Damar Hamlin's high school coach says "steady" demeanor is the Bills player's trademark
Damar Hamlin's sudden collapse on the field during the Buffalo Bills' game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday prompted an outpouring of support as he remains in the ICU. On Thursday, the former high school coach of the Bills' safety spoke about Hamlin's injury and his rise to the NFL – and what he called Hamlin's "trademark" trait.
Hamlin "was an incredible person" who was "very steady, very even demeanor no matter what," Terry Totten, the former head football coach at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, told PBS NewsHour.
"When he was at the height of things or going through some of the adversities — he was hurt for a couple of games one year — it was all the same standard. It was all the same level of commitment, loyalty to the team. ... He didn't go up and down, like a lot of teenagers do, emotionally. He was steady," Totten added. "... And that was his trademark, that he was — he was an even-keeled guy, mature beyond his years, even at the age of — when I got him here at 14."
Earlier this week, Totten said Hamlin, who graduated from high school in 2016, is "a great athlete and twice as great as a person."
Hamlin suddenly collapsed Monday night after a tackle, during which Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins hit him in the chest with his helmet. Medical personnel tended to him for nearly 20 minutes on the field before he was transported to the hospital.
"It was horror unfolding on the football field. Anybody who watches a lot of football knows that that was not a standard injury," Totten told PBS. "...Everybody associated with this game, that's the last thing they want to see. It's a kick in the gut. It's a horror movie unfolding in front of your eyes."
Hamlin, who has said his parents had him when they were just 16, was a star at Central Catholic, where he was nominated as the 2016 U.S. Army All-American and was a top-rated defensive player in the state. But those accomplishments didn't come easy. In a 2021 interview about his hard-earned career, he estimated that more than half of the people he grew up with had died.
"It makes you numb to it, which is not good. I take reality for what it is and that's a product of me having to grow up so early. It's part of life, losing people," he said.
He went on to say his mother worked hard to make sure he could go to a private school, running a daycare as well as a cleaning business, which he helped maintain while his dad served a few years in prison for the intent to sell drugs.
"I had to take reality for reality and couldn't be a kid anymore. It was just me and my Mom now trying to survive. I had to grow up really fast. It instilled a toughness in me," Hamlin said in the interview.
That toughness contributed to his achievements. He committed to the University of Pittsburgh prior to his graduation in 2016, and played for the team through 2020. He was voted captain of Pittsburgh's football team his senior year, the same year he was invited to play in the prestigious Reese's Senior Bowl all-star game, which showcases the best NFL draft prospects.
The following year, he was the Buffalo Bills' sixth-round draft pick, which Totten said was always "a dream of his."
Now in his second year with the Bills, Hamlin has played 29 games and made a total of 93 tackles.
He's also used his career to give back to his community, starting the Chasing M's Foundation in college and using it to raise money to buy toys for kids in his hometown of McKees Rocks, just outside of Pittsburgh. He hosted that same toy drive this past Christmas, with a goal of raising $2,500. After his injury, people rallied together to raise more than $7.7 million for his initiative.
"Growing up, I really never had that figure in my life that I could look to, to reach out and touch, or go to, to make sure that I'm doing the right thing. I was always going on a whim my whole life, just guessing if I was doing the right thing or not," he told Central Catholic's alumni magazine in 2021. "...As soon as I got into the position to where I wanted to be, the first thing I wanted to do was give back and put that figure in the community just to reach out and feel touched, to be a positive influence that they know is around."
Hanlin's commitment to his team, his community and himself has helped him achieve greatness, his former coach said, and something that will help him get through the current challenge of recovering. As of Friday – four days after he went into cardiac arrest and his heart reportedly stopped twice – his breathing tube was removed and he was able to speak, his team said.
"Keep fighting, brother. You have got so much left to give," Totten said in a message to Hamlin through PBS on Thursday. "And he does. And he will. ... You're getting the best care you can get."
