On Monday, ESPN aired a pivotal showdown between two AFC division leaders, the Buffalo Bills (12-3) and the Cincinnati Bengals (11-4). The game came to a halt in the first quarter after a collision between Bengals 'wide receiver Tee Higgins and Bills' free safety Damar Hamlin left the latter lying motionless on the field at Highmark Stadium. It wasn't known then, but Damar suffered a cardiac arrest as medical staff members from both teams tried to resuscitate him. Because the details about the incident were scarce, NFL insiders and sports journalists were left to speculate about the seriousness of the injury and how league officials would proceed at such a critical junction in the regular season schedule. Chris Broussard and Rob Parker, the co-hosts of The Odd Couple on Fox Sports Radio, discussed whether or not the game should be played in real-time, while Skip Bayless tweeted a similar sentiment about how the NFL would handle tragedy. On that night, Skip Bayless received an onslaught of backlash on Twitter from professional athletes such as Terrell Owens and Kendrick Perkins. The tweet created such a wedge between Skip and professional football players that his co-host Undisputed, NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe, declined to show up for Tuesday's tapping of their hit show on FS1.
Meanwhile, on ESPN, former NFL linebacker Bart Scott showed up to work for his job as a contributor on First Take. During an emotional segment about Damar Hamiln, the former Pro Bowler provided Stephen A. Smith with an analytical breakdown of the hit that led to Damar's injury before underlining the role of the offensive player involved, Tee Higgins.
"The NFL has tried to take the head out of the game,” Scott said. “We almost don’t think of the violent hits; we always associate that with the defensive players in targeting and lowering their head. But they did put in the rule maybe five years ago that offensive players can’t use the crown of their head, helmet as a weapon, which is kind of what Tee Higgins did, and I’m not trying to put the blame on Tee Higgins, but that’s something that they tried to take out…They never make that call.”
A clip of Scott's take on the matter has been viewed nearly 20 million times on Twitter. His explanation of the play sparked backlash and debates between people who accused him of blaming Tee Higgins for Damar's injury and people who indicated that Scott was merely giving ESPN's viewers an explanation of a football play.
Scroll up and press play to watch the clip.
Source: NY Post
