Bills' Damar Hamlin: 'I Don't Want to Be Just Known as the Player Who Lived'

Damar Hamlin earned a starting safety position on the Buffalo Bills this season and said he hopes he can create a playing legacy that will eventually serve as the central narrative from his playing career.

"I don't want to be just known as the player who lived," he told Cameron Wolfe of NFL.com on Thursday. "My story is my story. It's still being written. But I want to be known for my abilities as well. I've always had big goals on and off the field. I have so much more that I want to accomplish."

During a Week 17 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2022, Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after tackling wide receiver Tee Higgins. He briefly didn't have a pulse before he was defibrillated and resuscitated.

"I died on national TV in front of the whole world," he said simply of the incident.

What followed was a lengthy rehabilitation process before he was cleared to resume football activities in April 2023. Last season, he made Buffalo's roster as a special teams contributor, appearing in five games. This year, after an impressive training camp, he won a starting position at safety alongside Taylor Rapp.

"What else can't this young man do? What an accomplishment," head coach Sean McDermott said of Hamlin after he was named a starter. "We're just extremely proud and full of gratitude to watch him go through what he's gone through and where he is now."

Hamlin said that returning to the football field has at times been a triggering experience, however.

"People move on with their life and they think about it when they see me," he told Wolfe. "I can't move on. It's a part of me. I do still have flashbacks sometimes. And within my day-to-day, I definitely think about it. I've learned to appreciate those moments in my life. But when I play a game now, those three hours, I'm only thinking about football."

"He had every reason to walk away from the game," Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane added. "Nobody would have questioned his toughness. I'm not sure what his odds were to make the team last year, but he absolutely wasn't gifted a roster spot."

But Hamlin persisted, and now he'll play a crucial role for the Bills this season. His hope is that his play on the field defines him in the minds of NFL fans.

"I was raised to be like this," he told Wolfe. "This is what I do best. I'm a football player at heart. It's in me to want to compete. Football keeps me closest to God."