Damar Hamlin is a safety for the Buffalo Bills who went into cardiac arrest after a big hit during a game on January 2nd

By now, you have either seen or heard about Damar Hamlin. Damar Hamlin is a 2-year veteran of the National Football League, currently playing for the Buffalo Bills out of New York. On January 2nd, 2023, Hamlin was playing against the Cincinnati Bengals in a big game that would determine the playoffs for the NFL season. During the game, Hamlin was making what was considered a routine tackle against Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins during the 1st quarter of the critical game.

During the tackle, Higgins had lowered his shoulder a little bit, aiming at Hamlin’s chest. Hamlin made the routine tackle, not appearing to be in any pain or an unstable state. Soon after Hamlin stood up, he then collapsed onto his back. The Bills’ medical staff then ran out onto the field and began CPR, to which Hamlin was loaded into an ambulance on the field and rushed to a local level 1 trauma center.

After staying up for a while after the game had been suspended, I listened to what the commentators and ESPN reporters had to say, and I took away that this rarely happens in football games to the point where they have to pull an ambulance on the field.

I personally do not play football, and I don’t know what it feels like to take a hit wearing the pads that football players wear. As someone who follows football, I know that players’ equipment is designed to be light and to put player safety first. My theory about how this might change football on all levels, peewee to the NFL, is simple.

I believe that the companies that are responsible for designing and manufacturing football pads are going to either be required, or out of the safety and compassion for their customers, will find a way to add a new layer of padding, either foam or some sort of shock absorbing material similar to what the players already wear inside their helmets. The companies will put that type of padding in the same area where Hamlin took his hit. Hopefully, adding these pads will prevent injuries at all levels of football, like the one that Damar Hamlin suffered during the game.