Mike Petraglia | Cincinnati Bengals Reporter

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Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive and save 10% on our first month. My sincere thank you to a longtime friend, Mike Petralia, who has the Jungle Roar Podcast and joins us now from Cincinnati after having left the stadium. What was the last thing that you heard as you were leaving, Mike?

What was the last update that you got? Well, Amy, the last thing we understood as we all left the stadium tonight is that DeMar is in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. It's an outstanding facility, but DeMar Hamlin was taken there with family in an ambulance. It took a couple of minutes, actually, to locate his family inside the stadium. That's what caused a little bit of a delay, him leaving the stadium, but he was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center where he is listed officially in critical condition, and that's all we know at this point.

That happened a little after 9 o'clock Eastern Time. I guess by the time they got his family in the ambulance, as you point out, there was a little bit of a delay. What happened at the stadium, as best you can tell, in the wake of the ambulance departing and the two teams heading back to their locker rooms? So that was the subject of a conference call I was on with Troy Vinson of the National Football League at around midnight, and he said really the thing to understand is that there was never any consideration of resuming the game once they determined the severity of the situation regarding DeMar Hamlin. They were not prepared, and the Bills certainly were not prepared to resume that game. The Bengals were almost as distraught and disturbed by what they just saw on the field right before 9 p.m. And there was never any consideration of resuming the game. The league was in very close contact with Sean Smith, the referee in the game, and it was Smith who individually and collectively spoke with Sean McDermott, head coach of the Bills, and Zach Taylor, head coach of the Bengals, and they made a decision to take the teams back to their respective locker rooms, talk to them, update them on the situation the best they could, and it was pretty evident pretty quickly, Amy, that this game was not going to resume. The timeline was at 9.16 after the ambulance had departed the field to suspend the game temporarily. I found that a little bit odd, but I think they were just trying to determine what the situation was with DeMar Hamlin leaving the stadium and going to the hospital. Once it was determined that Hamlin was in critical condition as he arrived at the hospital, at 10.01 p.m. the announcement came from the NFL to officially postpone the game. I know there was no media availability for either team, the Bills or the Bengals, and I understand the Bills are on their way back to Buffalo, but there were players moving around. We saw some video of family, also the officials who were underneath the stadium as well. I'm not sure where you were, Mike, but what did you see in the wake of the players heading back to the locker rooms? So we, as a media contingent covering the Bengals, were hanging out right outside the Bengals' locker room and we were attempting to go down to the media interview room, not the media workroom, but the media interview room in anticipation of some type of announcement from someone as to what was going on. That never occurred, and I think the decision was a good one because I think it was such a sensitive, taut situation that Troy Vincent alluded to several times in his conference call, motions were high, that once it was determined that there was going to be no media availability, all we could do is sit back and watch Joe Burrow, Ted Karras, Sam Hubbard, Joe Mixon, four of the Bengals game captains that I saw make their way down to the Bills' locker room and offer sympathy and support.

What else can you do in a situation like that? And that's what the Bengals were able to do, and that was my vantage point throughout the 45-minute period between 9, 15 and 10 o'clock. Mike Petralia is with us from Cincinnati where he has just recently departed the stadium.

He covers the Bengals and has the Jungle Roar podcast and we're long-time colleagues going back to our days in New England. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. In the stadium, when he was out there on the field and the players had surrounded him, your perspective, where you were and what it sounded like inside the stadium as people were waiting, really kind of holding their breath. Well, it's interesting you say that, Amy, because there was silence as there usually is in a serious injury situation in the NFL. That is sadly not unusual because it's a violent sport, but usually you see the thumbs up or you see some type of indication that he's going to be okay and players get back to their respective sidelines after collecting themselves.

Their thoughts are with their injured teammate in the locker room. That wasn't the case. Once he was on the field receiving CPR and it was evident to a lot of the players what was going on, that this was a life-saving measure being taken by first responders and emergency personnel on the field.

It had a whole different tone. And then when he was loaded into the ambulance, there was the cheer of support from the fans in the stadium and that is obviously something you hear all the time in different stadiums around different sports. When that happens, you cheer for the athlete who is needing critical medical attention. But once that happens, it was obvious that Sean Smith, the referee, and Sean McDermott of the Bills and Zach Taylor, when they got together, the game was not going to resume. And then there was a stunned silence.

You could hear a pin drop in Pecor Stadium tonight. It was unlike any environment I have ever been in because I think I'd say 80-85% of the people sensed what was going on. A couple of things that stand out to me, and you mentioned football is such a violent sport, but the electricity in the stadium, and you were there.

The excitement, the adrenaline, all of the anticipation for this game. And it comes to a grinding halt. So as you point out, it was from one extreme to the other. So that's one thing that really struck me. And I think even as we've covered football a long time, as you say, we see serious injuries and we see games stop. We see teams rally around an injured player and the medical staff out there on the field. We even see ambulances periodically on a field. But what I think really indicated to me that this was something extreme, the facial expressions and the looks on the faces of not just the Bills but also the Bengals who very quickly realized this was different. Very much so, Amy.

And I'll tell you another thing. It really struck me when the teams went to the locker room because I said to a couple of my colleagues sitting around me in the press box at Pecor, I said, they're not coming back out. There is no way, after seeing what they just saw, that they're going to be able to play and resume play in this game tonight. And essentially, Troy Vincent confirmed that on the conference call that it was a very emotional, raw, very difficult situation emotionally for players to handle and coaches to handle because the league really had not ever seen anything like this on this scale before. And when you hear that kind of language and verbiage from a former player like Troy Vincent, I don't take those words lightly. I think the league was shuttered at what they were watching on TV and they put into place an emergency action plan.

They administered it, I think, the best way they could. And they made the best decision that they possibly could and that was to postpone the game and consider the life of a fellow NFL player and put that at the top of the list in terms of priority. We get very wrapped up in our sports.

We get very involved and very emotionally invested in outcomes and games and even nuances. A call here, a snap there, but it pales in comparison when you think about a young man's life hanging in the balance. So if you would like to see more of what Troy Vincent had to say and Mike's observations from being at the stadium throughout the last several hours, you can find him on Twitter at Trags, T-R-A-G-S. Okay, sincere thank you and gratitude, Mike. I know it's been a long evening for you, but thank you so much for your observations and for your insight. Amy, always a pleasure talking with you. Tough circumstances tonight, I think, for any sports fan who was tuning in to watch the celebration of two great football teams and unfortunately, real life interrupted.

This is your operating system talking, not your computers or your phones, but your internal human operating system. I'm feeling a little overloaded. Here's how you can ease my stress. Close your eyes or softly gaze at something in front of you. Now inhale for four counts, exhale for six. Keep repeating.

Much better. Longer term, there's BetterHelp online therapy. They'll match us with the licensed therapist we can connect with via video, phone, or chat. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive and save 10% on our first month.

This is your operating system talking, not your computers or your phones, but your internal human operating system. I'm feeling a little overloaded. Here's how you can ease my stress. Close your eyes or softly gaze at something in front of you. Now inhale for four counts, exhale for six. Keep repeating. Much better. Longer term, there's BetterHelp online therapy.

They'll match us with the licensed therapist we can connect with via video, phone, or chat. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive and save 10% on our first month. If you're feeling down and having trouble getting up in the morning, here's a tip. Brush your teeth.

That's it. Often when we wake up, our brains go into planning mode, which leads to overthinking and stress before our head even leaves the pillow. Something simple like brushing your teeth can break that cycle and jumpstart your day. This tip was brought to you by BetterHelp online therapy, which connects you with the licensed therapist via video, phone, or online chat. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive and save 10% on your first month.