Damar Hamlin Reaction (Hour 1)

Live from the play show yet not overly ostentatious studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City sitting on top of the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to a Tuesday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all the great local CBS Sports Radio affiliate Sirius XM channel 158 and that free Odyssey app. Please join me in welcoming Zach Gelb via the good old cesspool of Twitter or on Instagram where I'm straight flexing at Zach Gelb.

That's Z A C H G E L B. Clearly the biggest story today is one that we were on the air for last night and it was a scary, scary, scary scene that unfortunately did unfold in Cincinnati last night. In a game that we were all waiting for in great anticipation, in a game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills that going in there was a lot of buzz and hype about because these are the two best teams in my opinion in the AFC, two of the better teams in the NFL. So everyone was excited, getting ready to watch the game and then early on in that contest in the first quarter you know by now the situation that unfortunately did occur with DeMar Hamlin where according to the Buffalo Bills Twitter account where they confirmed it last night he suffered a cardiac arrest following a hit in their game up against the Bengals. His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He's currently sedated and listed in critical condition.

Then you also see his marketing manager Jordan Rooney today released a statement that his vitals are back to normal and they put him to sleep to put a breathing tube down his throat and they are currently running tests and they will continue to provide updates as they do become available. And when you look back at what happened, you had the injury occur where he tries to get back up after the collision with T. Higgins and then you just see while he stands back up he falls down. The game was obviously temporarily suspended. He is getting CPR on the field eventually at 9.25 p.m. Eastern the ambulance left the stadium and then at 10.01 p.m. Eastern time the game was officially postponed. As I was watching that last night and we saw it happen and I'm sitting here in a studio and we have the TV on we don't have sound you know that clearly a really bad situation did happen but you didn't know the extent of it because we've seen a lot of times in the NFL ambulances come on the field.

Players leave on a stretcher but as they kept on coming back from commercial break and having to take commercial breaks because nothing obviously was happening in terms of getting Damar Hamlin into the ambulance and we ended up finding out that he got CPR. You knew something was really really bad and this wasn't a situation that we've ever seen before and the memory that is just lasting in my mind over the last almost now 24 hours is when they came back ESPN from commercial break and you just saw the look on Josh Allen's face. And you knew that pale just blank stare look that Josh Allen had on his face and he was as white as a ghost that this was extremely serious. And the moment you saw that CPR was being issued on the field. You knew that they were not going to play that game last night.

And that's not the biggest concern. Obviously it's the health and safety of Damar Hamlin, and you find out that the bills players were circling around, Damar Hamlin because they didn't want cameras to see what was going on. And you just kept on seeing bills players like a few of them having to walk away but enough having to say stay there so you didn't end up seeing Damar Hamlin and the CPR that was going on but there's only just so much that you could take. And I know that we all watch these games and we all have a ton of passion about these games and we treat it as if this is the biggest thing in the world. You got to remember, Damar Hamlin is a teammate.

You know, these guys on the bills are very close. They're very tight group and Damar Hamlin, obviously like us all has a family and Sal Capaccio is going to join us, who's the bill silent reporter he was on the side and last night and went back on the team plane. And we talked to him earlier this morning on WGR and then also on CBS Sports Radio, and he said at one point he just looked up in the stands and he saw Damar Hamlin's mother trying to get on the field.

And it was to my understanding his mother and father rode with him in the ambulance. And last night, I left this studio. And obviously, you were rattled obviously, it was emotional. It doesn't matter if you're a bills or bangles fan it doesn't matter whatsoever. It's just a human being that affects you last night, when you're watching it just watching it on TV. Imagine being in that building imagine being a player on the Buffalo Bills or the Cincinnati bangles.

Imagine being a family member of Damar Hamlin. It was something that no one could have obviously expected going into that game. No one could have even thought there was a chance of that happening, going into the game. And it really puts life into perspective yes we get crazy on this show yes we treat the NFL, as it's the biggest thing in the world. But these players are human beings as well. They have families. They have lives outside of football, even though they pour in so much work and so much of a diligent effort to make all of us watch these games and have great memories watching these games, but a moment like that.

When you look at the game. It would have been absolutely disgusting if they would have returned and played when a player, a teammate of theirs, close friends of a lot of those guys in the bills organization, just saw their teammate get CPR in the field and you don't know what's going to happen and we don't know what's going to happen. So there's no way that they could have played that game last night, I know a lot of people are getting on the NFL. There's no playbook for this. They did not play the game they did not resume play last night, ultimately, they got it right. I think that's a big issue with the timeline.

Sure. Do I have the energy to really crush the NFL today about entertaining the thought of playing that game when you hear Joe Buck say that they were given five minutes and you saw Joe burrow warming up you saw Sean digs try to gather the team together, and he was looked like giving a passionate speech. There never should have been a thought of playing but there is a chain of commands that have to go on and communication when you don't have a lot of people associated with making those decisions in house, ultimately, the credit has to go just from watching it to Sean McDermott, and then also Zach Taylor, because clearly they were trying to get people to play that game and then Zach Taylor walked over to Sean McDermott, and they must have had a conversation they must have been. We don't want to play there's no way we could go through this. There's no way we could continue playing this game we're in the large scheme, scheme of things. I know that from a football standpoint in our football world that games an important game, but outside of the football world.

That game means nothing last night. Once you see what did occur to tomorrow Hamlin, and in any other field right. If you saw, let's say a colleague needs CPR in the office would they say, but after five minutes once he was taken out in an ambulance Okay, just go back to your desk and resume work, that wouldn't happen. You'd be told to go home.

And there's a mental health side of this, and 2030 years ago right, even five years ago, and year by year there is more of an acceptance of mental health in our world. And I don't know how that would be safe from mental health standpoint. And it would have been dangerous from a physical standpoint to because no one's. No one would have been locked into that game if you were a player for the bills of the Bengals last night. And I said this last night. While this was all unfolding and we were basically just repeating the information that we knew, and just stunned and shocked and sad and where you look at what occurred last night I remember saying on the air that. It has always just been something that has surprised me and shocked me throughout the years when you see a player. Go down with an injury and need to be taken off on a stretcher need to be taken off on an ambulance like Nick Gates from the Giants is going to join us coming up later, and he nearly had his, his leg amputated. And they need to air cast his leg and you saw how much pain he was a whole teammates, gather around them I remember Sterling Shepard saying things to him that was picked up on a microphone, and I never get how players are just able to quickly move on and get back to playing. And, yeah, Nick Gates almost lost his leg but what we saw last night.

You to play the needed CPR in the field. So there's no way they could have played that game last night. And all I did last night. And it took me about 40 minutes to just leave the studio once the show ended at 10pm Eastern time, because you were just watching the coverage and trying to find out more information. And I got home I only live, less than 10 minutes from the studio. And I watched ESPN last night. I went through all of Scott Van Pelt and then the show after Scott Van Pelt like I don't think I went to bed until 3am anytime you turned over the middle of the night.

You went to Twitter to see if there was an update of the moment you got up in this morning, you went to go see if there was an update. And this is just a scary situation. It puts life into perspective, because everything you hear today about Tamar Hamlin is that he's an unbelievable person. And you see all the money that has been raised for his charity as well. And all the good things that he's tried to do on his very short time so far on this earth. And you just hope that everything turns out to be okay for him. But that is something, what we saw last night that's going to be engraved in your memory forever.

Because it's an isolated game. It's a big time matchup. And I saw something last night that I've never seen before.

And it's something that is just absolutely scary. And there obviously you want to see what now happens to Tamar Hamlin and we're hoping for the best and we're praying for him. But then also for those Bengals and Bill's teammates, like how do they step back onto a field this year? And I know the NFL released a statement that they won't resume that game, Bills and Bengals this week. And they said there's been no changes to the week 18 schedule. If I'm a player and I see what occurred last night, I'm not rushing to get back onto the field this weekend.

I wouldn't. So I know the league has a ton of resources. I know that obviously mental health is, there's been more of an acceptance for it. But I just hope that all these players involved last night get the therapy that they're going to need. Because yeah, we sometimes look at athletes as robots.

We sometimes just always expect athletes invincible. They're always going to be there. They're always going to show up to work and give it their all on the field. And with how passionate we are for football, you lose sight that these are human beings like us. And these are human beings that have families.

And these are people that have human emotions. And you saw it last night on television and they're showing it right now. Had the NFL Network on, ESPN on in the studio. And you just see the tears coming down the players faces. You just see the blank stares, the emotions.

Last night when I was watching ESPN while they're doing a live shot, you have Stefan Diggs show up to the urgent care, taking an Uber from a stadium. It's just something that no one should have had to have seen. It's something that obviously you wish never occurred. But last night, it's almost as if everything pauses. And now you just think of DeMar Hamlin and you think of his family. And you just hope that everything turns out to be OK, because what we saw last night was something I've never seen.

And it is a moment that you will remember forever. And it's the scariest thing that I've ever seen on an NFL field. Zach Gelb here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Sal Capaccio, the Bill Sideline reporter, will join us next. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio as we continue to react to what did unfold last night in Cincinnati between the Bills and the Bengals involving DeMar Hamlin. Someone that was on the sideline last night was also on the team plane is Sal Capaccio, the longtime Bill Sideline reporter. Sal, I wish we were talking under better circumstances, obviously.

Thank you so much for joining us and hope you're doing well and hanging in there OK. Yeah, no problem, Zach. Been a long, tough 24 hours, a little less than that, I guess. You know, everybody here is still obviously feeling the effects and thinking about DeMar. How did you process it last night when you're on the sideline and a lot of us just didn't know what was going on? And then you slowly see, obviously, you've been on the sideline. What was occurring? Well, you know, there's two parts of it, right?

The professional part, the personal part. And as it's happening, I'm live on the air and they're throwing it down to me on the field. I'm trying to describe everything that I'm seeing.

And, you know, that's happening. And I'm seeing these players who are larger than life and tougher than life. And they're so emotional and you're trying to comprehend that and seeing that, you know, what's happening on the field. But at the same time, you know, I'm also kind of witnessing something that is just horrific.

And I never thought I'd ever see in a game or think about ever seeing a game and hope I never do again. But, you know, you have to concentrate on doing the job. And at that moment, I have to be an observer and a source of information to our listeners.

So processing it was probably more so from the professional side at the point at that time. Whereas I would say this morning, it's more from the personal side. And I'm getting up and I'm kind of putting myself back in that moment. And it's kind of, you know, hitting, you know, what happened last night, what I witnessed. And now I'm also seeing some of the images even beyond what I saw on the field last night. Because I didn't see some of the personal shots you guys saw from TV.

Like I might not have seen like Josh Allen and Joe Burrow. I didn't see them off to the side and embracing each other and things like that. I'm seeing even more of that reaction from last night. And that's made it a little bit tougher today. Yeah, I'm sitting in the studio last night and obviously we're on the air.

So we don't have the sound on, but we have the TV on and they keep on taking breaks and coming on back. You obviously knew something was wrong, but we've seen players before get taken off on stretchers, taken off on an ambulance. But when they came back, Sal, and they showed Josh Allen's face, it was just a blank stare and he was as white as a ghost.

And that's when I really knew how bad that this was. Yeah, so it started off, you know, as you know, that DeMar collapsed. And it's not that we've never seen that before. I've seen that kind of thing happen before the field. We all have, because usually if a guy gets knocked out or a head injury, that can happen, right? And you know it's serious, but I saw him collapse. And then what happened was you saw the Bengals players basically motioning to the trainers to come out as fast as possible. That's the first step of, okay, something's a little bit more serious here.

But even then, you know, you've seen those kinds of things happen. Then they're working on him and I look in and I'm like, boy, are they doing CPR on him? Like, it looked like it, but I couldn't tell because you couldn't tell and see because there were a lot of bodies around there and people doing what they had to do.

And then I thought, there's no way. Like, they're not performing CPR on a guy in the middle of a football field. They have to be cutting off his face mask because he must have a neck injury. That's what I thought.

Come to find out, it's bull, right? I mean, they were doing CPR and they cut off his face mask for obvious reasons. Then you started to see the emotion started pouring from players' faces.

And that's when it became what you just said. Like, you see, Josh, I will tell you, Saran Neal, Jaquan Johnson, guys like that, Turdavious White. And think about that's the DB room. Those are his guys. Those are the guys that he goes to the meetings with every day. They're closer than anybody in the team, really.

They spend more time than anybody. Those are guys even more family than even, you know, even though the team is family, those guys spend all that time together. You know, they were very, very emotional.

But I'm going to tell you, what really made it for me, Zach, when it got to the point of, oh my God, this is horrific and something I've never seen before, the entire Bills sideline came off the sideline and went on the field. And what they did was they formed a big circle, a perimeter, around Damar Hamlin and the medical team. And what they did, they did it with their backs towards him so that they were facing out around the whole circle. And they were locked in with their shoulders or their arms and they were holding each other and they were crying and they were kneeling. But they're all right there.

And the reason they did that, you could tell, they did not want anyone to see in to see what was happening and how they were working on Damar. And that told me a lot. Sal Capaccio here with us. Did you see his mother at all on the field last night?

I did. I tweeted about it because it's one of the more emotional moments and one of the moments that will be embedded in my brain for a long, long time. While the team was out on the field, I look over, I'm still on the sidelines and I see a woman at the base of the wall. And she's talking with security and a little bit animated with her hands. And she's wearing a blue number three Bills jersey.

And, you know, that's the Mars number. And I could hear her say, that's my son. And she wanted to come on the field to be with her son. And she sees me and she sees a couple other people. And she's trying to kind of get people's attention because she wants to come down.

You know, I can't really help her and there's something I can do. But I turn around and and where she was, there was no access to the field where she was at the base of the wall. But I turn around and I see Dane Jackson. You know, Dane Jackson played at Pitt with them. And now he's his teammate here in Buffalo.

And Dane must have known where the Mars family was because he was looking and he saw her. And he got the attention of the team chaplain and player to the director player development. And he went over and between him and Bill security and the Bengal Stadium security, they were able to get her navigated to an area where she could go down into the under the in the field area, basically into the tunnel to meet the ambulance when it got over there.

Sal Capaccio here with us. Last night, like I was probably up until three in the morning watching all the coverage on ESPN. And you saw the shot of Stefan Diggs. I guess he took an Uber from the stadium to the to the to the hospital. You know, I know Stefan Diggs has been such a big part in that locker room. But that was a scene, Sal, that that I'll never forget because, you know, obviously you knew that some players were going to go over to the hospital, but just see Stefan Diggs having, you know, to walk up to that hospital really did kind of put the situation into what it was was unfolding to be.

Yeah, for sure. And, you know, it was reported by I think it was Koli Harvey who reported that ESPN said that Stefan was initially turned away by one of the cops at the hospital. He had to explain, hey, that's my teammate there.

I want to go in. And Koli even said he had to tell the cop, this Stefan Diggs, one of the best receivers in the NFL, his teammates in there. And they ultimately let him in. When we left the stadium as a group, as a team, I'm on the team charter. We waited quite a while to even get on the bus and they didn't want anybody even going in the locker room or even near the locker room. So we waited till that was cleared out.

Then we all got on the bus and we were there probably on the bus for over an hour. And I'm pretty sure that's because they were waiting for everybody to come back from the hospital. Even Diggs, Coach McDermott, because everybody flew back with the team except for Demar, obviously, who is still in intensive care, excuse me, at the hospital. And I believe GM Brandon Bean stayed back as well.

Sal Cappaccio here with us. I know that it's such a private situation, so I understand if you can't get into much detail, but the flight back and just conversations that you had with players, if any at all on the flight back, what was the flight like? Yeah, I can't really disclose any of that when I'm on the team charter, but I would just say that anytime you have a night game anyway, you're going to have people basically exhausted, falling asleep, flying through the night. It's going to be pretty quiet and obviously you can imagine there wasn't much conversation through the entire trip. I'll start just from the coming out of the media room, people on their phones. I know I called my wife to give her an update on what was going on, but other than that I don't really talk to anybody.

But it was quiet the whole way through until we got home, I'll say that. The human emotion of this. I know football, right? We make it out to be the biggest thing in the world and we think athletes are invincible. We just expect them to show up each and every week, but you forget about the relationships that this team has.

I know a few of the Bills players, I don't know how close of a group that is. The mental health side of this, Sal, is going to be a big one because you talked about the circle that they were making around Damar Hamlin and how many players had to leave just because they were crying and had to walk a few feet away. I just don't know how these players just turn the page right now and get back to even thinking about football.

Yeah, for sure. People talk about when's the next game going to be. I don't even know about showing up for work tomorrow, to be honest with you. Who's going to do that?

What that situation is like? Normally, Wednesday is a practice day. It's a media day. We go in there and hear from Sean McDermott. We don't know what's going on yet.

Quite frankly, I don't necessarily care. It's not the bigger issue, but you're right. I keep thinking about there's got to be players on this team who probably wanted to come in today and talk to somebody. Tuesday is their normal day off anyway, so we wouldn't be down there on a normal Tuesday and today would be their day off. There's probably, I would guess, other players who maybe they don't want to. Maybe they don't want to see Damar Hamlin's locker and think about him not being a part of them in the meeting.

I don't know, but I will tell you this. Over the last few years, under Sean McDermott and Brandon Bean, the Bills have absolutely been at the forefront of providing as many resources as possible to assist in the mental health of their entire organization. Players, coaches, staff. It's very, very, very important to them and it has been. I've seen this up close. My wife actually works in the mental health field herself. I've really been impressed with the organization and how they've really made available as many resources as possible to everybody in the organization for this type of thing, for mental health, and assisted in that.

I'm guessing a lot of that is going on right now. Sal Cappaccio, a lot of people have been talking about the five minute remark that was made in the broadcast that the players were told in five minutes they were going to resume play. Clearly, the way that Sean McDermott and Zach Taylor handled it was admirable because there was no way they were going to return to play, nor should they last night. Did you hear anything on the sideline? Because you saw Burr warming up. It looked like at one time, Staphon Diggs was trying to rally everyone together. Were they ever close to actually coming back and playing that game last night?

I think they were, but here's what I'll tell you. I didn't know about the five minute thing until I heard today that Joe Buck apparently had said that on the broadcast a few times. Multiple times, yeah. But I don't recall. Zach, am I saying he did or he didn't? But I never remember hearing Sean Smith, the referee, say this over the loudspeaker. I don't remember anybody actually saying in the stadium that there's going to be a five minute warm up period. I didn't hear anybody on the sideline say it. I'm not saying anybody got a directive or they didn't. I'm not saying anybody told players that they didn't.

I'm telling you, I didn't hear anything from what I recall. That said, not only was Staphon Diggs with tears streaming down his face, by the way, bringing players in and trying to re-energize them, get them up a little bit to play, the Bills defense was on the field. Eleven players were preparing for a snap. That's what they were doing. Now, my take is, I think they're just conditioned to do this, right? This is what they do.

When you have these situations, what do you do? You press on, you play. And it sounds callous because it basically is in a situation like that. But ever since they've been little kids and playing football, you see a teammate get injured, you hope for him, he can bring it out, you help him, you get him off the field. Let's go on to the next play.

That's just the way it is. I mean, week two, Dean Jackson, Monday Night Football against Tennessee, he lay on the field with that neck injury. Remember that? He got carted off. They played.

Zach, I'm close to 50 years old. I've played and coached and been in the media in this game for decades. I've never been around a game that they didn't resume after an injury. I don't think you have. I don't remember any football.

I don't think they have. I don't think any of these players have ever been in that situation where a game didn't resume because of injury. You know why? Because that's what you do. You go up and you play the next play. So my thought is, they did that because that's what they're conditioned to do their whole life, to play the next play. As tough as that would have been. And I don't know how they could have done it. And we were talking to the broadcast. How are they going to do this?

There's no way they should be out here. And then Diggs, he actually goes on the field. Saran Neil is coming off. He goes up to Saran Neil. Saran Neil was playing for Taron Johnson, by the way, who got hurt on the first series. And Stephon Diggs was up to Saran Neil.

By the way, Saran Neil was still balling. Like, he had tears gushing out of his face. And he goes up to me, grabs him in the face, his right and left cheek, basically. And he's telling him, like, okay, come on, here we go. We got to go out there and play.

And I'm like, this is surreal. Like, how are these guys going to go out there and do this? Well, thankfully, Zach Taylor and Sean McDermott and maybe the officials, I don't know what role they played. Because I don't want to say they didn't want to do it or they did want to do it. I don't know.

But they got together, as you saw, and then eventually said, we're not playing and go to the locker room. Last one for you, Sal. And I can't thank you enough for doing this. Sal Cappaccio, the Bills' sideline reporter here with us. Damar Hamlin, what do you want people to know about the person, Damar Hamlin? He's just such a great kid. You know, I mean, he came in this league and I remember the day he was drafted. Todd McShay was breaking him down ESPN. He said he is going to make the team. He's a six-round pick coming in, playing a spot that, you know, it's so tough to break the team here today.

Poirier and Hyde. And he said, he said, I guarantee you he makes this team because he's got everything Brandon Mee and Sean McDermott love. He's going to be a terror on special teams. He's a really physical player. Well, guess what?

It all turned out to be true. And that's what he did. That's how he made the team. And he's, he's all ball. He's all about being in the moment and helping his teammates and working his tail off.

But you know what? Off the field, you've seen, I think, I'm so glad right now today that we've seen a lot of these videos, him coming out, unfortunately, in the circumstance. But people really learning about Damar and, you know, that he has such a kind heart and he has his foundation, his charitable foundation, chasing millions.

And you've seen that they, they've raised over four million dollars, the donations to his page, which is a toy drive, basically. And, you know, quick story. He took over for Micah Hyde and early in the year, he goes on the field and they win a game and he has a big part in it.

I don't remember what the Steelers game, maybe, maybe game right after that. And I do a postgame interview with someone coming off the field in those situations. So I go up and I, I say, oh, I'm going to interview Damar Hamlin. Like, he's a guy I never really got in this situation.

I've talked to everybody else over the last, whatever years after they've won a game. And I just run up to him, I'm like, Damar, Damar, you know, live on air, live radio interview. And he looks at me like, no, no, I'm okay.

I don't want to do that. And I said to him, I said, Damar, I said, in nine years, I've never had anybody say no. They don't want to talk after they won. And he kind of looked at me and he's like, oh, okay. He didn't understand, like, the value he had on the field in the game.

And that, you know, because he's so unassuming, he's not looking for the attention. I think that that kind of, he chuckled about it and he did a great interview. We joked about it after the game because he didn't understand it. I wanted to talk to him about his role in the game because he was so good.

Because all he's trying to do is do his job. Sal, I can't thank you enough. We're thinking about you. We're thinking about all with the Bills and Bengals organizations.

And obviously most of, and a ton of our thoughts are with Damar Hamlin as well. Thank you and you be well. All right. You too, man.

Thanks. There is Sal Cappaccio, the Bills' sideline reporter. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show.

It is the Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. Obviously, we're talking about the Damar Hamlin situation and clearly wish him nothing but the best. I talked to a few members of the Bills organization today. Don't need to get into too many specifics about those conversations.

But really, everyone has the same message. That everyone sat in shocked and they're just praying that everything turns out to be okay with Damar Hamlin. As that's a situation last night that I've never seen anything like it. And clearly, you never hope to see anything like it again. And you've seen players before, right? Fall down, get taken off on a stretcher, get taken off into an ambulance. How many times do you see players give a thumbs up? And last night, you knew that was not going to happen.

I don't know, but I've never seen a player be given CPR on the field. And that's the two moments for me. Because you knew something was serious. But when it was to a level that was just unprecedented.

When you started to realize the magnitude of the moment. It was the look on Josh Allen's face, when his hands are over his mouth. As ESPN caught it on camera, they were coming back from break. And then just also when you heard the report. That CPR was being given on the field. And Sal documented Sal Capaccio, the Bills sideline reporter, just joined us.

Documented his view from the sideline. Where at first you just thought, right, they were unscrewing his face mask. Because that happens when you're taking someone off on a stretcher, they remove the face mask. And then as it was going on, Sal, are they giving him CPR?

And they were taking the face mask off to give him CPR. And that's something that I have never seen on a football field. Never. And it's one of those moments that you will clearly never forget. And you just hope that at some point we get some encouraging positive news about Tamar Hamlin.

On a platform that we have like this, all I could do is just pass along really the messages that I received while talking to people in management. And then also people that are on the Bills team. Where it's just you gotta keep on thinking and praying and hoping for the best for Tamar Hamlin. And McKeon, I don't know how these players, if they're told to play this weekend, are gonna be able to do that. And last night, you could never have returned to that game. I definitely do think that there was a thought that that game was gonna get played by probably some in the league office. There's a reason why Joe Buck kept on saying on the broadcast, I didn't realize this in the moment. Because we're doing the show last night, we're on the air, we don't have the sound on in this studio.

And Joe Buck, I looked back this morning and I saw the clips that were being posted. He said three or four times, we're being told that this game's gonna resume in five minutes, five minutes, five minutes. And when you find out that someone is getting CPR in the field, you're like, there's no way that they could play this game and resume it in five minutes. And we've discussed the mental health aspect of this as well.

McKeon, for people that don't know, is an EMT. It's just one of those things that I don't know how, after you're a part of that last night, and clearly, eventually you have to go back to living your life. But there is major, major therapy that's gonna be needed for a lot of people, because as Sal was even talking about, they were surrounding Damar Hamlin. So the cameras couldn't see what was going on, and their backs were turned to him. And you could just hear what's going on, and then naturally, I'm sure the players turned around to look. And you just saw, kind of one by one, you stay here, and there were just some players, and obviously so, that just had to walk 15, 20 yards away. Because this is your teammate, this is someone that you see on a daily basis, and you realize that obviously something to a level that we've never seen before in a football field was happening.

And I mentioned last night, I think we lose track a lot being in this industry, and the people who listen to the radio, or as obsessed with sports are as we are, that we are in the toy shop. We don't realize that this is real life. These are people. These are real people, and I think we don't sometimes always put into perspective how much these guys are around each other. We start talking about football in June, July, May, when they start reaching mini camps and stuff, they're with each other 70s a week, some of these guys in the facility. And they're practicing every day. Some of these guys see each other more than they see their families.

Exactly. Especially a guy like DeMar, who was a 6th round pick trying to make the team, he was probably in the facility every single day watching as much film as possible, being in the weight room as much as possible. So this is a guy that was around these guys all the time, and to see this happen to him, I don't know how some of these guys go through this mentally and are going to be able to get themselves prepared back for something that seems as trivial as a football game at this point. Right, we always make football to be the biggest deal in the world, and winning the Super Bowl is the biggest deal in the world, and clearly the Bills have a team that going into the year are the Super Bowl favorites.

But if I'm a Bills player right now, when you see literally your brother on the field like that, I don't care about the rest of the season. I can't right now get the energy to think about, are they going to play on Sunday? And I know the NFL said they're not going to resume this game, Bengals and Bills, this week.

I don't see how, and maybe I'm caught up in the moment here, but this is just how I feel. I really don't see how they play football this week. Now, they're going to play football again this season. The NFL is going to resume football, maybe they just take this week off, you have a bye week in between a Super Bowl, and you push everything back a week. But even if you just push something back a week, these emotions and these feelings are still going to be there. I know that eventually with how much money's on the line and everything, they're going to play.

But a week from now, if they resume play, even if it's probably the right call, it doesn't still make it any easier because unfortunately, we don't know what is going to happen. Just with some of the people that I went to college with, Dion Dawkins and Tyler Metikevich, so I sometimes get an inside look of that Bills locker room. I've been to Bills games throughout the years, I've been in the player and family area after games.

You know, following Dion on Instagram every Friday, they're dancing in the locker room doing karaoke. Now this is a close, fun, tight group, and I know you play football whether it's middle school, JV, varsity, college, NFL. If you get inside that locker room, whether you're still friendly with people in the locker room or not all these years later, but when you're in that locker room, that's a really tight bond. And you said it, and you said it perfectly, that these players with how much they're on the road, how much they're in the training facility, summer, off-season work, during the season, even when right practice is over, they're in the locker room and those moments, they spend more time with their teammates than their actual families. And whenever you hear players retire, they talk about thanking their family for allowing them to be with their team for so long.

So this is something, and I know I sound like a broken record player, and I've been saying it all throughout the show, I've never seen anything like this. No, and you see situations a lot, this is not similar to a star player on a team tearing his ACL and the rest of the organization rallies around that. It's the CPR on the field. Yeah, this is not that. It's not the same thing. It's hard to come up with words, Zach, and I think a little bit of praise is in order for you of the way you've handled it over the last two days and the way you've been able to speak about it and stuff, because it's not an easy thing. It really isn't. No, it's not, and when I walk out of the studio last night and you just see some of the shots and I see someone that I went to college with, Tyler Metikevich, who is one of the happiest people you'll ever meet, just had that blank stare on his face and you could just see the look of pain through his eyes. It really did get to me last night, and I just hope everything turns out to be okay with DeMar Hamlin.