For Buffalo Bills S Damar Hamlin, Saturday night was a bit of a homecoming for the former Pitt Panther at Acrisure Stadium. Born and raised in McKees Rocks, Hamlin has been a Pittsburgher, having suited up for Central Catholic High School before deciding to stay home for his college ball, choosing the University of Pittsburgh over several other notable universities.
The Steelers have played the Buffalo Bills the last two seasons that Hamlin has been in the league, but both games were in Buffalo. The sixth-round pick of the 2021 NFL Draft made his return to Pittsburgh for the first time since college as well as after making a full recovery after collapsing on the field against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football after due to cardiac arrest. Just four months after the near-death experience, Hamlin was cleared to return to football.
Speaking to the media following the preseason game, Hamlin was asked about his interaction with former Pitt teammate and current Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett post-game. Hamlin responded that Pickett was looking for a jersey swap with him, but that wasn’t the person that he wanted to give his jersey to.
“Kenny told me he needed that jersey, and I really wanted to give it to Coach [Mike] Tomlin at first, and I’ll make sure he gets one,” Hamlin said to the media on video from Bills.com. “But, you know, just how much he’s meant to this city, you know? And just growing up being at Pitt, even before Pitt, just seeing what culture he brought to the city of Pittsburgh and just him allowing us to be so close to them when I was at Pitt. It meant a lot to me, and it really shaped my vision for myself of how I wanted to go about becoming a pro.”
Tomlin has become an icon in Pittsburgh since being hired in 2007, touching the lives of so many in the community. He has been there to support young men in the city of Pittsburgh, providing a father-figure presence that is there to mentor and support young men and their development. Hamlin is one of the many Tomlin has left an impact on in the community, having been around him at the team facility as well as dating back to Hamlin’s time in high school.
Tomlin mentioned in a press conference after Hamlin suffered that scare last season that he has known Hamlin since he as 12-years old and that he has a lot of love and respect for Hamlin as a human being. That love and respect is reciprocated by Hamlin as well for Tomlin and the evident impact he has had on Hamlin’s football life.
“He truly means a lot to this place, you know?” Hamlin said about Tomlin. “And I’m a Pittsburgh kid at heart, so I’m gonna make sure he gets one of them things.”
Tomlin will surely appreciate the gesture. Shortly before kickoff last night, he was asked by Steelers sideline reporter Missi Matthews about Hamlin returning to Pittsburgh to play in a game.
“It will be good to see him –I hadn’t seen him in awhile — and hug him,” Tomlin said on KDKA’s game broadcast. “From a football perspective we all feel that. He inspires us all with his return and how he’s utilized what’s happened with him for positive good. That’s what we’re about in the field of professional football. Major competitors, impressive athletes, sharp young men. I’ve known him for a long time so I’m just so excited to see him.”
It’s great so see a game of football transcend more than the game played between the sidelines. There are so many relationships formed thanks to the game that we all love, having a profound impact in people’s personal lives as well as professional lives as well. For Hamlin, Tomlin has left that profound impact that he is truly grateful for, wanting to give him his jersey. It sounds like Tomlin can be expecting a Hamlin jersey sometime soon in the mail, and you can best believe that he will hang it up in his basement with pride.
