The first Monday Night Football game of 2023 was met with incredible tragedy, as Buffalo Bills cornerback Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field.
While many were wondering if the game would resume, and what this meant for future implications, Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor went straight into action mode.
Per Joe Buck, once officials gave each team 5 minutes to warm up before resuming play, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor walked across the field and consulted Bills HC Sean McDermott. Both coaches then sent their teams to their respective locker rooms. Such a classy move by Taylor.
— Paxton Boyd (@paxton) January 3, 2023
After Hamlin’s injury, Taylor communicated with Bills head coach Sean McDermott.
They did not subscribe to a “the show must go on” mentality, as they had their players exit to their respective locker rooms.
Taylor and McDermott understood that Hamlin’s health and safety were top priorities, and their game came secondary.
In a game that meant so much to both teams, particularly concerning playoff seeding, this was undoubtedly a heart-warming gesture by both coaches in a crisis-level situation.
This was the first time in recent memory for something to happen like this in an NFL game.
Emotions ran high, and at the time of Hamlin’s injury, one could almost hear a pin drop in the stadium.
Everyone in the stadium, and most everyone in the NFL world stopped, waiting on pins and needles to hear an update on Hamlin’s health.
Although there haven’t been too many updates up to this point, we are hoping and praying that Hamlin comes out of this.
Both teams will have an incredibly difficult time bouncing back from this, considering the level of trauma that they must have faced seeing one of their own fall in this way.
Taylor and McDermott’s actions spoke wonders about their character.
Prayers for the Hamlin family from Missouri.