Damar Hamlin’s Recovery, Return, Family, And Net Worth
During a January Monday Night Football game that nobody will forget, Damar Hamlin's heart ceased, capturing the nation's attention. Suddenly, everyone was glued to their televisions and devices daily for any positive updates.
After his remarkable and miraculous recovery, he became a heart superhero and Hamlin has shared the unbelievable story of his return to the NFL in 2023. Explore his triumphant comeback, Hamlin's newfound commitment to philanthropy post-recovery and take a closer look at his earnings.
A Near Tragedy In A Football Game
During a late-season Monday Night Football clash between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, Hamlin, a safety for the Bills, made a critical tackle on Bengals receiver Tee Higgins. A seemingly routine play took a sudden turn as Hamlin collapsed again after briefly rising.
Despite the expected physicality of football, the unexpected nature of the incident caught even seasoned announcer Joe Buck off guard. Accustomed to anticipating head injuries, he never imagined the possibility of cardiac arrest, a rarity in the sports he is covered.
Joe Buck Was At A Rare Loss For Words
In January, with the whole country watching, Damar Hamlin's heart stopped during a Monday Night Football game.
Nearly 24 million people watched as Hamlin was taken off the field in an ambulance. The game was called off with viewers unsure of whether or not they had seen a man die on television. The next day, a sportscaster prayed live on ESPN. For a time, updates on his recovery were headline news.
Timeline
A timeline of Hamlin's return to football and the NFL was not an overnight process, though it seems that way due to the blanketing media coverage. His journey was a true inspiration, from the horrific event on January 2nd to his first time in a game since.
Damar suffered cardiac arrest after attempting to tackle Tee Higgins. In the next few days, doctors and Hamlin's family provided updates about his progression. Damar's uncle let his teammates know he was doing well, which uplifted their spirits.
Released From Hospital
January 11, 2023, will be a date that Damar Hamlin, his family, friends, teammates, and fans will remember forever. Hamlin was released from the hospital in Buffalo after being tested and cleared by doctors.
Damar visited the team at their practice facility just three days after he was discharged from the hospital. Buffalo played in a playoff game on January 15, with Damar and company cheering loudly and proudly from home. For the record, the Bills beat the Dolphins that day.
Public Appearances
If you fast forward the recovery timeline to February and March, Damar began a rockstar-style tour of public appearances. Hamlin showed up at the Super Bowl, awards, to present and receive, including being joined on a stage by the Buffalo doctors who cared for him.
In April, Damar met with President Joe Biden, just weeks before announcing his intentions to play football again. May saw Hamlin slowly make his way back to practicing. He bravely took his first physical contact in July, before some time in preseason games in August.
November 13th Of 2023 Hamlin Returned To Play
After cheating death in January, Hamlin played in a preseason game and got his first snaps after recovering in August of 2023. On October 1, Damar was officially declared active by the Buffalo Bills.
Damar was declared healthy but did not play in the first three games of the season, but on November 1, 2023, he was substituted into a week-10 game against the Denver Broncos. Buffalo used Hamlin in a fake punt scenario in their divisional playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Once Damar Made The Bills 53-Man Roster He Won
Odds set by Las Vegas and bettors were only waiting for Damar to crack the lineup of the Buffalo Bills in the season after his accident, which he did. Once he was officially named to the team, the 2023 NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award was virtually his to lose.
The ceremony awarding that and the other awards for accomplishments by NFL players, owners, and coaches, like the Most Valuable Player and Rookies of the Year, was scheduled at the NFL Honors Ceremony days before Super Bowl LVIII, held ironically in Las Vegas.
"The Moment Was Everything To Me"
Understandably, after unwillingly knocking on the door of the Grim Reaper, Hamlin was overwhelmed with emotion upon returning to the Buffalo Bills and playing in the NFL. "That moment was everything to me," he later said in a press conference.
To Hamlin, it was not just about coming back to play football again. "It was more so about promising to myself than anything else, just showing myself that I have the courage, I got the strength that I got the pride...To be able to still do what I love at the highest level in the world is amazing."
AED Tour
With the help of Chasing M's, Hamlin was an advocate for CPR and the health of children and adults. He created the Chasing M's CPR Tour and engaged with and connected with prominent figures with influence and interest.
Damar became the cause he supported and brought awareness to. Access to AEDs Act, and participated in many other advocating events along the way. This saturation of support touched Hamlin and led to the success of his community initiatives, clothing line, and multiple philanthropic ventures.
The Champion Behind Heart Health
Hamlin took the stage at a convention center in Oklahoma City one fall evening. It was his first off day since he returned to the NFL, and Hamlin had popped into town to speak to a room full of medical professionals and charitable donors. This had become routine for Damar.
He spent the better part of this year traveling across the country, maintaining a schedule that, in mixed charity and celebrity, reflected the new and unfamiliar position he had instantly come to occupy in the American public.
"Hi, I'm Damar."
Patience was a virtue for Hamlin, who was eager to return to being a football player but took time from playing to fly back and forth from Oklahoma. To lighten the mood before a question and answer period, he said, "Hi, I'm Damar." Like he had been doing it forever, Hamlin handled questions from local media asking him to speak about his ordeal.
One admission by Hamlin in a 2023 interview that President Biden had called him the previous weekend to wish him luck before his first game back received brittle applause from the Oklahomans.
Commotio Cordis
In an April 2023 press conference, a few months after his on-field accident, Hamlin revealed he was diagnosed with a rare condition called Commotio Cordis. How rare is what happened to Damar? Medical experts say that a perfect sequence of events, which Hamlin experienced, has to take place.
It took an intense blow to the chest, which caused a disturbance of the rhythm of Damar's heart, a result that is typically fatal. Doctors witnessing the seemingly routine football play on television instantly thought it was commotio cordis.
Raising Awareness About Heart-Health Was Personal
Again, Hamlin was overjoyed to help raise awareness for a cause he had no choice but to be a part of. He was booked by his booking agent, something new to him, to be the keynote speaker at a gala celebrating achievements in public health across the state.
In summary, the event emphasized the contradictions that seeped into Damar's life since January of 2023. He went through an experience that nobody would wish upon their worst enemy. Suddenly, the world was a blur of screaming fans, flashbulbs, and microphones constantly in his face.
"I saw it in real-time...That was a commotio cordis event"
A cardiologist at the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Massachusetts, Dr. Barry J. Maron, saw Hamlin's collapse while watching the game. Maron observed the hit and told Heart.org, "I saw it in real-time. That was a commotio cordis event."
Maron is considered a pioneer by many of his peers because of his decades devoted to researching commotio cordis. The doctor states that anyone receiving a hit like the one that Hamlin took has a few seconds at most before they would collapse.
Calling Commotio Cordis Rare Is An Understatement
How rare is a commotio cordis-related incident? Kids rough-housing with each other, a snowball, and falling off a bike are the non-sports cases popping up occasionally in emergency rooms across the country. A projectile like a baseball or hockey puck hitting a player's chest has triggered it in sports.
Researchers and doctors show in studies that the condition appears more in younger people, boys specifically, because their chests have not been developed fully. Also, many young children are in contact sports without the experience of receiving intense physical hits.
Damar Was No NFL Superstar
Although Hamlin's accident was terrible, it should be pointed out that he became more famous after it. The Buffalo Bills drafted Damar with their 212th pick in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He only got more playing time because of an injury to teammate Micah Hyde.
Hamlin played in 14 games in his rookie season and started in none. He started in 13 of the 15 games he played in 2022 but only saw game action in five games in 2023. Despite the sporadic use, Hamlin's stats in 2022 earned him a decent deal.
Hamlin's 4-Year $3.6 Million Contract Was Average
With all of the attention and fame surrounding Damar Hamlin, one might think his salary matched his status off the field. The Buffalo Bills signed Hamlin to a four-year, $3.6 million deal after drafting him in 2021.
To be completely clear, the money is not per season. Exponentially, Hamlin gets more each year. He earned over $600,000 in year one and grew to $1 million by season's end in 2024. Since being drafted, Hamlin was used more as a reserve who only started most of the games in his second season due to an injury.
Damar Has A Net Worth Of $2 Million
At the end of 2023, Damar Hamlin had a net worth of $2 million. Most of the total is from his playing salary in the NFL, also NFT deals, and his Chasing M's clothing line, which has exploded for Hamlin after his injury.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were relatively new among athletes endorsing them, and Hamlin was one of the first to enter that world. There are 10 NFTs available at $25 a pop. Damar inked a deal ahead of its time where he owns 20% of every sale.
Your NFL Comeback Player Of 2023
If there was ever a moment when an award should be given to someone without regarding their performance, it is Damar Hamlin.
The Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA) annually awards its NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award, and Hamlin's story in 2023 almost made a guaranteed winner.
Add 2023 George Halas Award-Winner To Hamlin's Mantle
Every season in the NFL, a player is awarded the George Halas Award. The Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA) gives the honor annually to the player, coach, or team employee in the NFL who is successful after overcoming the most adversity in their eyes.
On May 15, 2023, mere months after ceasing to exist temporarily, voters unanimously named Hamlin its latest recipient. Later that year, at the ESPY Awards, Damar presented the entire Buffalo Bills training staff the Pat Tillman Award for the player who best shows character, intelligence, sportsmanship, and service.
Fame And Celebrity Has Not Changed Damar
High-profile athletes or ones that have reached the celebrity status of Damar Hamlin sometimes become unrecognizable to their fans. Players from humble beginnings tend to spend and flaunt their newfound wealth with no regard and typically overvalue themselves.
This is the complete opposite in the case of Hamlin. While he tries to keep his private life under lock and key, it was reported that the man with a $2 million net worth, who earned over $9 million for his charity foundation, lives in a modestly upscale apartment complex near the Bills' stadium.
By Hook Or By Crook
Buffalo Bills' coaching staff attempted to take advantage of the Chiefs having only 10 of the required 11 players on the field when they tried the fake kick. Instead of the snap from under center going to QB Josh Allen, it went directly to Damar.
The play was on fourth down with five yards to gain and was considered a bit of a gamble that critics did not support despite analytics saying it would work. Damar would only run for two yards and was stopped by the Kansas City defense, turning the ball over on downs.
From Death's Door To Advocating More AEDs In Sports
He held CPR training sessions and provided no-cost automated external defibrillators (AEDs), like the one that saved his life, to youth sports organizations.
"I couldn't tell you one thing I did in the month of April, could not tell you one thing I did in the month of May, but I did some legendary things,” He said in an interview with GQ.
An AED's Most Popular Spokesperson
As expected, the quiet and reserved Hamlin was taken aback more by what happened to him. Once he was fully recovered, tours involving the advocation and placement of the very defibrillators that saved his life became his focus.
Hamlin said in a GQ interview, "I'm blessed to still be here." He would later say, "We don't get to choose our callings. So this is just my new calling: standing for AED awareness, standing for trying to get everyone CPR certified, and things like that. I’m 100 percent in on it."
Pennsylvania Is Where It All Began For Hamlin
Born Damar Romeyelle Hamlin was born and raised in a small Pennsylvania town called McKees Rocks. He went to high school in Pittsburgh at Central Catholic High School, where he would already turn the heads of NFL scouts.
Listed at 6 ft 1in, Damar and his 185-pound frame made his presence felt defensively and earned him first-team All-State, and then he was given the Class AAAA Defensive Player of the Year Award. With most recruitment sources rating him a four out of five on their draft scales, Hamlin's path to the NFL seemed to be a formality.
Being A Four-Star Recruit Brought NCAA Eyes To Pittsburgh
Damar's high school stats were enough to attract the finest college football recruiters in the country from the powerhouses in the NCAA. The safety entertained names from prominent programs like Ohio State, Penn State, and Temple before deciding to stay home and enroll at the University of Pittsburgh.
Damar's season ended before the excitement of his first collegiate football season at Pitt could sink in. After playing three games into his initial year, Hamlin suffered an injury and was designated with a medical redshirt for the remainder of the 2016 season.
A Captain And Graduate In The Same Year
Ahead of his final college football season in 2020, Damar received more attention for his earned accolades. Leading his team in tackles with 66 and helping to break up seven passes made Hamlin the clear choice for team captain of the University of Pittsburgh Panthers.
To put the cherry on top of what was already a successful year for Damar, the star Pitt safety graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications. His total of interceptions and solo tackles highlighted a football career that was headed for the big leagues.
Doubt From The Outside Never Bothered Hamlin
Despite suffering a nearly fatal occurrence and the subsequent reports leaning towards early retirement, Hamlin never wavered on making his comeback to the NFL. In only what his doctors could describe as "remarkable," Damar began his long and difficult road to recovery.
Everyone other than Hamlin was shocked to see his return to action after such a short time after cheating death. Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane said Damar saw several specialists Beane says were "in lockstep" with his situation before approving his comeback attempt.
Recovery Was Not Possible Without His Family's Support
Hamlin emphasized the role his family's support played throughout his injury and subsequent recovery. He relied on their encouragement as a driving force during rehabilitation and plans to lean on their unwavering support. Their presence has been instrumental in his journey, serving as a constant source of strength and motivation.
In a press conference, Hamlin said, "They almost lost me. I died on national TV in front of the whole world. You know what I mean? That right there is just the biggest blessing of it all. For me to still have my people and for my people to still have me."
Lebron's Son Bronny Received Hamlin's Prayers
Going through a rare moment like the one Damar did can change a person's life. Hamlin went from little knowledge about his affliction to almost becoming a leading expert. Although what took place with him was a freak incident, cardiac trauma is not new or exclusive.
When NBA star Lebron James' son Bronny appeared to have a cardiac arrest, Damar was quick to lend his support to the James family. He tweeted to them, "Prayers to Bronny & The James Family." He also sent a prayer emoji with his post. The hospital released Bronny a few days later.
Haters Tried To Hate
While most people were fascinated by the Damar Hamlin story and believed it earned him a nomination for Comeback Player of the Year, some felt he did not play in enough games to win.
The fact that he only managed to play in five games out of a possible seventeen-game season, when other nominees like Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford, who came back from injuries, albeit not as major as Damar's. Media voters thought that the others in the category returned to make more of a contribution to their teams.
M Stands For Millions
Established in 2017, Damar's charity organization called Chasing M's, where the 'M' stands for Millions, was supposed to be the start of a clothing line. Before he knew his dream about playing in the NFL would become a reality, Hamlin thought he could get a head start on earning some extra cash.
Damar had impressive statistics while playing in the NCAA for the Pittsburgh Panthers in the ACC conference. Although, as a safety, Hamlin led the team in total tackles and ACC award nominations, his stock slipped ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Chasing M's Foundation
Damar began a charity toy drive for kids that he wanted to do annually at Christmas in 2020. Hamlin's Chasing M's Foundation had a modest goal of raising $2,500 on its GoFundMe site. After his 2023 unfortunate moment on the field, the organization was flooded with donations two weeks later.
On January 17, 2023, Chasing M's donation totals were nearly $9 million. Merchandise sales of items like T-shirts that refer to the night he collapsed, like his infamous "Did we win?" quote when he first opened his eyes.
Dinner And A Gift Was The Least Damar Could Do
In a tweet on his personal X account, Hamlin posted what he did for the men and women from the University of Cincinnati Hospital team who helped bring him back to life. He surprised the group by taking them out for dinner and made a special announcement.
In addition to his Chasing M's Foundation for underprivileged youth, Hamlin gave each of the ten UC medical staff a scholarship individually named after them as support for the children of Cincinnati to "chase their dreams."
Chasing M's Scholarships
Damar was thrilled to pay tribute to the medical team that saved his life because they were responsible for him being alive and why he created his scholarship program for youths. He awarded $1,000 scholarships to ten people from Cincinnati's less-fortunate and surrounding communities for the next three years.
Each of the individual scholarships will be named after the ten first responders, nurses, and doctors who treated Hamlin after he went into cardiac arrest and revived on the field during the Jan. 2, 2023, game in Cincinnati.
Humbled Hamlin Wanted To Give Back More
"I'm humbled by the opportunity to set up a scholarship program to honor this team of professionals — my Cincinnati heroes — who helped save my life," Hamlin said in his written statement to reporters that had gathered.
He also said, “Today, as I look at honoring these Cincinnati heroes and lifting young people who are trying to find their way, I’m reminded of the enormous blessing I’ve been given through my charity and the generosity of people around the world.”
Show Damar The Money
One might assume that Hamlin was doomed to be seated permanently on the Bills' bench after his comeback because he barely saw any action in games. His moment came after an injury and Damar made the most of it.
Hamlin was named a starter for most of the 2022 season and his stats then combined with his efforts in two 2023 playoff games have some thinking his next deal will break the bank. He had 63 tackles in 2022 and accounted for two in the playoffs.
Transitioning From Rookie To Free Agency And Cap Hits
Above the numbers from his on-field performance, the determination and guts Hamlin showed on and off the turf may have the Buffalo Bills opening their wallets for him. Resilience and toughness are traits of most football players and who could have shown more than Damar?
When given his time, Hamlin showed out, even when he was injured and his heart stopped. Replaying the play shows he was preparing to deliver a menacing shot to the ball carrier. The fact that he recovered and wanted to go right back out there will inspire eyes within and outside of Buffalo.
October 1st Was About More Than Football
On October 1, 2023, it was finally in front of him. Damar Hamlin was on the field in a regular season game in the NFL. He only was involved sparingly, but the point was what his recovery signified. Hamlin's return brought joy to his fans and set record totals from the contributions to his foundation, Chasing M's. One of his proudest moments was in the world of politics.
A bill to place automatic external defibrillators in every school and sports and recreation venue in Ohio cleared the Republican-dominated House, with plenty of support in honor of Damar.
Damar's Contract Expires in 2025
Things seemed bleak for Damar following his recovery and subsequent comeback to the NFL. Hamlin was far down the ladder of the five defensive players who played his position. He was the last to come off the bench if needed.
Barely playing, actually making it into only five games and one in the playoffs, things may not look promising once Damar's contract expires in 2025, but in his limited minutes on the field, he made enough of a contribution to sway critics into thinking he may have played his way to a lucrative new deal.