Nearly two years after he almost lost his life on the football field, Damar Hamlin was on the other end of a scary injury after his tackle led to another major head injury for Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. But just like last time, Hamlin indicated it was just a routine football play.
After the game, Damar Hamlin opened up a little bit on the play as he made it clear he was simply trying to make a “routine tackle” with Tua Tagovailoa scrambling for a first down.
“I was just trying to make a routine tackle, trying to get them off the field on fourth down,” Hamlin said according Tim Graham of The Athletic.
Hamlin is obviously quite familiar with what happens when routine plays turn scary, and he addressed those fears in his postgame interview.
“It’s trauma. It will always be there,” Hamlin said. “I’m able to not be affected by it because of the work that I’ve done. I went through trauma therapy. I have a psychologist I talk to. It’s allowed me to push my mind forward, push my process forward. I did the hard stuff last year as far as putting the pads on, tackling, getting game-ready to know that I’m now perfectly fine and perfectly able to go back and play.”
The NFL has been doing everything it can to promote safety in the league. But at the end of the day, football is just a fundamentally dangerous game.