The final weeks of the
NFL
season featured a number of stunning comebacks, but one stood out above the rest: After decades spent in retreat on the gridiron, public prayer roared back to life in dramatic fashion.
As most know by now, Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills suffered a terrifying cardiac arrest on Jan. 2 during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Following a standard tackle on a kick return, Hamlin regained his footing and straightened himself for a moment, only to collapse suddenly like a heap of laundry. To be certain, the NFL produces savage and spectacular hits each week that see men launched out of their cleats. But Hamlin’s fall was terrifying because it was unspectacular. He just fell flat and stayed that way. And the entire country lost its breath.
In the hours and days that followed, a peculiar word suddenly leaped from the lips of every sports talking head: Pray. Pray for Damar. Pray that the living and all-loving God returns this young man to his
family.
Pray, because no matter how far the culture has drifted, in the depths of our hearts we believe in a God who loves us madly and who treasures each of us as if we were His only. And so we prayed together, please, Damar, rise! In an instant, America seemed to return to its religious roots, united in faith and zealous for the love of God and our fellow man.
So when a notable sportscaster issued a tweet about how the incident would affect playoff seeding — while Hamlin and his family were still in the ambulance —
he was roundly rebuked
. The comment was offensive to many because it ran counter to the distinctly Christian character of the moment; rather than prioritizing the needs of the other, it spoke to the needs of the self — and, in this case, to the shallow need to be entertained.
America wasn’t having it. This was a moment in which we, for once, swatted away the frivolous and embraced the meaningful. For at least a week, we remembered to put the good of the other before the good of the self. Sports broadcasters took a few moments on air to offer up a prayer for Damar; NFL players knelt on the field to ask for God’s healing. It was spectacular.
But sadly, not all in the world of football was changed by the Hamlin incident. The very next weekend, for example, Kayvon Thibodeaux, the charismatic star defensive edge rusher for the New York Giants, broke free from his blocker and delivered a punishing sack on Nick Foles, quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts and former Super Bowl MVP. Thibodeaux, whose penchant for showmanship and fashion have been on display throughout his rookie season in New York,
celebrated the hit
by dropping on his back and making “snow angels” on the turf.
To be certain, excessive celebrations in the NFL are so common as to hardly warrant mention. But this one was extreme even by modern standards, as Thibodeaux’s arms smacked against Foles as he writhed in pain on the ground beside him. Any hope that Thibodeaux simply wasn’t aware that Foles was injured vanished when he continued to celebrate himself on the sideline by making a “sleep” hand sign against his cheek. This was presumably done to brag about putting Foles to “sleep” as he was being carted off the field and into the locker room.
Now, I’m as rabid of a New York Giants fan as you’ll find. I haven’t missed a snap since the
Reagan
administration. And like most NFL fans, the outcome of Sunday’s game for my team plays an embarrassingly large role in my mood on any given Monday morning. But even I couldn’t help but wince at the spectacle of Thibodeaux celebrating himself against the mangled body of Foles — who, it’s worth noting, is memorialized in a statue outside of Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia — only days after Hamlin’s collapse.
It’s impossible not to love Thibodeaux the football player: he is ferocious, committed to winning, and full of life. And by all locker room accounts, he is a hardworking and valued teammate. There is no question that his future in the league is very bright. But I, along with many who were inspired by the resurgence of selflessness during the Hamlin episode, wish he would avoid this sort of spectacle moving forward.
Celebrating oneself just isn’t edgy anymore, nor is it interesting. It’s so overdone that it’s hopelessly ordinary. The “me” moment in sports needs to pass as quickly as it came.
We can only hope that the remarkable resurgence of prayer and decency that swept the NFL following Hamlin’s collapse is a sign of what’s to come. Our children will be better off rooting for heroes who value something higher than themselves.
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Peter Laffin is a writer in New England. Follow him on Twitter at @Laffin_Out_Loud.
