Damar Hamlin may be playing for the Bills in a pre-season game since cardiac arrest feels ‘normal,’ say Colts’ Rodney Thomas II and Isaiah McKenzie
- The 25-year-old safety could make his NFL comeback in Buffalo on Saturday
- Hamlin went into cardiac arrest about seven months ago against the Bengals
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Damar Hamlin’s possible first roster involvement since going into cardiac arrest earlier this year feels “normal” for Rodney Thomas II and Isaiah McKenzie – two friends the Bills safety could face in Saturday’s pre-season game against the Colts.
And while there is no official confirmation yet that the 25-year-old will take the field at Highmark Stadium in two days, Hamlin has been involved in full training camp drills, including full-fledged, full team practice in western New York. during the summer.
When asked about his thoughts on the NFL’s return in the 2021 sixth round for the first time in seven months, Thomas said he was not surprised by Hamlin’s decision to continue playing professional football.
“From the start since it happened, it’s exactly what I expected,” said the Colts’ safety, who entered the league last year as a seventh-round pick. “He back on the field, doing what he loves, flying around, making plays.”
“He’s doing well,” Thomas said of Hamlin, who he trained with this offseason in their hometown of Pittsburgh. ‘Step by step he is making his comeback.’
Bills safety Damar Hamlin can make his highly anticipated football return this weekend vs. the Colts
Colts safety Rodney Thomas II, 25, said he expected Hamlin to make a comeback in football
Colts wideout Isaiah McKenzie, who played for the Bills last year, said Hamlin “did a good job”
Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the second day of this year in January during a regular season game against the Bengals in Cincinnati, and Thomas recalls getting on I-74 to check on his good friend, who was hospitalized. sedated and intubated after receiving cardiac arrest. CPR at Paycor Stadium.
When he finally arrived in Hamlin’s room in the ICU ward of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, the 25-year-old held his friend’s hand as he said a few things to him.
“I know he could hear me,” Thomas said in January. “Even if he couldn’t hear me, it didn’t matter. I’ve said what I had to say.’
Hamlin performs a drill during practice at Bills’ training camp in Pittsford, NY, on July 27
McKenzie reacts after Hamlin – his former teammate – collapsed in Cincinnati on January 2
For McKenzie, who sat with Hamlin on the Bills last season, watching his ex-teammate collapse before being loaded into an ambulance was a moment he will never forget without knowing if he would be okay.
“When he left in the ambulance, my mind had to go back to football,” the Colts said far and wide. “I didn’t want to, but I didn’t know what was going to happen – we were going to play, we weren’t going to play.
“I was just on two different spectrums with what was going to happen. (…) After we said we weren’t playing, I thought: he’ll be fine. It was like — this isn’t football, this is life. You always have to have a positive mindset.’
Fast forward to now, and McKenzie expects Hamlin to be all set by Saturday.
“That’s the plan,” he said. ‘I hope so. I hope he’s okay. I know the Bills, they love him and I love him as a person and as a player.”
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