Damar Hamlin named Bills starter for Week 1

Damar Hamlin will start at safety when the Buffalo Bills open the season on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, continuing his “incredible” story, coach Sean McDermott said Wednesday.

Hamlin said he did the “hard stuff last year to make it easier this year,” and was excited to live the dream of seeing his work pay off in a tangible way. He said he gets why his promotion will be a storyline and confessed he’s still constantly thinking about the incident on the field in Cincinnati. Sunday marks his first start since Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field on Jan. 2, 2023.

“I think about it all the time. As much as the world experienced it, it happened to me,” Hamlin said. “… But it connects me to my purpose and my blessings.”

Taylor Rapp will occupy the other starting safety spot.

There was not one person or group who helped Hamlin reach starter status with the Bills, but he said Wednesday that former teammates and starting safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde were his greatest examples of being a professional.

“One thing we talk about: Consistency is the true mark of greatness,” Hamlin said Wednesday, noting he jotted the saying down on a sticky note to display in his bathroom among others. “I got to live and follow their example of greatness every day.”

Hamlin started 13 of the 15 games he played in during the 2022 season before collapsing on the field during the nationally televised game against the Bengals in Cincinnati.

“It’s one thing to come back off of an ACL or a broken bone. It’s another thing to come back off of what he came back off of,” McDermott said. “Let alone just to decide to play football, contact football in full pads at the NFL level. I don’t think I need to say anything more. It’s incredible.

“I think God’s hands have been on Damar and his family and will continue to be. We’re just extremely proud and full of gratitude to watch him go through what he’s went through and where he is now.”

Hamlin, 26, played in five games (no starts) last season, playing just 17 snaps on defense and 94 on special teams. He was brought back slowly and ramped up activity this year. McDermott said he earned the starting job through “consistency and opportunity.”

“The opportunity that was there, he took advantage of it and was consistent. (He) built a certain level of rapport with T-Rapp, and that’s important as well at the safety position,” McDermott said.

Hamlin played in college at Pitt and was a sixth-round draft pick by the Bills in 2021.

In all, he has appeared in 34 NFL games (13 starts) and has 95 tackles, 1.5 sacks, four passes defensed and a forced fumble.

–Field Level Media