Bills safety Damar Hamlin is on the field and practicing with his teammates for the first time since suffering cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Football game less than six months ago.
Hamlin took the field as a full participant with no limitations.
For the first time in an OTA open to the media, Damar Hamlin wore his helmet and was a full participant in practice. Big step forward. pic.twitter.com/4NVoPBhgFI
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) June 6, 2023
Some of Hamlin’s drills: pic.twitter.com/dUuofnlFt1
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) June 6, 2023
The practice was not without difficulty for Hamlin, however. At one point, he was slow getting up after a play and had to be evaluated by team trainers who seemed to focus on his right arm and shoulder, Alaina Getzenberg reports.
Hamlin’s presence is not a complete surprise. He was cleared to resume football activities in April. Though, his full participation with a helmet may have come as a bit of a surprise to his head coach Sean McDermott. Before practice on Tuesday, McDermott said the team was “going to continue to take it one day at a time and just support Damar in every way possible.”
He further said that Hamlin wasn’t practicing but was “in the building working.” Well, as seen in the video, he did much more than stay in the building.
Hamlin was cleared to return by multiple specialists in and out of the NFL. Hamlin is entering his third season with Buffalo.