Damar Hamlin on why he decided to play football in the NFL again

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Damar Hamlin on why he decided to play football in the NFL again

  • Speaking at CNBC’s recent CEO Council Summit, Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin shared his thoughts on leadership and decision-making, including how he found the courage to return to the NFL after an on-field cardiac arrest that stunned and eventually inspired a nation.

Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest on the field during a Monday Night Football game in January was a moment of national trauma that occurred on live television. His recovery from the near-death experience and his poise as an individual ultimately inspired the nation. Still, his decision to play in the National Football League again after the personal medical trauma he experienced left many wondering how he ever found the courage to return.

In a recent interview on CNBC’s CEO Council Summit, Hamlin — who participated in recent practices with the Bills after being cleared to return to action in April — made it clear that his decision to return in the NFL has never been in doubt based on the approach he has always taken in life and based on what football has always meant to him.

“Football has always been my peace of mind. It’s always been my escape from the world. And that was kind of where I overcame my fears the most in my life,” Hamlin said at CNBC’s CEO event.

Hamlin noted that he also reviewed the statistics in making the decision.

Hamlin experienced commotio cordis, a rare heart condition that occurs when there is a blunt blow to the chest at the same moment the heart is preparing to contract. If the physical shock hits during a narrow window in the heart’s rhythm — a period of time of 20 to 40 milliseconds — it can disrupt the heart’s rhythm and cause sudden cardiac arrest. There are fewer than 10 cases of commotio cordis a year, according to the American Heart Association, and most cases occur in young male athletes, often in youth sports such as baseball.

During the week of his return to Bills practice, the players received CPR training. Hamlin has become a prominent spokesperson for heart health through a partnership with the American Heart Association and a major supporter of efforts to provide more life-saving critical medical equipment and education in schools. With prompt CPR and defibrillation, survival and recovery rates after a commotio cordis episode are more than 50%, according to the AHA. Hamlin recently spoke on Capitol Hill about the issue.

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is seen outside the U.S. Capitol before a press conference on the AED Access Act, which aims to improve access to defibrillators in schools, Wednesday, March 29, 2023.

Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

Doctors are confident Hamlin is in good enough health to play football again, and it’s very rare for someone to suffer commotio cordis twice, or survivors are more likely to experience other heart problems, according to the American Heart Association. Commotio cordis is not related to underlying heart problems or heart disease.

Research conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as numerous other studies conducted around the world, found that one in four cardiac arrest survivors may develop major post-traumatic stress disorder, which often causes them to avoid situations that may remind survivors of for a health crisis.

Hamlin told CNBC he is focused on the future. “You know, try to look at it as a misfortune rather than getting caught up in what happened. Trying to focus on growing from what happened, you know, not kind of trying to own the situation, but just trying to grow from it,” Hamlin said.

Watch the full video above of Hamlin’s interview with NBC Sports’ Maria Taylor at the CNBC CEO Summit to hear the football player in his own words about what returning to the NFL means to him.

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