when the game will be made up.

And frankly, at this point, that doesn't matter to just about anyone, everyone concerned more about Damar Hamlin, a second year player for the Buffalo Bills safety, went to the University of Pittsburgh, was a sixth round draft pick. Started the last 14 games after an injury. Really the chance of his life to play now in critical condition.

Let's find out what we can. I want to bring in Joe Danneman he is a reporter with WXIX in Cincinnati and you've been really watching every step of this, Joe. Why don't you tell us what you can?

JOE DANNEMAN, WXIX REPORTER: OK, John, so let me set the scene here in Cincinnati right now. I'm inside the photographer's room at Paycor Stadium, the home stadium of the Cincinnati Bengals, this has become kind of the media holding area. They wanted to make sure we weren't anywhere near the locker rooms, weren't in the hallways where players, coaches, team personnel right now are gathering and we're gathering when this happened in the 9:00 hour.

Look, this is almost three hours ago when this happened here in Cincinnati. And I can tell you, the Buffalo Bills buses are still here at the stadium.

A sources told me that the Bills are going to fly home tonight. We have seen pictures of some of the Bills' best players make their way to the UC Hospital here in Cincinnati University of Cincinnati to visit Damar Hamlin and his family just to provide some kind of support.

But what we've seen in the hallway here, we've seen coaches from both teams, we've seen star athletes from both teams congregating together going to each other's locker room to try to lean on each other in this kind of a moment.

[00:05:03]

But I can tell you right now, the Buffalo Bills are yet to have left here at Paycor Stadium. They're still here waiting on what they're going to do next.

BERMAN: You know, one point I think you make it so well, Joe, is there really no teams in a situation like this. They're only people, people with feelings, people with hearts, people reaching out to each other.

So, whether you play for the Bengals or the Bills tonight, the concern is with this player for the Bills and we've heard tales of Stefon Diggs, the star wide receiver from the Bills going to the hospital to try to get word on his teammates. I know the Bengals players are just as concerned.

I'm interested as to what you said though, as of now, you're hearing that the Bills do plan to return home to Buffalo tomorrow.

DANNEMAN: That is correct. Maybe even tonight, I'm told they would leave the stadium and head back tonight. That would be their normal flight pattern to leave after a game after they shower up, clean up and get back. You have to wonder why the team would stay here in Cincinnati because there's not much the team can do.

Now, obviously, some of the front office members, some of the important people in the organization will be here to support the family and to be with them going forward.

But for the rest of the team, the only thing you could think to do right now would be go home and be with your loved ones at this point because I can tell you, John, on the field after this happened, usually you see players gather around a player and that happened tonight.

But when they saw them start doing chest compressions and they saw the medical staff start to use the AED to try to shock Damar Hamlin back, you saw the reaction of those players walking away and being distraught, being very emotional, the kind of thing we don't see on a football field.

I am told that when he left the field here at the stadium, he had a pulse, was not breathing on his own at that time. But the reaction from the players on the field a lot of times we see in the NFL, and we all understand it's a violent sport, head injuries, that happens, spinal injuries, that happens. We see some kind of positivity from the player as they walk off the field.

A lot of times it's a thumbs up. We didn't see anything like that tonight, we saw -- we saw players crying. We saw players on the knee in prayer. We saw players just being around each other. And you mentioned it before you came to me that there was no way that we're going to play this game tonight, not after what these players had witnessed. That's why the NFL postponed the game -- tonight's game.

BERMAN: Yes, it was clear Joe just watching that this was different. It was clear from the looks in the players faces, the looks in the coaches faces, the level of concern. You mentioned the AED, that's a defibrillator, for people out there watching who don't know the technical terms, we're talking about the paddles here, the -- you know, the shocks that you try to put on someone's chest to get that heart beating again, carefully.

You are in -- you were saying at the photo center inside the stadium at this point, what is the information flow been like? We've been in this vacuum where we really just don't have any new knowledge about Damar Hamlin's situation.

DANNEMAN: So, we thought we might hear a statement from either the Buffalo Bills or the Cincinnati Bengals to try to explain what has become a very unique situation, one that a lot of people have not experienced before, certainly in the NFL, and we haven't received any information from the teams. And I'm told there won't be any media availability here tonight.

Now, at the hospital, the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, it was said previously earlier in the 11:00 hour that they were going to update us on tomorrow's status, they had listed him as critical condition. And that they were going to make that announcement at 11:30 with any kind of announcement or status update, and they canceled that, they're not doing that.

So, at this point, we're just kind of in a holding pattern trying to get more information. And we're just trying to observe and watch what's happening here at the stadium with the Bills still being here. And we see Bengals players, I have eyesight right now to the Bengals locker room, and you can see players leaving the stadium because there's no reason to stay here anymore. Just go home and be with loved ones at this point.

So, right now, it's more of just a wait and see holding pattern here at the stadium and just observing what's happening because no one John has ever been in a situation like this before, especially on an NFL football field.

BERMAN: And to be clear again, you are at the stadium. Joe, do you have any information or insight as to who is at the hospital with the Damar Hamlin at this point?

DANNEMAN: I do know this when the ambulance left the field. This was interesting John, when it left the field, it went into the Paycor Stadium parking lot. And it sat there, I had a clear shot down at that tunnel to see that ambulance. I just wanted to see what was happening. And so I stayed out in the tunnel area to observe that and it waited there for a long time.

I would say a good five to seven minutes and I asked a source of mine who was on a call and knew the information. I said what are they waiting for and he said, they're waiting for Damar's mother to make it down from the stands because she traveled to Cincinnati to watch this game, so the ambulance was waiting for her to then go in route to University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Once she made her way down there, there was a police escort that took both Damar in the ambulance and the family members up to the hospital.

[00:10:05]

I did see some team officials. They were the Buffalo Bills team officials. I don't know exactly who those people were but they were part of that traveling party.

We have seen images, you mentioned it, Bill star wide receiver Stefon Diggs making his way to the hospital tonight to visit and show support to Damar and his family.

I do know that his mother again was here. And she was part of that traveling party that went with the ambulance after it weighed in the parking lot for several minutes for her to make her way down from the stance.

BERMAN: His mother came down from the stands and we imagine is at the hospital right now with -- comforting at some level to know he's surrounded by people who love and care about him.

And just to walk people again, if you weren't watching Monday Night Football, you're just coming into this situation now, if you've been following football this season and last season, you've been hearing about a lot of head injuries, concussions and whatnot traumatic brain injuries. It doesn't appear that this is the case tonight, Joe, it appears -- and again, we don't know but it appears because defibrillators were used and CPR was administered. This may have been a cardiac event, anything else from what you picked up either seeing it or at the stadium after as to what the actual condition might be.

DANNEMAN: Well, it's interesting. You mentioned the head injuries because in a primetime game here in Cincinnati earlier this season was when Tua Tagovailoa had his incident. That was a big national talking point. So, that happened here in Cincinnati just a couple of months ago.

And now you fast forward to this moment that happening right here and right now here in Cincinnati, it's kind of ironic that it both happened inside the same stadium.

But you mentioned that the head injuries again, those are things that we see on a football field, it's a violent sport, the guys know what they sign up for. We see sometimes broken bones, knee injuries, spinal injuries, those are serious things, they happen.

We don't see things like this happen. I can tell you, John, I've never seen medical staffs react with the kind of urgency that I saw tonight when they ran out of the field.

I don't know if you showed the video of when Damar stood up and then collapse back to the ground, you can see the players immediately motioning to both of their benches to get as many medical staff members out to the field as soon as possible. And they rushed out there. And they were opening up the equipment with the kind of urgency I've never seen before for somebody on a football field.

And within 30 seconds, the stretcher was on the way out and also a back support in case that was the issue. And then within a couple minutes, the ambulance was out there.

So, all of that is very unique, things we haven't seen before. And I think it does lead to this being a very unique and different kind of injury that we haven't seen before. At least I've never seen on a football field, especially in the NFL.

BERMAN: No, I haven't seen it either. And I think like you, I watch a lot of football games. Right now, people on our screen can see images of the players praying, all taking a knee thinking about Damar Hamlin and I do want to tell our viewers again, we have shown several times now the actual hit and the injury because we want to give people the context for what's happening now. And also to show people this wasn't some cheap shot.

Again, Damar Hamlin was the person doing the tackle, and appeared to hit the wide receiver Tee Higgins, you know, somewhat awkwardly so that Higgins, the helmet and the shoulder of the offensive player seem to go into Damar Hamlin's chest, that's what it looked like from watching the replay several times, people might imagine that hit him somewhere in the area around the heart. Maybe that contributed to it. You said you've never seen the medical staff get on to the field with

the urgency that they did, a training staff, these people are qualified and trained at many different levels.

Normally, they're looking at knees or shoulders or arms. You know, this is a different type of situation. Did they appear to have the equipment and have the situation to have a sense of what was going on the minute they ran out?

DANNEMAN: They did. I had an eyesight John of when the first medical staff member showed up and they had a big heavy bag with a lot of medical equipment inside. And I remember the medical staff personnel ripping that open with a kind of urgency. That to me, was very eye opening and very shocking. And that to me signal that this is different. This is something very serious, and they pulled out the medical equipment.

At that point, the teams and other personnel from the team had gathered around him and I didn't have an eye shot anymore from the sideline of what was happening.

I can mention this too, Tee Higgins who was the Bengals wide receiver that you mentioned, who was part of that hit, that kind of landed his head in his chest of Damar Hamlin, we saw him here in the hallway, his mother was out here when the Bengals some of the players were leaving here to leave the stadium for tonight. His mother was here and they shared a very emotional moment and walked out.

You have to wonder how hard this is for him to deal with considering he was in on the play.

Again, just a football play, a wide receiver making a catch turning up field contact and Hamlin fell. He bounced right back up. And that's when things went wrong when he collapsed to the field.

It looked like a normal football play with a guy getting hit in the chest. That's why there were shoulder pads, right but this one obviously created some kind of damage that we're not used to seeing on a football field.

[00:15:15]

I will say this too. We spoke with Anthony Munoz, who was considered the greatest Cincinnati Bengals of all time, he played offensive line here. He's a legend in Cincinnati. He's a Hall of Famer, he said he thinks he'd probably got hit right in the part of the shoulder pads where they meet because there's two -- there's two plates to a shoulder pad and they meet right here in the middle and he thinks that might have been where he got hit. I don't know if that makes him more vulnerable to getting a hit because it's right there. Again, that's just an assumption, that's speculation, but that's something that a great NFL player passed along to us tonight when talking about that hit.

But to your point, it's just seemed like a football play. And then when Hamlin popped up and he collapsed, that's when we knew something was different and something was wrong here in Cincinnati.

BERMAN: Joe Danneman, I have to say thank you so much for speaking to us, talking to us, talking to your viewers so they know what's going on inside the stadium. That perspective you've given us tonight is unique. And I know people really just want information right now because they care. They care about this 24-year-old man Damar Hamlin who collapsed on the football field. Thank you. Terrific work.

DANNEMAN: Thank you, John. Appreciate you having me.

BERMAN: All right, we've got a lot more to come tonight in our breaking news. Tonight's Buffalo Bill Cincinnati Bengals game postponed as we've been saying after the Bills' Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field after he tackled a wide receiver, it was a hard hit. He was taken to a local hospital. He is in critical condition now.

CNN's Coy Wire is listening in at a teleconference the NFL is holding, it will bring us the latest updates from that. That is news to me that should be some of the freshest information that we've had yet.

Beyond that though, they just said the NFL will not be giving any updates on the medical condition but standby for Coy Wire on an update from the NFL.

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[00:20:40]

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news tonight is Damar Hamlin, a 24- year-old safety second year player for the Buffalo Bills is in critical condition tonight in the hospital in Cincinnati after collapsing on the field in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati in critical condition.

We're waiting for an update on his specific condition. As we sit here right now, the NFL is holding a conference call, its press office on the phone holding a conference call with reporters.

Our Coy Wire is listening to that. As soon as that is done, he will report back to us what he has heard on the condition, on the procedures, on anything that has happened tonight the NFL briefing right now. So, standby for much more on that.

There has been reaction from around the sports world, well, around the world in general. We put up a full screen a moment ago of some of the tweets and various messages of concern for the -- for Damar Hamlin, again, you can see just a sense of it right there as we are waiting for more information on his condition.

I want to bring in CNN Contributor Bob Costas right now on the phone. Bob, none of us have ever seen anything like this as many football games as we've all watched. We were talking to Joe Danneman and a local reporter there who said the minute it happened, you could tell that this was different, that something was truly wrong. Your reaction tonight? BOB COSTAS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (via telephone): Yes, you could exactly what it was, absent medical expertise. And doctors Griner (PH) and Gupta have briefed us with regard to that. But you could tell it was different than the usual circumstance, happens too often in terms of concussions, where people wobble to their feet or they have to be taken off and we know all about that crisis.

And it is a crisis within the NFL, they have made it somewhat safer, they have taken steps. The very nature of the game is that a certain percentage, and it's somewhat sizable of those who play will eventually suffer some sort of cognitive or neurological difficulty, because of having played football with the repetitive hits, some of which results in concussions. But even as we now know, the sub concussive hits which are not diagnosed as concussions cumulatively cause great damage.

But throughout the conversation tonight, I think there's been a generalization made. And as you know, John, I'm the last person that act as an apologist for football, but a generalization made that sort of goes like this, at least that's what I've heard as I've been on CNN for the last few hours. This shows you just how dangerous football is.

I think this particular circumstance, John does not fall into that category. Any contact sport, of course, brings with it the possibility of injury or some sort of tragic event.

But as Dr. Gupta said in the last hour, it could also be a line drive back to the mound that hits a pitcher, a hard line drive that hits a pitcher at just the wrong millisecond. And just the wrong spot, close to the heart, and you get some sort of arrhythmia, and this was what could happen.

But to say that this is unique to football, or that this sort of thing is typical within football just isn't factual is a tragic. Is it concerning? Yes. Did they make the right decision by not going back out to play? Yes. But does this fall into the category of another piece of evidence about how dangerous and uniquely dangerous football is among team sports? I don't think so.

BERMAN: Yes, you bring up a good point. I mean, people who have kids of boys or girls who play Little League or softball, this is why often the pitchers -- the young pitchers have to wear chest protectors or padding, because they're concerned about a ball coming back and hitting them.

Perhaps, that is the type of thing that happened here. We're going to talk to Dr. Leana Wen in just a second, to get some more perspective on the medical side of this.

But Bob, you've also brought up the fact that this game was postponed midstream, which isn't something I've seen before. It was a rather unique decision. And also you get the sense that not necessarily something that might have happened in football 10, 20, 30 years ago that this is maybe hopefully a league that is beginning to understand that they are dealing with human beings, human beings with feelings, and I can't imagine any of these players going out and playing again tonight, or last night as the case may be at this point.

[00:25:21]

COSTAS: Yes, that became clear. When the coaches met at midfield, they understood the feeling among their players, both the Bengals and especially the Bills. None of them were in any shape emotionally to go back out and play.

So clearly, this was the right decision on the part of the league.

BERMAN: OK, Bob, standby. Stick with us, if you will. So let's bring in Dr. Leana Wen to talk more about what may have happened.

And Doctor went on here, Bob Costas is listening in all, so all we know is what we saw at this point, which is we saw the hit, we saw Damar Hamlin as he was tackling Tee Higgins the wide receiver. We don't need to see it much more than this at this point. I think we've seen it plenty.

But we saw him get hit in the chest with a helmet and the shoulder pad. And we also know that it appears there was a defibrillator and CPR used after he was down on the field. What does that tell us?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Whenever someone suddenly collapses, the first thing that you think about is could this be a cardiac event, something to do with the heart.

The fact that there was this direct impact right before this occurred, makes it most likely. Again, we don't know for certain, we have not heard from the medical team yet.

But it certainly makes it most likely that there is a very rare but very serious condition called Commotio Cordis, which is when there is direct trauma to the chest that unfortunately happens at a specific part of the cardiac cycle, and ends up disrupting the normal heart rhythm.

And as a result, the heart instead of beating normally ends up going into this irregular heart rhythm where the heart is unable to pump blood.

Now, the time to resuscitation is the most critical in determining the outcome. And so, the quicker that CPR can be started, the quicker that a defibrillator is made available, the better the outcome.

And in this case, it sounds like that type of immediate medical care was given very, very quickly within a matter of seconds.

And so, at this point, we are praying and hoping for the best. I will say that the fact that the medical care was delivered so quickly gives me hope. And I think we'll find out a lot more.

Now, Bob had also mentioned, I think this was such an important point that this is not something that is unique to football at all. And in fact, the other types of Commotio Cordis injuries reported often involve a ball or a puck that this happens in baseball, lacrosse and hockey and cricket and other games that involve direct impact by a ball to the chest.

And so, this is not unique to football and actually, in terms of who normally gets this, it tends to affect adolescence.

Boys between the ages of 14 and 15 are the most affected by this condition. If this is in fact what happened to Mr. Hamlin.

BERMAN: Look, this is why again, I'll go back to Little League, this is why often they don't want young players using metal bats because they come the ball, comes off the bat that much more quickly.

That's why again, if you've known any 10 or 11, 12-year-old boy who has been forced to wear a chest protector, some leagues require it when they pitch they hate it but this is why.

Doctor Wen, just talk to us for a second more about you mentioned the defibrillator, the CPR, the treatment and you know, God willing, the recovery from something like this.

WEN: Right, so, if this is what we are speculating, this Commotio Cordis, this disturbance at the heart rhythm following blunt trauma. And then what normally happens is you want to restore the regular heart rhythm as quickly as possible. And that's the root of the defibrillator.

In the meantime, CPR is really essential because you want to keep blood pumping to all your other organs. Or else there could be injury to those organs including to the brain. And so again, this case it looks like CPR was delivered very quickly.

What happens after that is the individual would be transported to the hospital where further tests are going to be done to find out exactly what precipitated the incident.

Also, what is the extent of the injuries that may have occurred while CPR was happening. CPR is something that is very traumatic, sometimes ribs are being broken in this process. And so, you also want to see what else -- what other injuries may have been accompanied by the level of resuscitation.

And then of course, you also want to assess any damage that could have been to other organs along the way. And so there would be a, I would imagine a fairly long process of recovery that's ahead.

BERMAN: Doctor Wen, thank you for explaining that. Bob, if you're still with us, we have to go to break but in about 30 seconds, the people who run on the field, the athletic trainers who run to the field, the women and men who do this, these people are good now. I mean, they are trained for all kinds of different situations.

[00:30:07]

COSTAS: Yes, they are. Back in the day, the trainer was generally a hail fellow, well met. He'd tape some ankles, gave us some smelling salts.

These people are at a much higher level of expertise, and they've been trained to respond to these specific situations.

BERMAN: And they got out there very quickly. And hopefully, that made the difference. We are waiting for much more information.

Bob Costas, thank you for being with us now, early in the morning.

COSTAS: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Doctor Wenner (ph), thanks to you, also.

The NFL has just wrapped up a telephone, not news conference, but briefing for some reporters around the country. Our Coy Wire was on that. When we come back, he will tell us what he heard from the NFL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: So the breaking news tonight, Buffalo Bills safety, Damar Hamlin, 24 years old, is in a hospital in Cincinnati in critical condition. He collapsed after a hard tackle. He was tackling the Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins during the first quarter of the game between the Bengals and the Bills.

[00:35:09]

Hamlin fell on his back just moments after getting up. He actually did the tackle, hopped up, was standing on his feet, and then collapsed.

Again, in the hospital this morning, as it is now early morning there, in critical condition. We've been waiting for any kind of update.

I want to bring in our Coy Wire. Coy, you were just in a conference call, a telephone briefing from the NFL. What do they have to say?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Well, John, a couple of updates from some questions you had posed earlier before I jumped off to get on the call. Some logistical stuff first.

The team, Buffalo, will be traveling back. The NFL got word from the team just before the stroke of midnight, Eastern Time. They won't travel back to Buffalo, though. There are a handful of players, they said, that have chosen to remain at the hospital, to be there with their team mate.

In regards to the game itself being rescheduled, there's been no sort of conversation in regard to that. That conversation will happen at a later time.

One of the people on the call, Troy Benson, executive vice president of football operations -- some of us know him as a former pro player, an outstanding defensive back. He is now in a great position in the league in this type of situation, John. Because he said he immediately put his player hat back on as part of this decision-making process was taking place.

When Damar fell to the ground, the emergency action plan, as it's called, immediately went into place. This is something that they rehearse every week. This is something they talk about, the head official, with both head coaches, just some reminders, before every single game.

As medical care was being given to Damar, there was constant communication with Troy Benson, with the commissioner, with the head of the players union. They're also both head coaches. They're in constant communication, giving live updates of what they're learning about the situation.

And there came a point where Troy Benson communicated to the head coaches -- Sean McDermott for the Buffalo Bills, Zac Taylor for the Cincinnati Bengals -- take your teams to the locker room. Assess the situation. Assess the state of their morale, of their emotion.

And both head coaches determined that they were too traumatized by what they had just witnessed on that field and that they did not want to continue to play. And that was the decision that led to the game being postponed.

And John, that's a big point. I don't ever remember seeing a game being postponed like that due to injury. I think, if this were ten years ago, five years ago, maybe even a year ago, that wouldn't be the case. We've seen ambulances come onto the field of play before. We've seen players being carted off, stretchered off, had their face masks removed but their helmet attached, because they can't remove them, because there's a spinal cord injury, and they're carted off. But the game goes on.

I think this is a big moment for the NFL. There's been a lot off talk on their part about putting the importance on player health and safety. This moment tonight proved it.

In my mind, as a former player, because I've been on fields, six seasons with the Buffalo Bills. My teammate, Kevin Everett, we were covering a kick, and he hit the wedge, John, and he was paralyzed.

When I was playing at Stanford, my teammate, running back Kerry Carter, hit Curtis Williams, No. 25 for the University of Washington. He was a safety. He was paralyzed from the neck down, and passed away two years later, due to complications from that paralysis that happened on the football field.

And players are always taught to have a next step mentality. You know, when you drop a pass, you have a fumble, even when you get injured, or a team mate gets injured, and the game is stopped. Let's say our prayers; let's rally. Try to play ball. That didn't happen tonight.

So as a former player, that means a lot, because there were times where the sentiment of we're putting an importance on player health and safety, it seems hollow. But tonight was a significant moment, in my mind, as a former player.

BERMAN: Coy, I can hear it in your voice, my friend. I can hear how difficult this is. Because look, you're a former NFL player, but you're -- you're just a wonderful human being who cares. And that, I think, is what happened on that field tonight is that

there were all these -- these players -- you know, 53 players on each team -- with hearts, who were seeing, you know -- with feelings, who were seeing what was happening on the field there and just feeling for their friend, who was down.

The NFL did not give an update on Damar Hamlin's condition and also said they're not going to update. What can you tell us about that, Coy?

WIRE: That's correct. At this time, they were not prepared to discuss any further than the statement that they had released prior and all that we know is you have been relaying to viewers, John, is that he -- that Damar was in critical condition, and they were not going to give any sort of medical updates at this time. This was strictly procedural, to let everyone know what their process was, when they had a player in a dire situation and how they operate, how they train to be able to operate.

And it's not just the league and the officials. It's the medics. It's the on-site medical team who I heard you mention before. You're right. They're very good about what they do. They're very passionate about what they do.

And tonight, let's hope that they were able to give all the care that was needed to allow Damar Hamlin to make a full and speedy recovery, who was just out there filling in for another injured safety. And he's been playing wonderfully for this team. This was a big moment.

John, I played Monday night football games, and they're just like -- they felt just like the playoff games that I played in. It was a big moment. He was just out there trying to play for his team, for his family.

This is a young man who cares about the community. He uses his stays to do good for others; has a toy drive every year. And he was just out there doing his job, and this tragic situation happened. Let's hope that he has a full, speedy recovery and that we can learn from it. And I think -- I think there was a step taken tonight. And let's hope that more good can come from the situation.

BERMAN: Six-round draft pick. Started the last 14 games. Played -- played well. Played with so -- so much guts to be out there the way he's been all season.

Coy, again, thank you for your reporting. Thank you for everything you do. I know this is hard for you to watch, and I do appreciate you.

WIRE: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: So we've got a lot more to come tonight down on our breaking news. As we've been saying, the Buffalo Bills' Damar Hamlin is in critical condition after collapsing on the field tonight. It was after a collision on the field. He stood up, and then fell down. Taken to the hospital right now.

We are awaiting for updates. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:46:03]

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news tonight, we are getting some new insight as to what happened on the football field during Monday Night Football. Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin at this moment is hospitalized in critical condition.

He collapsed on the field following a collision in the first quarter of tonight's game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Hamlin, who actually was the defensive player, the safety, was tackling wide receiver Tee Higgins, who's a pretty big wide receiver. So Hamlin fell down but then popped up immediately after, and then collapsed.

Taken to the University of Cincinnati Hospital in critical condition at this point. Luckily, the team trainers got to Hamlin within ten seconds after he collapsed.

Taken off the field in an ambulance. The game was postponed fully about an hour after the incident took place. And we are now told that the Buffalo Bills will be returning to Buffalo now today, in what is Tuesday. We'll get more on that a little bit later.

The NFL just conducted a telephone briefing with reporters. I want to make clear they said they were not going to have any more information, at least in the near future, about Damar Hamlin's medical condition. But they did try to provide as much information as they could, or at least were willing.

And we have some sound now from Jeff Miller, the vice president of communication for the NFL. Let's listen.

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JEFF MILLER, NFL, VP OF COMMUNICATIONS: It was really about Damar. And making sure that, Hey, look I've never seen anything like it since I've been playing. And so immediately, my player hat went on, and how do you resume play after you've seen such a traumatic event occur in front of you, real time. And that's the way we were thinking about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That may have actually been Troy Vincent, a former player who was making that comment there, who now works in the NFL front office. Either way, the phrase there that sticks with you is "I've never seen anything like it."

I want to bring in former NFL player, Ephraim Salaam.

Thank you so much for being with us. You know, I'm sure you had a chance to see what happened. Just first, your reaction to seeing what happened on the field.

EPHRAIM SALAAM, FORMER NFL PLAYER: It was heartbreaking. It felt -- when I saw that young man fell to the ground the way he did, it -- it felt like my soul had left my body.

Because I played football for a long time. I played 13 years in the NFL. And it's -- it's a contact sport. It's a sport that I grew up loving. It's a sport that, you know, millions and millions of people around the world love.

But there's also this element of injury and severe injury that goes along with the game that we cherish and that we love. And so to see him fall to the ground like that, it was heartbreaking for me for this young man. But not only for him but his family.

BERMAN: And as you said, you had a long career. You played in the Super Bowl. You know that for so long, the mentality in the game of football has been, you know, next man up. You play through the pain; you just keep going.

Tonight, that didn't happen. And I think everyone can agree, appropriately so. I can imagine any of those players wanting to go on with a game after they watched their friend, their colleague fall down on the field, being taken away in the ambulance like that.

Just reflect, if you can, on -- on that moment in this game, in this country, where people, I think, may have come to their senses and realized that this was the right call.

SALAAM: Yes, I want to take my hat off. Now first to the players, right? Because you could see that they were visibly bothered by what was going on, on both teams.

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And I believe it was that reaction from the players that spurred others to realize that this game couldn't possibly go on. The type of trauma and PTSD that comes with watching one of your brothers go down like this and fight for his life, live on television, right?

Those are the type of things that you just can't shake off in 20 minutes and get back to playing.

So I want to take my hat off to the players for understanding the severity and the magnitude that the coaches for both teams to get together and be like, Hey, you know, this doesn't seem like a good idea. And then the NFL for postponing this game which we had never seen before.

And this is the importance of player safety, player mental health. It's not just about the physical injuries that we witness. It's about the mental health, dealing with the trauma after witnessing something like the Hamlin injury. It's -- it's not -- as athletes, we're trained and we're supposed to

just compartmentalize things, push it aside and go onto the next play. And this is not one of those situations where you could, or within that sentiment was appointed.

I really do appreciate you joining us tonight, speaking tonight, I can see how hard it is free to see this. Because you have to be wondering could this have been me? Could I have been in this situation?

And you know, thinking about all your loved ones who have watched you play your whole life and how hard this must be. So thank you for sharing your insights with us tonight, I do appreciate everything you've given us. Thank you.

SALAAM: Thank you for having me. And I'll say this. And people ask me this all the time.

I have two sons, 8 and 11 years old, Elijah and Rashid (ph). And people ask me would I allow them to play football. And my answer is no. All right? My answer is no because of the trauma.

I wake up every day in pain. I chose to do this. So, I always tell people that I play football so my kids wouldn't have to. They can do everything that they want in the world.

But it's one of those sports that very few people get out unscathed. And the severity of that injury, it varies.

BERMAN: Well, like I said, I do appreciate you being with us tonight. Thank you for sharing what you've seen tonight and also, you know, what you're going through watching this. Ephraim, be well.

SALAAM: Thank you.

BERMAN: We're going to take a quick break and come back with much more on our breaking news, the collapse of Damar Hamlin on the field during Monday Night Football. He is in critical condition, in the hospital, in Cincinnati. We'll give you the very latest, next.

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BERMAN: Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, 24 years old, is in critical condition after collapsing on the field during Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Now there is one story, as we are all so concerned about his safety, that is putting a smile on people's faces. A GoFundMe fundraiser started by Hamlin to raise money to purchase toys, initially for kids in this hometown in McKees Rock [SIC], Pennsylvania, not far from where he went to college, the University of Pittsburgh.

He had a GoFundMe page set up to raise money to buy toys for kids there. It has now raised $2.3 million. He first created the fund-raiser in 2020, saying that, quote, "As I

embark on my journey in the NFL, I will never forget where I came from. And I'm committed to using my platform to positively impact the community that raised me." Again, the community is McKees Rock [SIC], Pennsylvania.

I think I heard somewhere, that it had raised about $60,000 or a few thousand dollars before tonight. Now, it's raised more than 2.3 million. An outpouring of emotion and support for Damar Hamlin as he's in critical condition in the hospital this morning.

So a lot more to come on our breaking news coverage. We'll be right back.

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