It's Hamlin's first game since Jan. 2 against the Bengals in the AFC playoffs.
Damar Hamlin just made his triumphant return to the gridiron seven months after going into cardiac arrest and collapsing on the field in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The 25-year-old safety and the Buffalo Bills kicked off its preseason schedule Saturday in Orchard Park, New York against the visiting Indianapolis Colts, and Hamlin suited up for the competition. He made his first tackle in the first quarter and the crowd went nuts. He looked like he hadn't skipped a beat, after making an impressive solo tackle in space. Then, midway through the first quarter, he made a critical tackle that forced the Colts to turn the ball over on downs.
It's Hamlin's first game with the Bills since Jan. 2 in an AFC playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
As fans know all too well by now, Hamlin tackled Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins in the first quarter of that pivotal matchup, and all seemed business as usual following the tackle. However, shortly thereafter, Hamlin stumbled and collapse on the field, and he was swiftly attended to by medical personnel, who gave the athlete CPR on the field, which saved his life. He was placed on a stretcher, given oxygen and taken to the hospital via ambulance. It was later revealed that Hamlin went into cardiac arrest.
Hamlin spent the next several days in critical condition in intensive care at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. A week after his collapse, he was transferred to a medical center in Buffalo, where he spent a few more days before being discharged "to continue his rehabilitation at home and with the Bills."
Bills coach Sean McDermott said just over two weeks ago that Hamlin would "be a full go" for training camp as he's now fully recovered from the life-threatening tackle.
Also last month, a tearful Hamlin bestowed the Bills' training staff with this year's Pat Tillman Award for Service at the 2023 ESPY Awards in honor of their part in providing life-saving medical care to him during his near-fatal incident on the field.
Hamlin came out on the stage and introduced a video, which he narrated, recalling how his life was saved by the training staff and how they became his heroes.
"Thanks to their training, their poise and their commitment to serve others, the Bills training staff kept me alive," Hamlin explained in the video. "I didn't wake up that morning in January thinking that I would need someone to save my life that day, and I doubt that the training staff thought that they would have to do what they did either."
"That, as much as anything else, is what I took away from what happened to me six and a half months ago -- that any of us, at any given time, are capable of doing something as incredible as saving a life, and living a life in service of others," he added. "It's a blessing."
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