Last night my son was watching "Monday Night Football". He kept yelling up to me that something was going on. He said a player went down, I assumed it was a regular injury. He then said a cart was coming out. I thought it was an ACL. But then he said that an ambulance was on the field. Then he said that they were performing CPR. Then he said the game fully stopped.

I had to know what was going on. I told him to turn the game off when I turned it on. Why did I do this you may ask? My son is 10, he is a football player and he tends to linger on stuff for a very long time. I also turned the game on myself and saw what was unfolding on the field. It was, and still is, very frightening.

Bills defender Damar Hamlin was making a routine, albeit kind of violent tackle, and he simply passed out. He made the hit, adjusted his facemask, took three steps back and collapsed. The medical team rushed the field, like they do with any big injury. But when the ambulance came on the field, and the announcers said that the medical team was performing CPR, and when they cut his jersey off, this felt different. This was serious. This was bad.

This is what everyone worries about when CPR needs to be performed. Hamlin needed CPR to save his life on that football field last night. He, from what I have seen reported, suffered cardiac arrest. His heart stopped working last night. I read that they performed CPR for 9 minutes last night. They rushed him to the hospital after they got his heart to work again. They intubated him when he got there. They got his vitals back to some kind of normalcy. All the stuff the medical crew did on that field saved his life last night.

After he was rushed to the hospital I watched the game for a bit longer. This was scary. I was worried. I am still worried. Damar Hamlin is still in critical condition. He is still in the hospital. He will be there for a while I imagine. When all of this went down I watched the reaction from other athletes and pundits. It was, for the most part, very supportive. All kinds of pro football players sent immediate support. Everyone was thinking about Hamlin. All the sports pages I follow were filled with support for Hamlin and his family. His donations soared, upwards of 3 million dollars, throughout the evening. This is the good part of sports. People showing support and showing real feelings for a person whose life is still at stake.

Of course there are certain people, Skip freaking Bayless, who could care less about Damar Hamlin and his family. But he was an outlier. I don't even want to dignify what he said because it is appalling. He should be fired, but we will see what the company he works for does.

I want to shift the focus on Damar Hamlin. This young man has had a serious threat happen to his life playing the game he loves. This is scary. This is where sports aren't that important. This is the scariest part of having a son who is an athlete who also happens to love the game of football. He was still asking questions on the way to school this morning. I hope that they are able to find what the problem is and save Damar Hamlin's life. I want him to get out of that hospital. I want him to go home and be with his loved ones. I want him to be safe and sound. This is what I hope for. But most importantly I want this young man to live. Football is not the end all be all. He should not have to lose his life playing the game he loves. This is not what is supposed to happen to young men who are professional athletes. I can only sit back and think of Hank Gathers in a moment like this.

Be safe and recover Damar Hamlin. The world needs you around longer. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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