One minute later, his life was in jeopardy. A day later, it still is, as he remains hospitalized in critical condition. That’s how quickly things can change in the sport of football.

“It was jarring. Something like that is really shocking. It’s a sport we know as coaches, players, and fans that it’s a violent game, but you’re never prepared for something that catastrophic to happen,” said Clymer-Sherman-Panama Wolfpack football head coach Ty Harper.

“It was alarming, disheartening, frightening,” said Dunkirk Marauders football head coach Mark Benton. “I’ve experienced being injured as a football player and I’ve experienced some serious injuries in 23 years of coaching, but I’ve never seen something like that.”

Hamlin suffered from cardiac arrest after he made a tackle on Bengals receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin got up off the ground onto his feet, and then seconds later fell backwards down to the ground once again. Medical staff members frantically rushed onto the field to attend to him, as the players and personnel on the field witnessed up close and personal what millions of viewers at home witnessed on ABC and ESPN.

Dunkirk Marauders head coach Mark Benton.

“Immediately I was concerned by the reaction of the training staff. Their behavior and actions when they reached Hamlin was more frantic than usual. That’s the first thing that caught my attention,” Jamestown Red Raiders head coach Tom Langworthy said.

Within moments, it was clear that this was not just another injury that viewers have become so accustomed to seeing.

“When he stood up and immediately went back down I thought ‘that’s not good.’ I first thought it was a head injury, but you could tell by the tone of (announcers) Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in the booth and the length of time in the commercial breaks that it was something really serious,” said Harper.

What many were calling the biggest game of the year stopped in its tracks as Hamlin lay on the ground. The massive crowd was suddenly silenced. After the initial replay, the shots changed course to show the devastation and fear on the faces of Hamlin’s teammates and coaches.

“Two moments that stood out to me was first, how quiet the crowd was … and then, when Josh Allen had his hands over his nose, like he was panicking. That’s when I realized it wasn’t a neck injury, it was life or death,” Langworthy said.

Then, as the broadcast ping-ponged between commercials, studio coverage, and live shots of the scene, news started to trickle out on social media and eventually on the broadcast.

“I was nervous and had kind of a sick feeling watching it unfold,” Langworthy said. “I was following along on Twitter looking for good news, and there wasn’t any.”

The injury Hamlin suffered was the absolute worst-case scenario — the kind of injury no one plans for. The kind of injury that players cannot witness and continue playing a game afterward.

“My 7-year-old was next to me on the couch watching it, asking me some serious questions that I’m not sure I had adequate answers for, some questions a 7-year-old shouldn’t have to ask while watching a game,” Harper said.

So, after Bengals coach Zac Taylor and Bills coach Sean McDermott spoke, the two teams left the field in the middle of the game. They did not return, and they will not anytime soon.

“It really puts things in perspective. The winner or loser doesn’t matter. Home field advantage doesn’t matter. The only thing you think about is hoping this young man pulls out of this and makes a full recovery,” Langworthy said.

“Obviously those are situations you think they could be prepared for, but you never really are. Everything is just thrown at you,” Benton said. “I thought it was the correct choice to have the game end. … People talk about how you get all these games played. … You can’t do that. This is a human life. Think of all the people attached to that.”

Benton has experience dealing with the National Football League from his time working closely with Jim Kelly. Despite many viewers being critical of the time it took to officially postpone the game, Benton agrees with the NFL’s choice, and he understands the time it takes to make such a decision.

“It was obviously the right decision to make. You’re dealing with a lot of different things in that moment, but I don’t think the game was ever going to start back up. I don’t think the Bills would’ve played that game after that,” Benton said.

In his own experience as a coach, Benton recalls a time as a junior varsity coach where a player in a game suffered a serious leg injury that required an air cast and an ambulance to take the player to the hospital. Even in that instance, Benton had reservations about the game continuing.

“I looked at the players and I just saw those kids hearts sank. Once he was in the ambulance, the officials said the game continues, and I wondered if we should be doing this. The whole time I always questioned if we should be playing,” Benton said.

But this injury was a new level of seriousness — one in which no one on the broadcast, in the league office, or any of the coaches in our community had any true reference point.

“When you’re a coach, you love your players and you want to build a culture where the players love each other,” said Langworthy. “I can totally understand why these guys are hurting and are so upset. That’s something that happens at the high school level too, at all levels. That’s a person out there that they love.”

Hamlin’s injury was the type of moment that will forever change how the sport is viewed in the eyes of many who witnessed it.

“First and foremost, my priority is to be a father to my children. As a coach, I can understand why parents will be apprehensive to let children play violent sports,” said Harper. “I think it’s a conversation parents and their kids have to have.”

Whether it applies to the players returning to the field to continue the remaining three-plus quarters of action with playoff seeding in the balance, or even the reservations that may increase after the incident to let players play at younger levels of the sport, Hamlin’s injury will hang over the heads of any football fan or player who witnessed it.

“Football is a really physical sport. I know unfortunately that last night is going to turn more people away from it,” Benton acknowledged. “… It’s a very serious incident. It’s unfortunate. That’s the game, football is a physical game, but you hope it never gets to this level.”

Silver Creek-Forestville Black Knights head coach Sean Helmer hopes that the incident leads more teams and schools to put an emphasis on employing qualified athletic trainers. Helmer stressed the importance of having someone qualified to deal with serious injuries ready at a moment’s notice when a severe injury like Hamlin’s could take place.

But even then, the danger of the sport – and most sports in general – can only be limited by so much.

“There are catastrophic injuries in girls basketball, there are serious head and neck injuries in competitive cheerleading … to pinpoint this particular injury and generalize it to a football specific incident I don’t think it’s fair to the sport,” Harper said. “As coaches we try to mitigate the risk involved as much as we can, but I totally understand the reservations people have about letting their kids play.”

But for now, there is nothing anyone can do but hope for good news regarding Hamlin.

“I’ve been saying my prayers since it happened. I’m just hoping he can recover and live a good life after this,” Langworthy said. “I was impressed with the care he got right away, and I’m hopeful that he’ll be able to recover from this, but it’s in God’s hands now.”

“In this situation, I’m just a fan like everybody else,” said Harper. “I’m just hoping he’s OK.”

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