When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field Monday, several sports analysts called it the scariest scene they’d ever seen on a football field. Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest after a routine tackle and remains in critical condition. As ESPN analyst and former player Ryan Clark described in an emotional segment, no one had prepared for this, not Hamlin, not the other players, and not media personnel.
But ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky knew what to do when he didn’t know what else to do. Appearing on NFL Live Tuesday morning, he said,
"Maybe this is not the right thing to do but it’s just on my heart that I wanna pray for Damar Hamlin right now. I’m gonna do it out loud, I’m gonna close my eyes, I’m gonna bow my head and I’m just gonna pray for him."
And that’s what he did. The other hosts on set joined, as did who knows how many viewers. Maybe some were comforted. Maybe others learned what it means to talk with God.
It was a powerful and courageous thing to do. After praying for healing and comfort for Damar Hamlin, Orlovsky closed with:
"If we didn’t believe that prayer didn’t work we wouldn’t ask this of you God. I believe in prayer. We believe in prayer. We lift up Damar Hamlin’s name in your name."
And to that we can all say, “Amen.”
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This Point was originally published on January 5, 2023.
