Damar Hamlin: NFL VP insists there were no talks about resuming Bills-Bengals game

The NFL has clarified that there were no talks about warming up the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals stars to continue playing after Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest.

The 24-year-old received CPR on the field after collapsing following a tackle on the Bengals’ Tee Higgins. Emotional teammates surrounded him and shielded him from public view before he was taken to the hospital where he remains in critical condition.

Play was suspended while he received emergency treatment on the field and the NFL has denied reports that there were discussions about restarting the Monday Night Football game.

The NFL has clarified that there were no talks about the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals stars warming up to continue playing after Damar Hamlin collapsed and went to the hospital.

ESPN reported on the MNF broadcast that the league initially told players they would be given five minutes to warm up before resuming play amid troubling scenes.

“I’m not sure where that came from,” NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said in a conference call Tuesday morning.

“Frankly, there was no period of time for the players to warm up.

NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent spoke the following morning

‘Frankly, all we asked was that [referee] Shawn [Smith] communicate with both head coaches to ensure they had adequate time inside the locker room to discuss what they felt was best.

‘So I’m not sure where that came from. The five-minute warmup never crossed my mind, personally.

‘And I was the one who… was communicating with the Commissioner. It never, frankly, never crossed our minds to talk about warming up to resume the game. That’s ridiculous. That’s insensitive. And that’s not a place we should be.

ESPN announcer Joe Buck said that on numerous occasions teams were given five minutes to prepare while medical staff attended to Hamlin.

Teammates surrounded Hamlin, and the game was postponed after he was taken to the hospital.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott and his Bengals counterpart Zac Taylor spoke on the sidelines before both groups of players went to the locker room when play was suspended.

The game was postponed 30 minutes after the medical emergency and the league’s slowness to react drew criticism on social media.

‘The league can say what it wants to say about [playing the game]… a bunch of guys linked arms on different sides of a sideline and said no, we’re not,” commentator Scott Van Pelt said on SportsCenter later Monday night.

“I think obviously the right decision was made because the context was made clear to everyone that this game was unplayable at this time.”