Joe Buck Reflects On What It Was Like To Call The Damar Hamlin Situation On Live Television

On today's Pardon My Take... JOE BUCK! The elite play-by-play broadcaster joined Mr. Cat and Mr. Commenter to reflect on his first year on the call for Monday Night Football, whether or not he misses calling baseball, who he will root against this season in the NFL, and much, much more. 

One of the other major moments that Buck witnessed during his first season of MNF was the Damar Hamlin incident. As it was happening live, nobody knew what was going on, yet Buck and Troy Aikman were still on the air during this unfortunate and scary night. So, what was Buck's plan as this was unfolding with no information as to what was going on? He discussed that on today's show:

Mr. Commenter: I thought you did a good job in that situation. It was a very, very tough situation. You were walking a tightrope where you're just reacting honestly to what you saw, but not making any missteps, you handled that as perfectly as you could.

Joe Buck: You're right, the way you said it is you have to not make any missteps, and I think the one thing that I'm really proud of, everybody that was involved that night was the restraint. The restraint of not speculating, of not guessing, there was no information. And when there's no information and the red light is on and you know that you're supposed to be saying something, it's a bit unnerving to not have anything to go on other than what everybody else saw.

Joe Buck: You see them working on him, you see the ambulance, you see the ambulance leave. We eventually knew where he headed and where he ended up. But other than that, you just keep repeating yourself, and you realize at that moment how small sports are.

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman: two of the best of the best in the broadcast booth. What an impossible situation that they handled carefully and professionally.