Throughout the week, players and coaches around the NFL have offered their perspectives and thoughts on Damar Hamlin’s terrifying health scare on the field Monday night during the Bills-Bengals game. Hamlin collapsed and needed CPR before being transported to a local hospital, where he remains as of Friday.
Hamlin has made substantial progress and is now breathing on his own, but his situation has been a reminder of the considerable risks football players take every time they hit the field. Jalen Ramsey fully understands what he’s signed up for, especially after his best friend died on the field back in 2013.
On Friday, Ramsey offered his thoughts on the matter, sharing his perspective on Hamlin’s injury.
“I was just praying for him, hoping that he would get better and he has and (I) continue to pray for him and stuff like that,” Ramsey said. “Obviously, everybody’s affected by it, the other players on both teams, families, really anybody involved with it. But my feelings and emotions about it were hoping that he was OK, but also, it’s kind of what we signed up for is knowing everything that could happen. Yeah, my childhood best friend, he died on the football field back at Tennessee State, (William) Wayne Jones Jr., back in 2013. So since then, I’ve always kind of had the perspective of it could happen and every time I go out there and practice, game, whatever, I’m at peace with taking that risk with my life. That was kind of the only thing that I remember at that time in 2013, the only thing that really gave me a sense of peace about that was he died doing what he loved to do. And I don’t want to see that obviously for anybody, so I’m glad that’s not the situation here. But for me personally, that’s always been something that I can live with that. Lord forbid, I could go drive today and people in LA don’t know how to drive in the rain and something could happen to me. So I’m going to keep going, keep living my life in the way that I do and do things that I love to do.”
Knowing all the risks he takes when he does suit up for a game, Ramsey said he still plays fearlessly because he gets to do something he loves. He thinks most players would say the same thing, too.
“Each day I’ll still make the decision to go do what I love and do it at an elite level and fearless and with as much heart and passion as I can,” he said. “I honestly think that would be the same for a lot of people if you asked them that.”
Like everyone else, Ramsey hates seeing players go down with injuries, regardless of the severity. But Monday night’s situation was different.
“I hate seeing injuries or anything happen to anybody on the field because that was severe. That was insane, right?” he said. “But I feel that same way when anybody gets injured. Just two weeks ago when Derwin (James) got a concussion and he came up wobbling, I immediately was like, ‘Get him out of the game,’ and texting him and making sure he was going to be good. Like I said, I saw my childhood best friend, he died on the field. I’ve seen concussions, I’ve seen people get paralyzed, I’ve seen it kind of all, just the risk we take playing the game that we love and it can alter our lives in the way that we live our lives going on from this point on.”
After Hamlin woke up in the hospital, he asked doctors if the Bills won on Monday night. Ramsey said he probably would’ve asked the same thing, knowing how he’s wired as a competitor.
“We heard that one of the first things that he asked when he wrote to the doctors was, ‘Did we win?’ That’s our mindset, that’s what we think about,” he said. “We love the game that much. We want to know…that’s how I would’ve been if a situation would’ve happened to me. I would’ve been wondering too if we won, how the boys do the rest of the game.”
