Less than one week after NFL player, Damar Hamlin, suffered a cardiac arrest on live television, NFL players mockingly “revived” a football player on the field during a game.
According to The Buffalo News, in a move that did not sit well with many football fans across the country, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, Alex Highsmith, sacked the opposing quarterback, Cleveland Browns’ Deshaun Watson. It wasn’t the play that upset fans, but the actions that followed.
As the linebacker remained on his back on the ground, one of Highsmith’s teammates walked over and placed both hands on his chest, seemingly performing “CPR” on the linebacker.
Ironically, Hamlin grew up in the Pittsburgh area, McKees Rocks, PA, and played his collegiate football career at the University of Pittsburgh before being drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 2021.
Fans were immediately offended by the action, which took place near the end of the game where the Steelers triumphed over the Browns.
Karma must have been waiting in the wings, as the Steelers awaited the results of the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets game to see if they qualified for the playoffs.
According to Sports Illustrated, the Steelers needed the Dolphins and the New England Patriots to lose in order to sneak their way into the postseason. With the Patriots losing their game and the Dolphins battling a tie
with the Jets, it seemed plausible that the Jets would pull it off. Yet, a controversial call that should have been reversed, allowed the Dolphins to eke out the win, eliminating the Steelers from the playoffs.In recent Hamlin news, the Bills player was still recovering at the hospital as he watched his team play. Hamlin also started promoting shirts that will have proceeds of the sales earmarked for first responders and the trauma team at The University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
The T-shirts quote the first words he asked when he awoke from his coma. “Did we win?” referencing the game played the night he suffered cardiac arrest.
“We all won. I want to give back an ounce of the love y’all showed me. Proceeds of this shirt will go to first-responders and the UC Trauma Center. Go get yours!”