Bills' Damar Hamlin: ‘Are We Serious?’ Says Cowboys’ Micah Parsons in Defense of Tee Higgins
After making a hard tackle against Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins at Paycor Stadium on Monday night, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin stood up, fell to the ground and quickly received medical attention after suffering from cardiac arrest in the field of play.
What seemed like a routine football play subsequently led to Hamlin being rushed to the hospital where he remains in critical condition as of Wednesday morning. The scary sequence of events has shaken the sports world at an unprecedented level.
Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons is clearly one of the many that was hit home by what happened Monday. And after hearing former NFL linebacker and current TV analyst Bart Scott seeming to direct some blame toward Higgins during an appearance Tuesday on ESPN’s “First Take,” Parsons didn’t hesitate to let his feelings be known.
“Right before the tackle, (Higgins) lowers his helmet and he kinda throws his body into (Hamlin's) chest,” Smith said. “He’s standing up because he’s thinking he’s gotta chase Tee Higgins at an angle to make a tackle, so he didn’t expect Tee Higgins to launch his body back into him. It’s one of those things you see as a linebacker.”
While Scott does not directly say he's blaming Higgins for an accident that nobody could've predicted, he's pointing at least some partial blame toward the star receiver instead of focusing on the health of Hamlin.
Understandably, this didn't sit well with Parsons.
"Yoo are we serious?!!?" Parsons wrote on Twitter Tuesday. "Why do we let some people speak on tv?! This was a freak incident but putting fault on another player is wild! They should make some of these guys go over lines or something or not even give them a seat at the table!"
Parsons continued, as went on to question Scott's ego as a media member after delivering a take that is both insensitive and untimely given Hamlin's current condition.
"Like does (he) not even consider how Tee Higgins feels before airing some (expletive) like that!" Parsons wrote on Twitter. "That traumatic event he just went through! I swear some of these tv guys have too much egos on these stages we give them !"
Bart played 11 seasons in the league as a linebacker. He would be the first to understand that hard hits are a reality in the NFL, and that Higgins lowering his shoulder to embrace for contact from Hamlin is a football move that clearly had no malicious intent behind it.
But the NFL is a family, something Parsons proved by jumping to the defense of Higgins after what has likely been an emotional past 24 hours for the Bengals receiver as well.
The league announced Tuesday that the Bills-Bengals game will not be played this week. There is currently no timetable for its rescheduling.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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