"Obviously, It's Been Hard" - Tee Higgins Speaks Out For First Time Since Damar Hamlin Collision As Josh Allen Defends Bengals WR
It's pretty incredible that Tee Higgins has managed to not dwell too hard on the freak accident that threatened Damar Hamlin's life, or perhaps everything is still too fresh and there's so much at stake football-wise that the path to the playoffs is a welcome distraction.
Whatever the case may be, I'm not sure any of us on the outside will ever know. What I do know is the grace with which Hamlin's family has handled their interactions with Higgins is admirable, as is how candid, open and honest the Cincinnati Bengals star was during what had to be an unimaginably difficult meeting with the media on Thursday.
There's a certain assumption of risk you take on when playing professional football, yet no one could've ever anticipated what happened to Hamlin when he needed CPR on the field after a cardiac arrest. What looked like a routine catch, run and tackle was anything but that.
Unfortunately, there are some who want to pile on Higgins and blame him for what happened to Hamlin. Bills quarterback Josh Allen did his best to nip any of that nonsense in the bud:
It's great that Allen, a Bills player, said something like this. Although Higgins alluded to the adversity his mother faced as something that prepared him for difficult life circumstances and emphasized how relieved he was thanks to his interactions with Hamlin's family and the positive direction the Buffalo safety's health was headed in, it couldn't hurt to have someone else in his corner.
Can only imagine what's going on inside, between Higgins' ears as he prepares for a high-stakes football game on Sunday.
Now that the Bengals-Bills game has been declared a no contest by the NFL, Cincinnati needs to knock off Baltimore in Week 18 to avoid a potential coin flip scenario. That is, if the Ravens and Bengals are to face off in the Wild Card Round, in the event of a Baltimore victory this Sunday, a coin toss would determine who gets home field. About as straightforward as I can put it. Leave it to Barstool legend Jerry Thornton to further explain it as I try to play you off with some laughs: