President Joe Biden said he had spoken to the parents of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who collapsed during a game on Monday and remains in critical condition.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden said he had spoken to the parents of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who collapsed during a game on Monday and remains in critical condition.
“I spoke to his mother and father at length,” Biden told reporters at the White House on Wednesday when asked if he had a message for the injured National Football League player.
Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest after making a tackle about nine minutes into a game against the Cincinnati Bengals and was taken to a hospital. The game was suspended after the nationally televised incident.
Hamlin remains in the intensive care unit and has shown “signs of improvement,” the Bills said in a tweet. Biden called the player’s parents on Wednesday, according to a White House official.
Biden said earlier Wednesday that the NFL should continue to improve safety for its players, but that the incident involving Hamlin doesn’t mean the game is too dangerous.
“Look, the idea that you’re going to have — you’ve got guys that are 6’8, 340 pounds, running a 4.8 40, you know, if you hit somebody — and that’s not what happened here, but I just think it’s — I don’t know how you avoid it,” he said.
“I think working like hell on the helmets, the concussion protocols, that makes a lot of sense,” he added. “But it’s, you know, it’s dangerous.”
–With assistance from Josh Wingrove.
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