Examining football’s health risks after Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest on the field

Geoff Bennett:

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin Damar Hamlin remains in critical condition tonight following his shocking collapse in last night's Monday Night Football game.

His family thanked the medical team that responded and is continuing to care for him.

As William Brangham reports, it was a moment that stunned viewers around the world.

William Brangham:

Monday Night Football, Bengals vs. the Bills, and a seemingly routine play suddenly turned terrifying.

Just nine minutes in, 24-year-old Bills safety Damar Hamlin, number three in white there at the bottom, got up, took two steps, and collapsed. Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest. His heart stopped beating. For at least 10 agonizing minutes, players, thousands of fans in the stadium and millions on TV watched as a medical team tried to restart Hamlin's heart.

Once his heartbeat was restored, an ambulance took Hamlin off the field. The NFL suspended the rest of the game. It's the first time that's ever happened for an injury. And there are no plans to resume the game just yet.

To understand how this could have happened from a routine hit, I spoke with cardiologist Dr. Robert Bonow of Northwestern Medicine. He's the former president of the American Heart Association.

Given all the caveats, that we still don't know what happened here, and that you are certainly not this young man's doctor, what is your understanding of what happened in that game?

Dr. Robert Bonow, Northwestern University:

Well, again, I can't be too specific, because,as you point out, there's some unknowns here.

There clearly was chest trauma, and then there was a cardiac arrest. Putting This together, it's unclear what may have occurred. And the leading possibility is a condition called commotio cordis, which is a blunt trauma to the chest.

It's kind of the perfect storm. So it's the force of the injury at the location of the injury and, most importantly, the precise timing. We don't have all the details. In someone who is perfectly healthy and has a normal heart, this could be a cause.

Now, this is a very uncommon condition, but — not only in professional sports, but you think of the millions of — millions of children and high schoolers and college athletes. There's millions of them. And so this does occur roughly 30 to 40 times per year in the United States.

William Brangham:

Dr. Bonow now said the immediate medical attention provided on the field no doubt saved Hamlin's life. He also rejected the rumors being spread that a COVID vaccine and the very rare side effect of myocarditis could be implicated here.

Dr. Robert Bonow:

First of all, the incidence of myocarditis after a COVID vaccination is real, but it's very, very low, very, very low, and unlikely that the individual who has myocarditis would feel healthy enough to be participating at that level of sports activity.

That's a — truly one-in-the-10-million-kind of possibility here.

William Brangham:

As fans and teammates around the country send support to Hamlin, many are pointing to his work off the field, volunteering and raising money for charities.

Two years ago, he posted this video as he went out to his hometown, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to bring toys to kids for the holidays.

Damar Hamlin, Buffalo Bills:

Today, we got the toy drive going on.

Just seeing role models in person, I feel like that's big in kids' lives. And that's something that we haven't always had in Pittsburgh. I'm thankful that I can even be in this position to give back.

William Brangham:

Hamlin's GoFundMe for this toy drive was at $2,500 after two years of fund-raising, but now a surge of over 150,000 donations have pushed that total over $4 million.

Hamlin's family released a statement expressing their gratitude, saying: "We are deeply moved by the prayers, kind words and donations from fans across the country."

Today, in Ohio, where the game was played, Governor Mike DeWine held a moment of silence. Overnight, supporters gathered outside the hospital where Hamlin is being treated, lighting candles and praying for his recovery.

So, last night was unlike any other NFL game before, and it has prompted another round of difficult questions for the league.

Jerry Brewer is a sportswriter and columnist for The Washington Post who raises many of these questions in his latest column. And he joins me now.

Jerry Brewer, great to have you back on the "NewsHour."

Could you just take me back to last night? You wrote that this was one of the most chilling nights in televised sports history. What was that like watching it?

Jerry Brewer, The Washington Post:

I was just stunned.

There are very few things, after more than 20 years of covering sports, that you watch and you say, I have never seen anything like this before. And for a player's heart to stop on Monday Night Football, it was truly an unprecedented thing for me. That was horrifying.

And you're just wondering, are they going to be able to resuscitate him on the field, or are we going to see a player lose his life on live television?

William Brangham:

I mean, this has nothing to do, as far as we know, with the other sort of major NFL health scandal, the CTE, concussion, head trauma issue.

But as you wrote in your column, this does remind us of what I think you called the unremitting brutality of this game. And management doesn't like to talk about that, but you do seem to believe that fans think that this is part and parcel of what they love about this game. Can you explain that a little bit?

Jerry Brewer:

Yes, I think, if you love football, you love the physicality of it.

And I think there's an awful lot of debate among football fans as to how much contact is enough. If you start to limit contact, you restrict things, the first reaction from the — quote, unquote — "hardcore" football fan is that you're making the game soft.

And you have heard that back to the roots of football, when it was way more untamed than it is now. But every time a situation like this arises, you have this debate as to just fundamentally what football should be. And, absolutely, people were having that debate in the moment.

And there was a lot more of a guilty conscience related to it than normal.

William Brangham:

Do you think that this event changes anything within the NFL, within management of this game?

Jerry Brewer:

Well, it depends what happens, ultimately, with Damar Hamlin.

You hope all of those prayers are answered, and he goes on, and he gets to live the rest of his life, even if he may never play football again. So, I think that will change things a lot.

I think, ultimately, football is football. And there's billions of dollars attached to playing in a certain way. And even for those who love the game, you have to acknowledge the fact that there is this human disposability attached to the game.

And, for decades, more than decades, we have accepted that. And to unwind that, unfortunately, will take a lot more than one incident on "Monday Night Football."

William Brangham:

Do you think that this changes anything within players themselves? I mean, does this change a player's calculus? Or does the love of the game and the fame and the success that comes with that override all of those concerns?

Jerry Brewer:

I think one misconception that we often have about football is that it's a bunch of mega-millionaires, I mean, at the highest level, yes, but that's a very small percentage.

And most football players are guys who maybe make a million, a couple million dollars over the course of about four years, and then they're done. But they feel the pain of playing their entire lives and playing in the NFL for four years. Then they have to go out. And, obviously, they haven't made enough money to retire.

That's ultimately — that's what the rank-and-file NFL is. And there's still so much of a macho attitude to the game, that it's like the glorification of gladiators, that you play through pain, that you inflict pain. That is just fundamental to the game. That's always the fear of the game, that, at some point, something happens that's so brutal that people can't justify watching anymore.

We're far away from that. However, I think, if I'm the NFL, I would do everything I can to guard against that. Do it for your business, if you can't do it for the sake of humanity.

William Brangham:

All right, Jerry Brewer of The Washington Post, always good to see you. Thank you.

Jerry Brewer:

Thank you.