CINCINNATI — The National Football League has announced the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills game will not be rescheduled for this week after Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during Monday night's game at Paycor Stadium.
"The NFL has made no decision regarding the possible resumption of the game at a later date," reads a statement from the NFL posted online.
— NFL (@NFL) January 3, 2023
Hamlin remains in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, the Bills tweeted Tuesday afternoon.
Hamlin attempted to tackle Tee Higgins in the middle of the field during the first quarter of the game. Hamlin stood up after the hit, but then immediately fell to the ground.
Damar Hamlin spent last night in the intensive care unit and remains there today in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
We are grateful and thankful for the outpouring of support we have received thus far.
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 3, 2023
Buffalo's medical staff immediately began providing aid as an ambulance drove onto the field. Broadcasters reported that medics were doing CPR, while a WCPO reporter at the scene said a defibrillator was also seen being used.
Players from both teams huddled around the medical staff, some kneeling and some holding hands.
"Last night was supposed to be a great night for the NFL and a great showcase of our hometown. Instead, the human side of our sport became paramount and, in that moment, humanity and love rose to the forefront," Bengals President Mike Brown said in a statement.
"As medical personnel undertook extraordinary measures, both teams demonstrated respect and compassion while fans in the stadium and people around the country bolstered the support for Damar and love for each other," Brown said.
Hamlin was down on the field for at least 10 minutes. He was eventually placed inside the ambulance and taken out of Paycor Stadium. Broadcasters on ESPN said he was hooked up to oxygen.
League leaders discussed their decision not to continue the game on a conference call with reporters early Tuesday morning.
Jeff Miller, an NFL executive vice president said that the league had made no plans to continue playing the game.
“I’ve never seen anything like it since I was playing,” NFL executive Troy Vincent, a six-time Pro Bowl cornerback during his career, said on the call. “Immediately, my player hat went on, like, how do you resume playing after seeing a traumatic event in front of you?”
Vincent said the league took no steps toward restarting the game and did not ask players to begin a five-minute warmup period as ESPN's broadcasters had announced, according to the Associated Press.
“It never crossed our mind to talk about warming up to resume play," Vincent said. "That’s ridiculous. That’s insensitive. That’s not a place we should ever be in.”
Head coaches Zac Taylor and Sean McDermott met after Hamlin was taken away by ambulance and brought both of their teams back to their locker rooms. They were seen in the tunnel between locker rooms meeting with the game officials and passing a phone to each other. Shortly after that phone call, the league announced play was to be suspended indefinitely. Sports anchor Marshall Kramsky said Joe Burrow and his fellow Bengals players left their locker room and walked into the Bills locker room before the game was officially suspended.
Hamlin, 24, is a Pittsburgh native who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh. He was drafted by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2021 draft.
