'Being Quiet is OK': Joe Buck on Calling Bills' Tragic Damar Hamlin Moment
As the football world continues to process the tragic situation surrounding Buffalo Bills defender Damar Hamlin, the ESPN broadcasting group that aired the scary happening has received unanimous praise for their work in an unprecedented moment in live sports.
With the Bills' Monday meeting with the Cincinnati Bengals one of the most anticipated matchups on the Week 17 NFL schedule, ESPN had broadcasting duties as part of its famed "Monday Night Football" package. The game was also simulcast on ABC affiliates across the country expanding the audience for the valuable AFC showdown.
One of those involved in the broadcast, veteran play-by-play man Joe Buck, has spoken about the raw emotion and terror of the situation, describing the instant aftermath of Hamlin's post-tackle collapse as "a blur" to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post. Well-known for his verbal impact on NFL, Buck said that relative silence was the best way to approach the immediate situation when Hamlin collapsed after making a tackle in the first quarter.
"My natural instinct at that moment is not to talk,” Buck told Marchand. “That’s the last thing I want to do is to put my words to this serious situation. It’s very counterintuitive as the football play-by-play guy about somebody having CPR administered to him in the center of a stadium with 65,000 people in it and a national television audience. It’s just a weird place to be."
The broadcast cut to commercial several times while Hamlin was attended to by the Buffalo training staff and first responders. who administered CPR to the defender. A replay of Hamlin's collapse, coming after he rose to his feet following the takedown, was shown from two angles upon the first return from such a break but has been minimally seen since.
Buck and longtime broadcast partner Troy Aikman kept the conversation to a minimum upon the returns from commercial breaks, their premium words mostly kept to hoping that Hamlin was safe.
“I think being quiet is OK," Buck said. "Having it being reverent and quiet is OK because the stadium was stone cold quiet and the players were in utter shock.”
The broadcast eventually cut to ESPN's NFL studios, where host Suzy Kolber and analysts Booger McFarland and Adam Schefter offered their own emotional thoughts on the situation. Prior to the departure from Paycor Stadium, the gravity of the situation was made apparent by the reactions of Hamlin's teammates and opponents. McFarland was one of the first prominent names to publicly call for the game's suspension.
When the game was called, ESPN dedicated its postgame edition of flagship program "SportsCenter" to continued coverage of Hamlin's condition. Host Scott Van Pelt and analyst Ryan Clark have each been praised for bringing humanity and clarity to the situation, as has sideline reporter Lisa Salters.
As Hamlin was escorted to further medical attention in an ambulance bound for University of Cincinnati Medical Center (where he remains in critical condition), Buck announced that there would be a five-minute warm-up period for players before action resumed. A conversation and joint decision to leave the field between head coaches Sean McDermott and Zac Taylor more or less forced the NFL's hand in closing the game, but the announcement and original decision to carry on was widely criticized.
NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent later denied that resuming the game was ever considered. Buck said that he received the information from league contact and MNF rules expert John Parry, but admits that the shocking situation made it hard to process any information beyond Hamlin's status.
"They said they’re going to give five minutes of a warm-up to these players to get ready,” Buck said. "Honestly, as you and I talk right now, I have no idea what I said. It’s kind of a blur.”
A Tuesday announcement has since revealed that Monday's game will not be resumed this week, as the league is apparently pressing forward with Week 18 affairs.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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