Buffalo Bills' Damar Hamlin 'came back hungry' as safety competition heats up
More than 18 months removed from his on-field cardiac arrest, Damar Hamlin is eager to prove himself from a strictly-football standpoint.
General manager Brandon Beane says that Damar Hamlin is hungry. Hamlin takes it a step further. The fourth-year safety says he’s “(expletive) starving.”
More than 18 months removed from his on-field cardiac arrest, Hamlin is eager to prove himself from a strictly football standpoint.
Hamlin knows how much can change in an instant. So much can also change over a year.
The Bills put on pads for the first time this training camp on Monday. When they did so a year ago, it was a monumental step for Hamlin, who was then practicing in pads for the first time since his cardiac arrest.
Bills safety Damar Hamlin, left, runs with the ball during a drill at training camp at St. John Fisher University on Thursday. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
He was up against an emotional roller coaster, against a flood of different feelings all at once.
Now, Hamlin is up against a different competition. A more normal one: his own teammates in the safety room. A starting position is up for grabs, opposite Taylor Rapp, and as Hamlin, rookie Cole Bishop and newcomer Mike Edwards rotate, it was Hamlin who got the reps with the starters on Day 1 of training camp.
“He came back hungry,” Beane said the first day of camp. “One of the things (Hamlin) said to me – and I feel like he said it to others – is, ‘I got through last year,’ last year being like the first year. Right now (last year) we were still talking about it’s going to be different when he puts pads on. It’s going to be different that first hit. And then got to get in a game in a stadium where that incident happened. No one’s talking about that anymore.”
Instead, the talk is circling around Hamlin’s legitimate chances of being the Week 1 starter for the Bills.
Edwards is currently week to week with a hamstring injury after also missing time in the spring with a shoulder injury. That opens up more reps for Hamlin and Bishop.
Hamlin has experience on his side. Two years ago, he started 13 games for the Bills and played in 15. In that time, he tallied 91 total tackles, a forced fumble, two passes defensed and 1.5 sacks.
But last year, due largely to roster depth with starting safety Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde both healthy, Hamlin was often a healthy scratch. He played just five games for the Bills, though he was a healthy scratch – medically cleared to play football again in April 2023.
Even though Hamlin was medically cleared to play, there was still a long journey back to the field, particularly from a mental standpoint.
“It was tough. I don’t think nobody can imagine what I had to go through, you know, facing death in the face,” Hamlin said on Monday. “And then, coming back and doing the same thing that that literally like killed you. It wasn’t easy. … It wasn’t easy at all.”
Bills safety Damar Hamlin signs autographs during the Micah Hyde Charity Softball Game at Sahlen Field on May 19. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich echoed that.
“Look, there was a lot that came with what happened to Damar, not just the event, but what came after it,” Babich said last week. “And he handled it absolutely as well as anybody can handle it.”
Now, it’s back to football.
Hamlin played well throughout spring football and has continued to make plays at training camp no matter which group he’s running with. He’s worked to step up to be more of a leader on the defense, too.
“He knows what’s on the table and my belief is that his mind is in the right place,” Babich said.
“It’s to be expected, but an increased focus from a year ago, an increased urgency, and really just getting back to what he was,” head coach Sean McDermott added Monday on Hamlin. “Again, it’s to be expected, again respectfully of the situation that he went through. So, it’s fun watching him have fun out there. And I think he’s been able to do that. And you can tell he means business.”
Hamlin smiles when he agrees that he’s having fun. But that doesn’t take away from his focus.
The business is seen in Hamlin’s process. After practice on Monday, he spent plenty of extra time working, first with a group of other defensive backs, and then working out more on the far field with teammate Kendall Williamson.
“Just the fact that we spent that extra 20 minutes getting better on specific things, that’s a win,” Hamlin said. “That’s a win.”
As he walked back to get his helmet on the opposite side of the field, the shrill calls of his name were impossible to miss. Hamlin looked toward the lingering fans, and he faked twice that he was going to run away. He then walked over and signed autographs for about another 20 minutes, aptly being gifted pink heart-shaped glasses at one point.
Hamlin was the last Bills player to leave the field. He knows everything he’s put in his rear-view mirror. He also knows how much is still ahead.
“I’m (expletive) starving. I’m starving,” Hamlin said. “I am, but, you know, it’s one day at a time. It’s a lot to clean up, it’s a lot to get in order, it’s a lot of things that time helps put it all together. So, I keep that in perspective, as well, just like as much as I want to prove myself, it’s one day at a time approach, to getting myself to that point of being 1,000% ready.”