NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent strongly denied reports that the league considered giving the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills five minutes to prepare to return to play after Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on Monday.
“I just want to be clear: Just that suggestion alone was inappropriate, it was insensitive and frankly it lacked both empathy and compassion for Damar’s situation – who was still in the woods and fighting for his life that day,” Vincent told reporters on an NFL conference call on Wednesday.
ESPN play-by-play man Joe Buck reported on the live Monday Night Football broadcast that the NFL had told the teams about a five-minute warmup period after Hamlin was taken to hospital by ambulance.
Earlier this week, ESPN released a statement saying it was standing by its reporting.
“There was constant communication in real time between ESPN and league and game officials,” the network said. “As a result of that, we reported what we were told in the moment and immediately updated fans as new information was learned.”
The league eventually announced the game was postponed with the Bengals leading 7-3 in the first quarter. No timing for the resumption of the game has been announced.
“There was only one policy and practice that mattered that evening, and that was the emergency action plan by those first responders,” Vincent said.
NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills said it was “not an exaggeration to say that the skilled and immediate response by all these talented caregivers prevented a tragic outcome at that moment.”
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