Sirianni on Hamlin situation: ‘It puts everything in perspective’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles on Tuesday morning postponed press conferences scheduled with their coordinators out of respect for the situation in the Bills-Bengals game on Monday night and the uncertainty of Damar Hamlin’s status.
Hamlin, a 24-year-old Bills safety, suffered a cardiac arrest during Monday’s game, the Bills announced. Hamlin’s heartbeat was restored on the field before he was taken to a local hospital. As of early Tuesday morning, he was sedated and in critical condition.
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Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was on the 94WIP Morning Show on Tuesday morning and addressed the situation. Here are Sirianni’s full comments courtesy Audacy’s SportsRadio 94WIP:
"It puts everything in perspective. You come back to work, you have a loss that you’re really upset about and you’re thinking about that and then something like that happens at night. It just puts everything in perspective of how these players put their bodies on the line. I know we got some guys that know him and first thought it obviously for the kid, that he’s OK, and then you want to check on your guys that know him.
"Then you start to think, a lot of things go through your mind, right? And you think about Josh Sweat and how fortunate he is that he was able to get up and be OK. It’s just tough to watch. My exact words were that I was kind of in shock because you don’t see that very often. You don’t see that happen in this game very often. It’s a violent sport as we know. Just I thought about everything, how you would lead the team in that matter and everything. Just so many things go through your mind there.
"At the end of the day, I just hope and pray that Damar’s OK and that the people who are close to him are OK and that he’ll fight through this and get up from this. That, like I said, everybody that knows him and loves him can be comforted at this time."
The incident with Sweat that Sirianni referenced happened in the Eagles’ game against the Saints on Sunday. Sweat suffered a neck injury and was carted off the field and taken to a hospital for precautionary reasons. Luckily, Sweat is expected to make a full recovery.
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The NFL suspended the Bills-Bengals game and the Eagles aren’t the only team to postpone availability Tuesday as the football world awaits further news about Hamlin’s status.
The Eagles’ longest-tenured player Brandon Graham also made an appearance on WIP Tuesday morning and reacted to the news.
“Man, I hated to see anything like that,” Graham said, courtesy Audacy’s SportsRadio 94WIP. “Never seen anything like that. And, man, my prayers go out to his family, the team, his guys that’s close to him. There’s so much emotion going on right now. No. 1, we just want to make sure that he’s OK.”
Sirianni mentioned some of his players who are close to Hamlin. A couple of those players — Miles Sanders and Avonte Maddox — have tweeted supportive messages for their friend.
