Hamlin's routine on the asphalt hit Tua Tagovailoa with a scary reminder: 'It's trauma. it will always be'

Miami Gardens, Fla. — Damar Hamlin doesn't want to be the spokesman for football's mortality.

He wants people to recognize him as a quality football player and not a medical wonder. That process continues to unfold with every game Hamlin plays. Four nights after starting the Buffalo Bills' season opener, he led them with eight solo tackles and 10 total tackles.

On one of those plays, however, his new normal collided with a frightening reminder of football's brutal nature.

“I was just trying to make a routine tackle,” Hamlin said, “trying to get them down the field on fourth down.”

Because of Hamlin, anyone who watches football should know routine tackles don't exist. Disaster lurks in every play.

All the points had already been scored in the third quarter of the Bills' 31-10 win over the Miami Dolphins, and on this particular play, all the yards needed for a first down had been gained. But the quarterback with a troubling injury history doesn't slide.

On fourth-and-4 from Buffalo's 13-yard line, Tagovailoa was willing to pass before a lane opened up straight ahead. He scrambled 7 yards up the middle, but instead of landing safely, Tagovailoa closed his eyes, lowered the crown of his helmet and plowed into Hamlin head first.

After contact with Hamlin's right chest and arm, Tagovailoa's neck and head shook. Tagovailoa fainted and fell onto his rump, causing the back of his head to land on the grass at Hard Rock Stadium. An obvious sign of a brain injury, Tagovailoa's arms went into a fencing posture, his right hand raised stiffly and involuntarily, his fingers deformed.

Sadly, we saw Tagovailo in a similar pose. He has suffered at least four head injuries in 2022 and is considering retirement.

Hamlin did not immediately know the extent of Tagovailoa's predicament. Hamlin clapped his red-gloved hands in disgust and took out his mouthpiece, frustrated as the Dolphins removed the chains. Tagovailoa stayed down, but Hamlin thought it was just a cramp on an oppressively dirty South Florida night.

And then the moment kicks in, perhaps only briefly.

Dahmer Hamlin says he is undergoing trauma therapy to help him continue playing football despite the risks. (Peter Jonellit / Icon Sportswear via Getty Images)

Hamlin admits he may never shake the gravity of a major injury, but he's trying. It's been 20 months since his cardiac arrest while making an otherwise routine tackle against the Cincinnati Bengals. An extremely rare event triggers commotion cordis, a condition in which a blunt force to the chest within a 20- to 40-millisecond window of the heart rhythm causes it to stop. Hamlin was revived with CPR and a defibrillator and spent two days in a medically induced coma.

Hamlin would like to say he didn't think about Tagovailoa's posture more deeply than any other player, but that wouldn't be entirely honest.

“It's trauma. It always will be,” Hamlin said at his stall in the visitors locker room. “I can't be affected by it because of the work I've done. I went through trauma therapy. I have a psychologist that I talk to. It allowed me to push my mind forward, moving my process forward.

“I worked so hard last year putting on pads, tackling, getting ready to play that I'm perfectly fine now and fully able to go back and play.”

Hamlin was a healthy scratch for all but five games last season, none of which he started. He recorded two tackles in just 17 defensive snaps, nearly quadrupling the amount of play he did in last week's win over the Arizona Cardinals.

On Thursday night, he recorded his first tackle for loss since the game before his cardiac arrest. Two plays after tackling Tagovailo, Hamlin showed no hesitation in stuffing Dolphins tailback De'Von Aachen on second-and-goal from the 7-yard line. The play helped the Bills deny the Dolphins more points.

“It's football,” Hamlin said. “I worked hard—to clear my mind last year, the field was one of the safest places for my situation. We found a lot of professionals who practice this situation and I was able to come back because of it.

“So my mind is free. my mind is clear I'm trying to play football there.”

Hamlin's medical emergency was more catastrophic. He died on the field. But commotion cordis has never happened before in the NFL, and it's unlikely to happen again.

The situation in Tagovailoa is repetitive and at times frightening to witness. We know how football can damage the human brain.

Many in the soccer world took to social media to call for Tagovailoa to retire, saying the long-term brain issues weren't even worth the training camp he signed to the four-year, $212.4 million contract he signed.

Strangers begged Hamlin not to play anymore.

“You have to combine all of that,” Hamlin said. “At the end of the day, there's no one lining up with you on the field except for the people on your side. No one is in the house with you except your family if the camera is off. Those are the opinions that matter.”

Hamlin added encouragement.

“Pray to him,” Hamlin said. “I hope he recovers quickly.

“I know he's a dog. He is a warrior. He will be back soon, for sure.”

(Top photo: Jasen Vinlove / USA Today)