The NFL announced this morning that teams would be allowed to honor Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin, who suffered a cardiac event on Monday Night Football. The Pittsburgh Steelers will be one of the teams to honor Hamlin, as they’ll paint his No. 3 jersey number on both of their 30-yard lines during Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Given how close multiple Steelers players were to Hamlin, who attended the University of Pittsburgh, it’s no surprise the Steelers are doing something to honor Hamlin and show him that the team is standing with him as he recovers. Mike Tomlin talked about Hamlin in his press conference Tuesday and said he had “a lot of love” for the second-year safety.
The news on Hamlin has been increasingly positive in recent days, as he had his breathing tube removed this morning and FaceTimed with the Bills players and coaches. Prior to today, he was communicating via writing and responding to commands.
Other teams around the league will honor Hamlin, as the NFL is encouraging teams to have a pregame moment of support for Hamlin and the medical personnel on the scene and at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. All players throughout the league can also wear black warmup shirts that say Love For Damar 3. The Bills will be wearing the shirts in their team colors, and will also have a No. 3 patch on their uniforms for their game Sunday against the New England Patriots.
The tributes to Hamlin are awesome, but not as awesome as hearing about the recovery he’s made throughout the week. Hopefully, Hamlin continues to progress at the remarkable rate he is currently over the days, weeks and months ahead.
