Difficult week brings out the best in the NFL and its fans

The National Football League is a place where, historically, priorities can easily get out of whack. The importance of playing games, entertaining people and keeping the cash flowing often trumps the best interests of the players.

By its nature, the NFL is an unforgiving environment – something everyone who earns a living in the league is well aware of and is represented by the league’s unofficial motto of “Next man up.”

So no, it might not have shocked us had the league chosen to play on last Monday night in Cincinnati, once Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was taken off the field in an ambulance, his breathing having been restored while he was on the field via CPR and the use of a defibrillator.

And we might have even expected that cancelling that game with the Bengals leading 7-3 during the first quarter might have triggered a smattering of boos among the Cincinnati crowd. Or at least led some to question why, for the first time in NFL history, a game was not being completed.

None of that occurred.

Instead, what flowed from this incident was everyone simultaneously realigning their priorities on the fly in a way cynics might not have expected.

The two head coaches – Buffalo’s Sean McDermott and Cincinnati’s Zach Taylor – immediately prioritized the mental health of their players, many of whom were traumatized by what they witnessed on the field.

The league office deferred to the two coaches to decide whether the game should continue, based on the sentiments of their players.

Traditionally in the NFL, players don’t tell the league what’s going to happen. They line up and do what they are told. But that changed on Monday night.

The fact that it took an hour and six minutes to reverse 100 years of NFL protocol seemed to bother some people. But what really matters is that the right decision was made, in the interest of the people who mattered most.

Instead of being angry, fans showed up at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center to show their support, sentiments that were echoed by everyone in the Bengals organization. Taylor’s wife, Sarah, organized an effort for elementary school children to write cards for Hamlin, even taking it upon herself to bring meals to Bills staff who had stayed behind at the hospital after the team flew back to Buffalo.

Among the media, whether it was ESPN’s live coverage, or the many things written and asked out loud during the week, almost none of it ventured into territory of what this would mean for the season or the Bills’ Super Bowl hopes.

Back in Buffalo, preparation for the Bills’ upcoming game against the New England Patriots took a back seat. While assistant coaches began putting together the game plan, McDermott’s focus was squarely on the well-being of his players and staff, with the team and league offering mental health support to everyone involved.

Bills GM Brandon Beane, who has been in the NFL since 1998, recalled that the mental health of players and coaches was something that was never discussed during his first decade in the league. Even after that, it usually met resistance.

This week demonstrated the power of all those conversations about the importance of mental health for athletes. It wasn’t just addressed; it was the priority.

Meanwhile, for people in Western New York, winning the Super Bowl went from being the most important thing, to the least.

It seemed like everyone had been watching when Hamlin fell to the ground Monday night and lay unconscious on the field. It was truly a moment shared by the entire community and one that was instantly viewed as a human story, not a football one.

There is less that separates players from fans in Buffalo than most cities. Part of that is geography, with the team situated south of Buffalo in Orchard Park. Part of that is culture, with players tending to be more in tune with events in the community and often lending their support.

That support was returned this week as fans turned out for a rainy-night vigil outside Highmark Stadium and flooded Hamlin’s charitable foundation with donations from near and far.

When McDermott and select players did make themselves available to the media on Thursday, there was no bravado, no tough-guy talk and almost nothing about the game. Instead, McDermott, quarterback Josh Allen and others opened up their hearts to share their raw emotions about the past week.

It was a scene you don’t see often in the NFL.

If you were looking for an example of what’s wrong with the NFL or football fandom in general this week, you didn’t find it.

Sunday afternoon the Bills will play the Patriots in a game that has meaning for both sides. They will be surrounded by their legions of fans who’ve ridden the same rollercoaster they have over the past week, just from a different perspective.

Last Monday night, it was impossible to predict where Hamlin’s health would be by the weekend, or how the Bills, the NFL, and the league’s legions of fans would act.

It’s turned out to be a week for which the NFL and its fans can be both grateful and proud.