>
REVEALED: Bills-Bengals MNF postponement after Damar Hamlin collapse ‘due to both franchises and NOT NFL,’ team official claims… before commissioner Roger Goodell made final call
- NFL canceled Bills-Bengals game after Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest
- But a new report claims that it was the teams that drove the decision to stop the game.
- The league ‘left open the possibility’ of playing ‘almost an hour’ after the collapse
- But Buffalo and Cincinnati insisted that the game would not go ahead.
- Click here for the latest international sports news from DailyMail.com
A new report revealed the inner workings of the Bills-Bengals cancellation last week and claims it was the two franchises, and not the NFL, that drove the decision to cancel the game.
Monday night’s matchup was officially postponed more than an hour after Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after facing Tee Higgins, but that might not have been the resolution were it not for the teams digging.
“The league did not cancel the game,” an anonymous team official said. ESPN. ‘The Bills and the Bengals called off the game.
“We feel confusion and nonsense more than pressure,” the official added.
They were still discussing things. In our mind there was nothing to discuss. … If they had said, ‘If you leave, you’re losing the game,’ we’re still leaving.
Coaches Sean McDermott and Zac Taylor speak after a break in play on Monday night.
Outside the locker room, both the coaches and other team officials were with the NFL’s chief football administrator, Dawn Aponte, who kept them in touch with NFL executives at the league’s command center, run by the NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent.
According to the team official, Vincent “left the possibility open” to play for “almost an hour,” while ESPN commentator Joe Buck repeatedly told viewers that the league planned to resume play after a warm-up period. five minutes.
Vincent has vehemently denied that characterization, while ESPN reported citing multiple first-hand sources that a senior NFL rules analyst inside the command center told ESPN officiating expert John Parry about the plan to resume play. match.
Parry later relayed that information to the ESPN broadcast, and Buck has stood by his information.
The final decision to postpone the game rested with Commissioner Roger Goodell, who gave the go-ahead.
“If what I said on national television with the eyes of the world watching was wrong in the eyes of the league, they would have corrected me, right away,” Buck said. And he wasn’t.
He continued: “We were on the air for another 40 minutes and nobody corrected the idea that play was going to resume,” Buck said. ‘Neither.’
However, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told ESPN last week that the rules analyst in the command center was “adamant that at no time did he say anything to John about a five-minute warm-up period.” Parry”. … John is simply wrong.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the NFL for comment.
The final decision to postpone the game rested with commissioner Roger Goodell, who noted that the league would normally continue play.
“Standard practice would be to resume play, but when he gets feedback that it may not be appropriate, that’s when Troy made the decision to call off play,” Goodell told Boston’s The Sports Hub last week.
Hamlin collapsed moments after facing Tee Higgins in a seemingly routine play
‘Which was the right decision, and allowing everyone to go back and meet and get more information, which we clearly had to do. So, I made the decision to postpone it shortly after.
Hamlin made an encouraging recovery from the incident and was transferred to Buffalo General Hospital from Cincinnati on Monday for further testing.
“I can confirm that he is doing well and this is the beginning of the next stage of his recovery,” said Dr. William Knight of the UC Medical Center.