Reggie Brown, when he learned about Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s traumatic injury in Monday’s game between Buffalo and the Cincinnati Bengals, understood better than most exactly what was at stake. The former Detroit Lions linebacker had been there himself 25 years earlier.
Laying prone on the field. Needing CPR to breathe. Teammates looking on in anguish.
“It’s devastating to live through it,” Brown told The Washington Times. “It’s devastating to witness it. It’s devastating to kind of know somebody that’s gone through it. I wouldn’t wish my situation on anyone.”
Part of what made Hamlin’s life-threatening injury so stunning was the reaction by the NFL, a league where “next-man-up” is practically a mantra.