Damar Hamlin is about to clear the final hurdle in his road to full recovery.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott revealed that Hamlin will be a starting safety for the team in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals. The 26-year-old Hamlin is drawing the start alongside fellow safety Taylor Rapp.
“What else can’t this young man do?” McDermott said of Hamlin, per the Bills’ official site. “I think it’s consistency and opportunity. The opportunity that was there, he took advantage of it and was consistent. [Hamlin] built a certain level of rapport with T-Rapp, and that is important as well at the safety position.”
This will mark Hamlin’s very first start ever since his cardiac arrest incident during a “Monday Night Football” game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Jan. 2023. Hamlin had already returned to the field in a handful of games for the Bills last season. But he was limited to just five regular season appearances and two playoff appearances with no starts drawn.
Hamlin’s return to the Buffalo starting lineup may be at least in part out of necessity since the Bills lost former All-Pro safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde as free agents this offseason. But it is still great to see how far Hamlin has come just to make it back to this point, especially since he has been very open throughout his recovery about the various struggles that he has faced along the way.
