It’s been an eventful few days for Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who appeared at last week’s NFL Honors in Arizona, then stuck around for Super Bowl LVII, where he was seated next to Donna Kelce (whose sons, Jason and Travis, became the first brothers to face off in a Super Bowl) and commissioner Roger Goodell. However, Hamlin was ridiculed by many including former MVP Adrian Peterson for wearing a jacket displaying a distorted cartoon of Jesus on the cross. A devout Christian, Peterson took great offense, going as far as to call Hamlin’s outfit “blasphemy.”
Following a conversation with Hamlin, Peterson softened his tone, acknowledging that “everyone makes mistakes,” while hoping to impart wisdom on a young, impressionable player thrust into the spotlight after an unconscionable tragedy that almost cost him his life.
Responding to Peterson’s public criticism, Hamlin admitted the jacket, made by Japanese designer Takashi Murikami, was probably in poor taste, insisting he meant no disrespect, merely seeing it as an artistic expression. In fact, Hamlin considers himself a Christian, though he says his relationship with God isn’t defined by “symbolic images.”
Hamlin seems to have largely navigated this mini controversy, surviving his first encounter with bad press following a sudden and meteoric rise to fame, emerging as a symbol of hope and resilience amid a violent sport that, for all the progress made in recent years with concussion studies and stricter protocols, doesn’t seem to be getting any safer. The Bills and Bengals abandoned their Monday night game on January 2nd, opting not to resume play after Hamlin collapsed, needing nine minutes of CPR to resuscitate him after going into cardiac arrest.
The 24-year-old’s remarkable recovery has served as an inspiration to many, though he’s not out of the woods yet, with plenty of obstacles still ahead. Hamlin’s accident and subsequent hospitalization came as a wakeup call to a horrified viewing audience, reminding us just how much players sacrifice every time they step on an NFL field.
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