I think the players would not want to play until their teammate’s condition is clarified. That explains in part why they decided not to resume last night.
I guess, but they might not know that on Sunday either, right? If he’s in limbo this Sunday do they forfeit? But my point is mostly that there’s nothing that they can do with any of that knowledge. The team’s focus is on Hamlin? Well OK but they’re a football team not a bunch of critical care professionals, what are they going to do with that focus? At some point they’re going to have to get back to work. Of course they’ll feel better if he’s going to be OK compared to if he’s not, but if he’s not ok or his status isn’t clear then what? Is the season over?
I’m not even saying that they should finish playing the game, if they’re not mentally ready to play tomorrow they’re not mentally ready to play. But they are going to have to get back to playing sooner rather than later. And I don’t see much difference between playing tomorrow night and playing this Sunday.
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If the players want to play it, thats fine I guess, but if they dont I really dont get why cancelling it is impossible. Yeah the season wont be completely fair, just like its not fair in 200 other ways.
Im not saying all week 18 games. Just the Bills game. If the players dont want to play Im in favor of just cancelling it.
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The bills for sure. But the rest of the league? Can’t imagine they would. Their livelihood is at stake. So much of the NFL contracts have monetary incentives. Canceling week 18 would be disastrous for the players.
Be that as it may, that point is neither today nor tomorrow.
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Agreed fully. Just the Bills.
Yah week 18 isn’t going to be cancelled. The Bills may decide to play week 18 and beyond or not depending on how things shake out. Buying time also to see if the rest of Bills/Bengals can/should be resumed, but that decision has been kicked down the road and we can benefit from probably the better part of a week before needing to shake up the playoff schedule.
I think the NFL should say the game is canceled but if the game’s result would matter in seeding after week 18 they’ll flip a coin to pick a winner.
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Coin flip sponsored by DraftKings!
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CIN would probably object to a 50/50 shot given that they were up 7-3 and driving, early as it was.
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I like the Madden idea. I wonder if there’s a way they could start the game with the same score and field position.
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Just make sure drunk Kevin Durant gets to play one of the teams while drinking who knows what out of a red solo cup.
That was the best moment of the pandemic.
Yes but I would try to play for like 3 years then retire.
The scary bit here is that this type of thing is most common in 15 year olds playing baseball.
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Worse has happened both recently and more frequently, it just happens after the fact and not on the field. There’s a whole generation of CTE timebombs out there who have or are going to end their lives or the live of other people, 100% because of the game they play. Like you said, its a risk they likely know, but it happens a lot more frequently than we care to think about.
Not sure that does much because you’ve still got ten years of high school/college/NFL football violence that’s accumulated. For any position besides kicker, punter, and QB that’s a big risk.
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The doc I saw was talking about batted balls and not fully grown chests being the riskiest combo.
At 15 you are playing against some high swing speeds with the least developed body.
At age 11(?) during a practice, the pitcher tossed it hard to me at third unexpectedly. He thought the coach said to throw it. He me square. Thankfully no problems. It’s gotta hit the right spot with enough force at the exact right point in the heart rhythm.
No idea how hard a normal 11 year old throws. 60 maybe?
As devastating as CTE is, it is not worse than what happened to Hamlin.
Hamlin might end up making a 100% recovery, if that ends up being the case then devastating CTE at 40 or younger like with Junior Seau or Aaron Hernandez or Mike Webster is much worse.
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If he recovers fully, sure. He sustained an injury that almost killed him on the field, has a 57% survival rate, and has a broad range of (mostly awful) outcomes. I am optimistic that he will recover given the presence of medical personnel on-site, but this was the worst single event that has happened at a game that I can recall.