NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Damar Hamlin update with Cameron Wolfe

Episode Date: January 5, 2023

Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, and Marc Sessler react to the devastating situation that unfolded during Monday night's Bills-Bengals game, and discuss the latest updates on Damar Hamlin's status with Cameron Wolfe.NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All right, welcome to Around the NFL. Dan Hans is here with Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler remotely. This is obviously our first time connecting with you guys since the horrible events of Monday night involving Demar Hamlin. And we just wanted to talk to you and talk with the audience about it. And we're going to have the great Cameron Wolf of NFL Network on in just a bit who's at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. getting the latest from him and his vibes of what it's like to be this close to a story of this magnitude. Gregi and Mark, I'll start with you, Greg. This has been obviously one of those stories that you never forget, and we've all been tracking it minute by minute, hoping for

positive updates about Damar. How you doing, bud? Yeah, it's something that when we all watched it, I think everyone recognized immediately that never seen anything like this on a football field, that it was a life and death situation in any sort of precedent that you saw of how teams were handling, how the NFL is going to end up handling it and everything is different because Tamar Hamlin's, you know, a young man fighting for his life. And we've been waiting, you know, to do this podcast, partly hoping, you know, seeing what the news is going to be. and it is encouraging as we were about to start taping the bill sent out a release that said

demar remains in the ICU in critical condition with signs of improvement noted yesterday and overnight and yeah we'll get into that with with cameron wolf who has more details and everything but i do feel like when it comes to his health and that's just been the focus here like we're in a better place than we were monday night yeah i mean it's such a positive uh situation from a day ago and I think that you know everything just was put on hold and my my feeling watching it um was so surreal and I you know I have thought back even sort of as it was unfolding and you could tell that it was just the length of time that they were on the field um attending to them that you're starting to think yourself this is unprecedented I've never watched anything like this

happened in football I've been watching football since 1984 and it just stood out as something completely different where the game um just faded into the complete background into the ether and you know the stuff that stood out to me was we have an idea of who like Josh Allen is right like he's this superstar athlete who does things that um the human body just doesn't typically do and then you're watching the other side of Josh Allen where like the look on his face that just is something that will stick with me just the look on his face and like you're realizing wait a minute these guys, they live together, they eat together, they spend all their time together, they know each other's personalities so well, they're brothers, they love each other. And just like the

feeling of players watching that happen to another player probably just obviously dug so deep into their own internal world of what it means to go put your body on the line each day. And so if anything, the thing I think that's come out of it for me is just seeing like the community of NFL players band together in such a way that is kind of rare. And like just the way the coach is handled it. I mean, it was just a very human event, and I thought it was handled by the both teams in the most humane way possible, and I thought that was the most encouraging thing about it. I'm glad you brought that up about Josh Allen, because I was going to do the same thing, Mark. Like when they came back from the break, when it first happened on the tackle of T. Higgins,

and you saw Josh Allen with his kind of hands over his mouth, obviously in a state of shock. We didn't know at the time, but I think obviously that was the moment when the CPR was going on and all the life-saving medical techniques were being used to help Damar Hamelin. And that stuck with me. That will always stick with me. And the NFL, I think part of what made it, you know, so shocking is the NFL doesn't stop. The NFL does not stop. We just went through a global pandemic where, you know, countless,

lives were lost and impacted and the NFL found a way to keep going. You know, you go back for those of us that are older, you remember 9-11 and how the NFL, that stopped the NFL for a week. And they had to recalibrate some things. And that's the only other time where just the action stopped. And you could feel it as we've covered the league now. All of us have been with the company for well over a decade. Like the way, that everything halted this week, whether it was media availability, team practices, other kind of league announcements like the Pro Football Hall of Fame announcements about the upcoming vote for Canton, everything kind of just disappeared and the league went into

lockdown mode. And that in itself, as someone who's covered the league for a long time, it just hammered home how surreal everything was. and it all came out of Greggie, Bills versus Bengals, this Titanic matchup, the matchup of the year with everyone watching. It did remind me of one of my earliest sports fans, sport fan memories as being a nine-year-old kid

watching the 1989 World Series between the A's and Giants and just in the irony of all ironies, the earthquake that shocked the central coast of Kempel California and killed a lot of people, injured a lot of people, and that shut down the World Series. All eyes were on the World Series that year when this mega event happened. And similarly here, everyone was watching this game in a prime time between two of the best teams at football, and it just made it all the more surreal. Yeah, you appreciate the medical responders as we tape this Wednesday. I think the NFL teams are,

keeping demar in their minds and you can hear that in their press conferences but they're also starting the process of moving forward with their week teams are practicing it's on wednesday Zach taylor the bengal's coach spoke for the first time and that's why that the medical responders were first on my mind he he spoke really emotionally and um well just about his gratitude for them how prepared they were and how they've given demar Hamlin, like, the best possible chance to get through this and that the positive signs that we're seeing now are all started there, like in the heat of battle. And he also spoke about Sean McDermott and his leadership in that moment. And I think that was telling that, you know,

he said he learned who Sean McDermott really was. And listening to Zach Taylor, I really appreciated the way he spoke about it so clearly and openly today. And we do have some of those comments about McDermott where he revealed a little more like how everything went down when Hamlin first collapsed. When I got over there, the first thing he said was, I need to be at the hospital to tomorrow. And I shouldn't be coaching this game.

And so that, to me, provides all the clarity because there was no unprecedented as the word that gets thrown out a lot about this situation because that's what it is. But in that moment, really showed he was, that all his focus was just on Damar and being there for him, being there for his family, at the hospital. And at that point, I think everything trended in the direction that needed a trend and the right decisions were made there. But again, just

the way that I really felt Sean McDermott led in that moment for his players, he was there for his players. He processed the right way, which is incredibly difficult. And really helped us get to the solution that we needed to get to. Well, I mean, you'd think also, even before this incident, that what the bills have been through this season where they had that situation where they, you know, couldn't play at home. They were snowed out.

They were in Detroit for two weeks. And like, that takes leadership. But this was next level. And I, you know, we had a chance to talk to McDermott early in his career before the bills became what they were. And I think we all, we kind of all right away felt a connection to him and liked him because he just was a real dude. And I can only imagine that, like, if you're a Bill's player, the way you feel about,

there's coaches all over the league where, like, players aren't connected to him. Sean McDermott's completely different. And in this situation where you have to make a choice one way or another, and he handled it so perfectly and it was so organically and it came from who he was. And it tells me a lot about this Bill's team. And I think that, you know, my hope for them, I'm sure it's going to be such a struggle and so odd to have to go play after all this. But if anything, like what we know about the Buffalo Bills is that it's probably brought them

together in a way that few other teams could say they've experienced. Yeah, and it's, that is the kind of other, the football story side of this as well. It's like, what happens next. And we're going to, obviously, what we do, we cover the league. Everyone that listens to the show knows Thursday is our preview episode. And it's just like, we don't know yet. Nobody really knows because this is unprecedented. Just like when everything went down on Monday night and there was confusion about is the game

restarting like what's next the the 75,000 people in that is building not knowing what was going on everything is this is uncharted territory so it is going to be interesting see how the NFL figures out in terms of the standings and how this impacts maybe the playoffs and the scheduling but all of that obviously remains on the back burner and we we find out and wait to find out and hopefully get good news about demar hamlin and you just just wonder how the NFL will go about figuring out how to take the next step while also monitoring what's obviously still a very fluid situation at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Yeah, it's been interesting to hear a couple of the ex-players talk about the media,

just how the next snap of football is just going to be heavy, you know? Yeah, I mean, the whole thing was so surreal on Monday night. I go through my routine throughout the day Monday in terms of writing the power rankings column. Then I'm downstairs and I'm alone and I'm wrapping up power rankings as I'm watching the first quarter of Monday night football business as usual. It just happened to be the biggest game of the year. And, you know, when this went down and immediately it just obviously felt different and was scary and you all you get thrown out of the football side of it. I just went upstairs and I had my mind. iPad and I called my wife over. My kids were sitting on the couch, luckily not watching the game, and showed it to her and like, you know, just like see her reaction and, you know, the outpouring, obviously of concern and support has been pretty amazing. But again, surreal because we're in, especially us, what we do, we're in this bubble, this NFL bubble and we're just rolling through another long season. And for this to happen in week 17.

It's been so jarring, like, mentally. And obviously, you can't even imagine where the players and the Bengals are preparing to play. And obviously, T. Higgins involved directly with the play has been going through some things. But the bills, I mean, the bills, if they're, if the week's on a schedule, they have to play football. So it's, man, man, man, man, man, this has been crazy. And I hope this guy is okay. I think we're, you know, obviously speak for everybody on that. this we need a good outcome on this one it's like uh unfortunately like is a life and death

situation which obviously is bigger than football and like we've we've experienced a life and death situation with our great friend chris and this is like a professional thing but it does have you step back in the moment i guess and just kind of realize like what matters and and some of the videos of Damar Hamlin talking about cherishing life and learning about

Damar Hamlin actually has been a positive about this and we'll talk about that with Cameron Wolf but just like

that in the moment to I don't know think about what all matters here and suddenly a lot of things don't seem as important like the Seahawks

having to play earlier in the day than the lions when the lions might be eliminated somehow suddenly feels like a very

like an asinine thing to be arguing about. I think we're all like forever impacted obviously by Chris and how his life was cut short in such a tragic and unfair way. And it did summon memories of that for me also just because in addition to how sad that ending was the fact that it happened at Super Bowl weekend and how surreal that was. And even to the point of us doing instead of a Super Bowl recap, show we did an episode just talking about Chris two days after he passed um again like the real world and life um all of a sudden like showing how small all this other stuff is uh man okay you know we

were gonna do that monday night recap with with nick was texting he as you guys know he was gonna go to go to that game ended up not not going because he thought it was going to be cold and then he got called called upon so we'll hopefully have nick on later this this season for a Bengals playoff game, which will have a different feel and hopefully be a great celebration. Absolutely. The whole season has a different feel now. And now let's, without further ado,

we did speak with NFL Network's Cameron Wolf, who's been boots on the ground in Cincinnati since this went down. Greg and I had this conversation with Cameron. So listen in. and here we go. All right, now we have a guest joining us. He has been all over the coverage of the DeMara Hamilton situation. He is NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe joining us from, well, a car near the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Cam, welcome back to around the NFL. How are you doing, buddy? It's been, I'm sure, a pretty hectic 48 hours. Yeah, manager, man, definitely been hectic, really. really 36 hours of non-stop attention on Damar Hamlin's health and where his recovery is. So just trying to do our best job, me and my producer, Laura, Chapnick, trying to figure out how we can tell this story

and give everybody the updates they need. Yeah, you've done an amazing job. I've seen how hard you've been working, just kind of where we stand now. And we're talking right afternoon, East Coast time on Wednesday. They just give us kind of an update of how Damar Hamlin's doing the most that you know at this hour. Yeah, we're here outside the hospital where we're really getting an hour-to-hour update on how Damar Hamlet's doing. It's really small updates, but as we know, we're trying to get any context on how he's doing.

And so the most recent one is Wednesday morning spoke with his family spokesperson, Jordan Rooney, who told us essentially that things are moving in a positive direction. And that's the quote that I think sums up really the last 12 hours of Damar Hamlin's process, a small step, but a step nonetheless. And he remains a critical condition. He is sedated. He remains in the ICU, the intensive care unit. But he has received an improvement in his breathing in particular with how he's working

through the ventilator. And so when I say that, he was using 100% of the ventilator. to breathe for him when he first arrived. Now it's 50%. And so he's starting to breathe a little bit more on his own, but they still want to continue to have him progress to where he can fully breathe on his own. And so that's what they're watching now.

They're watching his lungs and trying to get those recovered. And reaching out to the hospital, they have no information right now. They're able to share, but we're keeping in touch with them to see where they are. And so just reaching out to his family, reaching out to the hospital. and right now we're all in a waiting game to get what we hope is eventually that good news

that his status is upgraded. Yeah, and it's, you know, obviously extremely fortunate as you've learned more about the story and how the mechanisms of the NFL machine works in terms of how they handle an emergency incident. Jordan Rodriguez, the athletic wrote a good piece outlining how it works, the fact that University of Cincinnati is a level one trauma center, which it appears like he is getting the best type of medical attention he could get right now. What is the scene in or around the hospital itself or the medical center?

I imagine obviously a strong media presence, but do you have a lot of just onlookers or people camped out front? Like, what is the vibe there? Yeah, probably about 30 to 40 media cameras at the peak at times. And you have people driving around who obviously look at us doing TV and wondering what's going on. and other people who stop by and say, hey, we're praying for them. You know, they know what the story is.

Half of the city, the west side of the city was lit up blue last night for Damar Hamlin. And, you know, there was a visual out here right on the corner of the hospital about a block down with about 40 to 50 people at 8.55 p.m. In about an hour, that was literally a day, 24 hours after, you know, Damar Hamlin suffered the cardiac arrest on that Monday night football game. And so players, you know, the fans there essentially were saying they wanted to support Demar, pray for them. They were giving motivational messages. They were singing amazing grace. And the family, you know, saw all the support they've got, whether it be the fans outside of the building, whether it be the coaches and players and GMs who have constantly given them support. I know talking with his uncle, he mentioned just how powerful it was for the family

to see the entire Bill's team around him showing emotion, seeing that. Because, you know, we know the NFL is a game, and some people know it's a brotherhood, but you don't usually get to see that element of it, you know, the true love and care that these people have for their brother. And so the family definitely appreciates and feels the support. And right now they're encouraged, but it's still very much a waiting game. Yeah, I heard your report this morning. morning and your interview with his friend Jordan saying, you know, the one thing they didn't

want was anyone throwing any negativity, T. Higgins' way, because they said that was a normal football play. And they actually have a background with T. Higgins going, going back, way back. And I guess I'm curious along that lines, like, have you, we heard initially that some Bill's players were staying back in Cincinnati? Do you know if some are still there? Have you seen players around. And then just because, you know, I've been watching you on TV and those have to be short parts. If you have anything, just on what your last 36 hours, what you've seen going back to Monday night at the stadium or anything else in terms of things that you've been able to see and what that experience has been like from the players point of view and everything

that's happened. Yeah, Greg, first I'll start with T. Higgins because I think it was good for the family to come out and express their feelings there. That was something that was really the family initiated. They wanted to make clear that they wanted to stop, the criticism for T. Higgins to stop and that it was not his fault. And I think that's important because I was leaving the stadium on Monday. And I saw T. Higgins with his mom, who had an arm wrapped around him and he was emotional. And so naturally, whether it's right or wrong, if you're involved in a play that has a player injured, you're going to blame yourself. And it appeared that T was having some emotional periods there. And so we've heard some wild comments on places about T and just kind of

how he is at that point. And I think the family wanted to be clear that they did not, they did not support any criticism for him. And so the Bengals returned the work today and they'll go through their walkthrough. It's referring to Wednesday afternoon. And eventually we'll hear from but right now they are dealing with the emotional trauma just like many of us are like the bills are trying to continue their week and so that that's what I want to say in that respect and in regards to really the last 36 hours it's been a heavy story just being real like a lot of our jobs as reporters is to remove our emotions and tell the story and give people the updates that they need to hear but you just kind of see how it impacts everyone I've seen some of the bills players face

and their reactions. I've seen the Bengals reactions. I've seen fans here. And you see some of the family members that I've met over the last, you know, 12, 18 hours in regards to his uncle and the family friend who's a spokesperson. Those people are trying to give you clear answers, but you can tell that this is not easy. And so that's the biggest thing that I think I may not have, you know, been able to share fully on NFL network because you're trying to tell the facts. is that the emotions of this thing are hard to manage. And so, you know, just kind of going through this process, I think it's really showed me the humanity of people. You know it, but just kind of see the support, you know, GoFummy page has over $6 million that he's received really over the last 24 hours of people that don't know this man for the most part.

You have people who come up in strangers, as the family told me, who paid for food for them every day they've been here. Jeff Rubies, which is a steakhouse out here in Cincinnati, is catering the family dinner, you know, tonight. And I know, because I went to Jeff Ruby's last night, Jeff Ruby's is expensive. And so they are definitely showing

as much love and support. And I think everybody badly across the NFL and across America, and particularly here in Cincinnati, are just waiting for that positive news that DeMar Hamlin is okay. Yeah, that's really well said, Kim. And I think a story that's this big, you know, there's always going to be some darkness in it, whether it's people with their phony GoFundMe or somebody that might be coming after T. Higgins on social media.

All that's absurd. And I like that the family, they're used to the word frustrated that anybody would even think to do that. But I think like what's really come out in these situations is like the humanity and the love and just the public outpouring of the support that you're talking about there, which has been kind of, I don't know, it's in a really trying time. From a human standpoint, it kind of lifts your spirits to see Cincinnati lit up in blue on a Monday night game that started with the Bills as the enemy and this idea that the AFC could come down to this game. The fact that that all kind of just disappeared and it became about this one player and this one person who was in this fight for his life. It's been jarring. I know, Cam, I know you have a different background than Greg and I in terms of your media training and journalism path.

but it is jarring when we like for me for instance i got into sports because like that was where i felt comfortable and what was i wanted to do something fun in my life for a career path and then something like this comes along and it's like the real world intercepts and it does it could be jarring and i just want to thank you and everyone that's been covering the story uh for handling it because it can't be easy no i appreciate you saying that it's not but i think you know, we've got to tell the story right. You know, I think our job as journalists are always being storytellers, no matter if the story is what we love to cover,

which was a 38, 35, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen game, which I went there Monday hoping to see to a player fighting for his life. I think regardless, we're here on the ground to tell whatever these story is. And for this weekend, it happened to be the scariest story we've had all year in quite some time in NFL. And so, you know, I think that we have to process that this is a game we love, but there's also risks and dangers that come with it. And this is one of it. And so I think that, you know, the whole league, I've received so many text messages and calls from people who are not related to the bills, the Bengals, or Damar, just checking in.

And so the whole league is literally watching this situation and really caring for this man. And I just think that that's one thing that has been a positive through the light. You know, the uncle mentioned this to me as well. It's just, you know, you're seeing just how much the NFL is a community. And, you know, it's not just Bill's fans. It's not just DeMar Hamlin fans. It's everyone. And I think that, you know, as we move forward through this process, I think Damar,

and this is something that the family has really wanted to express, is that Demar, when he hopefully wakes up and is back to a point where he can understand what's going on, will be overwhelmed with just the support that he's received throughout. I think his uncle had a great quote to me. He said a lot of times we don't get to see how much people love us when we're still alive. And now Demar has a chance to fight through this and get a chance to see just how much from people he may have known that loved them and people who may not have known at all. And, you know, sometimes we wish it didn't take this,

but it also, you know, is a reminder of just how much instances can impact people. And so, you know, you mentioned just sort of the city. I was in an Uber last night, and I was talking on the phone with someone, and the Uber driver said, man, I've been praying for that kid for three hours. And it just hit me.

I'm like, man, this story is really touched everyone. So, yeah. Appreciate it. you cam the last thing and if you got to go just let us know and um i just want to i guess because i've learned about demar hamelin a little bit you know over the last two days it wasn't you know i wasn't familiar with his story and just like before we let you go i guess just curious of anything you learned about demar hamlin what what you knew about him before even uh you know as a player as as a man and everything before this is getting to know who he is a little bit

now that's a great question i was talking to a you about this. Damar Amla has been the starting safety for the number one team in the AFC for most of the year. And I'd say probably 99% of a football didn't know who his name was before this week. And so that's the reality of like so many players in this league. But I guarantee you that more people know his name and a story now than then had ever had. And so, you know, I was learning about Demar throughout this process. I've really just learned how much he is a family loving person. You know, he has a loving set of parents who are super supportive of him, super strong.

He has a little brother, seven-year-old Demir, who is really his world. He's his role model there. And it really hit me when I was talking to his uncle, that his little brother, Demir, who seven, was watching this game in Pittsburgh with the family. And he was the first one, the little brother, to see his big brother hurt on the field. And he started crying. And then the uncle started to console. and they started to console each other, essentially.

And that's when they decided to pack up the two cars after the game was canceled and drive up to the hospital where they've been since. And so I've learned just how much the family has impacted him. But then also just how he loves to give back. You know, he goes to peewee games and random cities, just to go hang with kids. You know, that's his love that he likes to do in the offseason.

He's a guy who we know about his toy drive. He has had a mission to give back to his communities. And now he has a chance to do so with over $6 million of money, you know, to help him medically, but also to help people there. You know, you've learned just how much he's a fun loving dude. You know, I've talked to a couple of players and coaches who the first thing they mentioned to me about Damar is, man, every time I see Demar, I laugh. He makes people laugh. And he's like, you know, you hear that.

And you're like, oh, whatever. He was like, no, man, I can tell you some of the jokes. demar told me whether whether they're good to share or not and I'm like tomorrow would make you laugh even if you were the first first time you met him and so I you know these are some of the things that I've learned about him as a person and just being real I've never met demar hamlin before like in a one-on-one setting and I've spent the last 36 hours sharing your story and I can't wait I can't wait I was just telling my producer um two moments I can't wait for is the moment that um you know I get to meet Demar for the first time and talk with them, hopefully, and be able to, you know, get insight on how he's reacting to everybody else's spirit.

And then that moment where Damar joins his team again, whether as a player, even if he's just at the stadium, soaking it in and just kind of seeing that emotion that I'm sure Bill's fans, Bill's players, and Bill's coaches will have surrounding him. Those are the moments we have to look forward to. As of now, we don't have any set timetable on when we'll get those moments. But I choose to, as we continue to work those stories, think about those moments as we, you know, wait for more and more information. Absolutely, Kim. That's a great way to put it. And we look forward to that situation unfolding as well. And I did, you mentioned the family and the nephew when he found out there was just something that kind of hit me emotionally when it comes to family that they got in the

car they drive 300 miles through what felt like a hurricane according to the uncle to get to get to their guy and be there to support him cam thank you so much for joining us follow cam on NFL network on Twitter at Cameron wolf and keep up the good work and i hope you get some rest down the line when we get good news on what's happening inside that building thank you appreciate you fellas thanks there he goes Cameron wolf and uh that was great it was great to hear from And like, Greg, you know, before we say goodbye, it is, again, like a very, like, human story. And even a colleague like, Cam, like, camped out there. You could see how this story has affected him on a personal level, especially the more you learn about Damar Hamelin and who the, who this guy is.

So just hearing from Cam, I could tell that this isn't just a typical story for him to cover. Yeah, I think everyone, like, wants to do something. something and you know one of the things he did there which i think's good to do is put put that pot you know you put that positive energy out into the world but on a more practical level he's doing something in in reporting and so yeah compartmentalizing that while also being a human uh he's he's one of our best so um i'm not surprised he's doing it and that's like we'll be watching him you know like him and and ben baby he's been doing a good job over at esPN everyone reporting the story like we'll be watching them hoping open for the good news as soon as we can

for sure um okay so we'll reset here obviously from and around the NFL standpoint um like everyone else will be tracking the stories that goes along and and get um back uh with updates uh when when they come we have of course like kind of spinning forward because the NFL and that's a whole other story around this like what happens next for the NFL but as of right now week 18 is on his scheduled and you'll hear from us again um on Thursday uh and we'll we'll take a look back of what's going on in the NFL but obviously this everything kind of is taking a back seat right now to what's happening around the bills and demar hamelin and um what's the next step for him so for mark sessler and greggie and grave digger behind the virtual glass uh we will

be back in touch with you guys soon. Until then, heed the call.