Bart Scott branded ‘despicable’ for suggesting Tee Higgins was at fault on Damar Hamlin hit

ESPN’s NFL analyst Bart Scott has been called ‘despicable’ for suggesting that Tee Higgins was at fault for pulling his helmet down in the collision with Damar Hamlin, moments before the Bills player collapsed from a crash. heart attack.

Hamlin, 24, is in critical condition after receiving CPR on the field after colliding with Higgins of the Cincinnati Bengals in the first quarter of Monday’s game. Hamlin picked himself up off the ground, seemed to try to adjust his helmet before falling backwards and lying motionless on the ground.

Hamlin’s uncle told CNN Tuesday night that Hamlin has a “positive upward trend” but needed to be resuscitated twice, once in the field, after he collapsed.

Scott was discussing the incident on ESPN’s First Take with Stephen A Smith and said he felt Higgins’ head drop before Hamlin’s tackle, resulting in the Bills player being hit in the chest.

Hamlin’s uncle said Tuesday night that Hamlin has an “upward trend in a positive way.”

To start with, Scott said: ‘The NFL has tried to take the head off the game. We hardly think about violent blows; we always associate that with defensive players taking aim and head down.

“But they put in the rule maybe five years ago, that offensive players can’t use the crown, the helmet as a weapon, which is kind of like what Tee Higgins did and I’m not trying to blame him.” Tee Higgins, but that’s something they tried to pull off.

Smith chimed in, saying, ‘But explain that to the viewers. Tell us what happened, that’s what you’re talking about. What exactly did Tee do, of course unintentionally, what exactly did Tee Higgins do?

Scott responded, “Just before the entrance, he lowers his helmet and throws his body against his chest.”

“He got up because he thought he had to go after Tee Higgins at an angle to make a tackle, so he didn’t expect Tee Higgins to throw his body at him.

Hamlin (No. 3) got to his feet briefly after tackling Higgins before falling backwards in shocking scenes as the Buffalo Bills played the Cincinnati Bengals.

Hamlin collapsed moments later, falling backwards and lying motionless on the ground.

Higgins tweeted Monday night that he was praying for Hamlin to pull through.

“It’s one of those things, a lot of times you see him as a linebacker: a running back goes through the hole and he knows contact is coming, so he puts his helmet down and you can’t get under him so he can get there.” inside you and your chest is exposed.

They have taken it out of the game, but they don’t really regulate it as much as possible. I hope the league is a lot more vigilant when it comes to that and using that penalty.’

One fan picked up the footage and retweeted it, saying, “The fact that no one immediately criticized Bart Scott here disgusts me.”

“To suggest that Tee Higgins is responsible for Damar Hamlin’s current hospitalization due to a freak accident is despicable and completely unacceptable.” They were playing soccer, no one had bad intentions.

Another said: ‘Bart crosses the line with his comments; both were making football moves for extra yards or tackles. NO INTENT to hurt here.

Several fans were not impressed by Scott’s assessment of the Hamlin incident.

But other viewers felt that Scott was trying to explain what happened instead of placing the blame on anyone.

A different, but much more scathing, view read: ‘Bart Scott is an idiot. He is absolutely wild how some of these guys have TV jobs.

But some viewers didn’t think Bart deserved criticism, saying, “Is he really blaming him or just explaining what happened physically?”

Another wrote: ‘There’s a big difference between blaming and explaining. There is no way for this to blame Higgins.

Higgins himself took to Twitter on Monday night, after the incident, writing: ‘My thoughts and prayers are with @HamlinIsland, the Hamlin family. I’m praying you pull through, brother. Love.’