The nfl postponed the game indefinitely. He remained on the field for ten minutes while medical teams gave him oxygen and cpr. Hes now in Critical Condition. His family is there by his side. And bills fans and bengals fans have now gathered outside in prayer of the hospital. There is still a lot we do not know about his situation. Were standing by for all of the latest information from the nfl or the medical staff that are treating him. I want to bring in journalist and msnbc contributor and the author of the book the big game the nfl in dangerous times. Dangerous is certainly the word were talking about tonight, mark. Whats your reaction to what weve seen . Well, i mean, its stunning. Like everyone, we dont have a lot of information on this. I think this goes to the incredible, i guess, sort of Leap Of Faith we take as sports fans in some ways. You watch this and you know that these people put themselves at great risk. On the other hand, the other side of your brain is, okay, pass the nachos, lets watch the game. It sort of striking that the immediate thought is okay, when does the game continue . But this is, you know, this is unprecedented. This is next level. And its just sort of hard to get your head around what it could mean other than, hey, a young man seems to be in very Critical Condition right now. Dwoent know anything. Hard to get our head around but maybe needed for sports fans to appreciate what these players sacrifice when theyre playing this level of Football Game. Yeah, i mean, its an mazing thing. I think a lot of people, again, they know this intuitively. I mean, there is a kind of Moral Wrestling Match that goes on in a lot of sports fans especially around football that we know can really, really do long term damage to the people who play it. And, you know, im not playing it. I watch. Right . Its something that we all kind of i think quietly grapple with. And then we sort of put off to the side and we watch our games and we root for our teams and then Something Like this happens. And, yeah, youre right. It does sort of it does sort of wake up everyone to the sort of deep sort of moral imperative to what this is. My sense is that were sort of theres this process that you sort of focus on this for a few days. Eventually there is a resilience to this sort of nfl life that, you know, normalcy sort of abounds. I think as we saw tonight, the leagues first impulse was lets continue the game. I think obviously better heads prevailed for both teams and both coaches and we saw, i think, the right decision was made. The game was postponed. But obviously, everyone is focused On Da March Hamlin right now and what his situation is. How tricky is this for the nfl . Obviously, this mans life, this team and their ability to get their head around this is the most important thing. But we only have a week left in the season. Nfl is big, big business if nothing else. Were heading into the playoffs. They didnt cancel the season. Yeah. Look, the nfl, the early indications here, theyre not very good in these situations. I mean, they are a really good Marketing Organization that they are a good promotional organization. But when life intrudes and cultural realities intrude, you know, around health and safety and things like that, Roger Goodell is a commissioner. He has done a really i mean he does a really clumsy job. I think this was evidence tonight. At the same time, its a really tough call. As you mentioned, its very big business. To cancel and nfl game, prime time Monday Night Football against, you know, two very big teams good teams is a big deal. Playoffs start in two weeks. This is a big weekend coming up. How do you proceed . I think theyre talking about it right now, trying to figure out, you know, how you sort of get the games in. Beginning with this one. Whether, you know, you even try to, you know, get this played at all. But i dont think that there is anything the league can sort dove right now except wait and see what the condition is. Hope for a good outcome if its possible. And that would propel the decision forward. But youre right. I think the league right now from a Business Decision is a really tricky proposition. Think dont handle things like this that well. Despite all the money they all get paid running the organization. Mark, stay with us. I want to bring into the conversation shawn craigry. Youve been covering Sports Foreenvironment years. For years. No one has ever seen this, a player on the field receiving cpr. What went through your head last night . Yeah. We heard that a lot tonight. And its so true. It is really surreal. Trying to think back, you know, nfl game an ambulance taking a player away and a persons life hanging in the balance. You know this is Monday Night Football. And you mentioned several times in the last hour, stephanie, about how big a game this was and how much anticipation for this game there was so close to the playoffs. Two of the best teams in the nfl, two high powered teams, two upstar teams, two super bowl contenders. And that all went away. As we hoped and prayed that damar hamlin is going to be okay, hopefully will be okay. Yeah, it hasnt happened in any sporting vent. Kind of you know, ill try to think of comparisons. The only one that really came to mind is nascar race when Dale Earnhardt got into a crash after the 2001 daytona 500. That race was over and then the bad news came. Hopefully well get better news here. But it really hasnt happened in the nfl. Is the game more dangerous, more violent . Over the weekend ohio stategeorgia game, we saw some serious hits in that game. Yeah. The nfl is grappled with this issue for years, safety and theyve tried to, you know, they tried to theres been some measures moving kickoffs up so there is less collision. But they try to play around the edges. The bottom line is its a violent sport. Players are getting bigger and stronger. So youre going to keep youre going keep seeing these kind of, you know, hopefully not outcome like this. This has always been the nightmare scenario. Where someones life is in the balance. Usually you get some sign a thumbs up as a player has been carted away. We didnt see that here. And were just kind of hoping the news gets good overnight. But its not a nightmare. Its a reality. A young man from Western Pennsylvania living his dream now in a hospital in Critical Condition. Mark, you write about this all the time. Players are getting bigger. Players are getting stronger. Is this becoming a more dangerous and violent game . Yes, it s the game was never safe. Has never been safe. Thats the sound bite they always go to. One hand they say this and put out Press Releases and saying weve done this, this, this, we have this initiative. And, yet, they mover the schedule up to 17 games. It is up from 14, 30 years ago. They keep trying to print more money. No bodies are supposed to go through this 16, 17 times a year. Whether tonight is related at all to that is, who knows . But this is theres a lot of greed at work here. Theres a lot of Billionaire Greed at work here. I think the soapbox around Something Like this, but the idea that player safety is paramount to everyone at the nfl is not backed up by the impulses you see tonight which, is you know, initially looked to continue the game until the coaches sort of stepped in and the players stepped in. But also, the fact that theyre expanding the schedules. Theyre just sort of putting these bodies that belong to people other than, you know, the people up in the press box and people up in the owners box at great risk. I think Something Like this will hasten a serious discussion. Can you always print more money. You cant create more human life. I want to bring that time line back up on the screen. Can we do that . I want our audience to understand this. Comment on how long it took to call the game. Here we go. 8 55 is when we saw that injury occur. At 9 18 is when the game was temporarily suspended. And 9 25, the ambulance left the stadium with damar hamlin and parents in it with him. And it took until 10 01 for the game to be officially postponed. Monday night football is the most watched program of the week every week, every year. Was that delay in officially postponing this game really about the big business of the nfl . A human watching it would say, lets call this game tonight. Immediately. To be fair, i mean, half hour looks like a long time. But this has never happened before. And to marks point, there seems to be an inclination to continue the game perhaps. And once the coaches and the players all got together and then communication with the league, it became pretty obvious that, you know, as somebodys life is perhaps in the balance, there was no way football was going to be played. So i never got the sense that they kind of dragged it too long. You know, in a way, one thing that came out of this is youve seen the best of Sports Tonight. And in an awful situation. The medical personnel responding so quickly, perhaps saving this players life, perhaps. The players themselves taking control of the game and saying of the situation saying we cant play. The coaches stepping up and telling officials, telling the league this game cannot happen right now. And then you see the fans, you see the bengals fans and the bills fans together sitting in vigil outside that hospital. Im hesitant to criticize tonight. Hopefully we can only hope there is a happy ending here. We saw some of the best aspects of Sports Tonight on all sides here. Mark, shawn brings up very good points. While the minutes may have felt like a lifetime, nfl has never dealt with Something Like this before. And it is extraordinary. The commissioner said the league would continue to put on games the following weekend. So there is that. I agree. I think humanity was certainly on display in many, many different ways. And in our half hour is not a long time in the scheme of things. I ultimately think they got the call right which is to end the game and postpone it indefinitely and focus on the condition of the players. I think these are realities it is heartening to see humanity sort of prevail among the players and coaches and fans. I think thats a good thing. But ultimately, you cant lose sight of the fact that the business proposition, the very bottom line proposition that sort of drives the league is very much in the background and these considerations are also being discussed, im sure, at the highest levels, you know, in moments like this when a decision about how to proceed is made. Gentlemen, stay close. I want to bring in our dear friend veteran journalist, msnbc contributor mike barnicle. You watched what happened on the field. Youve been watching our program for the last hour. What are your thoughts on what weve seen . Well, first of all, i think the assessment, the medical assessment by the doctor five minutes ago was on the mark as to probably most likely what happened. A moment of Cardiac Arrest. I think the players on both seems then saw something that they perhaps had never, ever seen before in their lives. They swan of their own flat on his back receiving both cpr and according to dr. Gupta was being defibrillated, heart shocked back into beating. I that i is stunner for players on both sides. Thats what you saw, the emotional reaction of all the players. And they had the presence of mind to form a human shield in front of the young man on the field for fear of his privacy being invaded. So you saw all of that. And to what mark was just referencing, the decision not to play. I would bet some money that when the string of this story is pulled youll find that the players on both sides, they made the decision that they were not going to play. And their decision was relaid to nfl headquarters in new york. And i bet that was the impetus for doing the common sense thing. And cancelling the rest of this game. But i mean in this discussion youve been talking about the violence of pro football. I was at game when a Yuck Patriot Player 25 years ago received a hit from an Oakland Raiders player. Dallas spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. He was permanently crippled. Hed be remembered once a year, wheel him out on occasion at gillette stadium. Its a violent game. We live in a violent country. But the violence of sports is up and down. There is violence in High School Hockey games. High School Football games. There is violence in rugby and soccer. And as we point out, you know, you say, my god, unbelievable. You know, do i have anything on this game . You cant get back to the game fast enough. They receive the highest ratings of any sport played on television. Its an american game. Its part of america. And, you know, it is what it is. This is a terrible night. This was a shocking night. I think for viewers anywhere watching this game it was shocking to see the shock on the faces of the National FootballLeague Players and to consider what might be happening on that field. As i he said, life or death on the 40 yard line. That is bigger than a Football Game. That is bigger than any sport. Its a life in the balance. It was incredible. It remains incredible. The nfl says we wont get any more updates tonight. You followed American Sports for years and years. You also very much love the humanity of it. Were you reminded tonight what these young men sacrifice really as gladiators almost every time they enter that arena and all that they sacrifice to improve their condition in life . Well, you know, many of them, a lot of them, maybe even a majority of them certainly probably majority of them, they are fast tracked into this life of a very early age. Theyre athletic gifts because of their skills and their skill set. Whether theyre in high school with colleges trying to get them to submit to their college, you know, come to notre dame. Come to california. Well give you a free ride. And some of them leave early to go into the pros. Not many. But some of them do. But when they when theyre seniors and playing football, their dream, their dream for life is to play in the National Football league. You get paid big money to play in the National Football league. And a lot of them never make it. Some of them do. Very few considering the many people who do play football in this country. And when they get there, they got to where they want to be. But the average lifespan of a pro football player, i think the average career span is maybe three to four years. Tom brady is an anomaly. Quarterbacks are an anomaly in the National Football league. There are specific rules designed to protect the quarterback. There is no specific rules designed to protect the defensive halfback. Or an offensive tackle. And their careers are shortened by injury, a lot of brain damage. The National Football league gets high marks for the marketing. High marks for marketing. But look at the submission that they made originally for the brain damage. It was meager. Meager. It was small compared to what the National Football league has in terms of wealth. So there is a lot of stories involved. It will all be brought up. Hopefully young man does come back. Mark is still with us. Mark, do you want to comment on that . Yeah. Mike is 100 correct. The average career in the nfl varies year to year. Its usually 3. 2 years. The players have this dark joke that nfl stands for not for long because theyre not going to play for long. And tom brady who is 45 years old, hes been in the league for 23 years or Something Like that, he has said that Playing Football Every Sunday is like being in a car crash every sunday. I think the other part is when players do recover, many years after they recover, you know, when you see them in their 50s or 60s, they are quite often shells of comparable age because of a toll the game has taken on them. I mean untold numbers of concussions, you know, numbers of surgeries that we dont know about. I mean, sort of long term damage that we never hear about because its long past their playing careers. So the toll is real. Again, its not on all of us sitting watching at home, you know, eating nachos. Its the human beings. Theyre making their own decisions. When i do big games and i talk to a lot of them, i would always ask them at the end after they go through the difficulty of what the lives have become after they retired, i would say, was it worth it . Almost to a person they said, yes, i would do it all again. So again, its sort of dlsh are there are leaps of faith going on every level. It doesnt make it easier when something, you know, so extreme and something so horrific like this happens for us to watch in real time. Living their american dream. Tonight were seeing the nightmare. Michael, you mentioned before were not reporting it. You said you bet your Bottom Dollar that was these players, these coaches who said he were not finishing this game tonight. Seeing their faces, seeing them create that human shield around him, watching them in tears, how hard would it be for the young men to get back on in field. They both have games on sunday. I would think it is impossible. There is a brotherhood in the league. A lot of players know each other from playing against each other in college. A lot of players work out with one another during the winter, during the offseason. A lot of players because of free agency play from team to team to team across their careers. So they are intertwined on a personal level with a lot of other players. I mean the scenes that you were just referencing, steph, about the Bengals Players and Buffalo Bills players both on the field and near the locker room with the two coach cons versing. I mean there is a report. It hasnt been substantiated yet. There is a report that joe burrow, fine young quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals and the cocaptains for the Cincinnati Team and walked across the hallway to the bills locker room to converse with the bills players about, hey, we cannot continue to play this game after what happened. Well find out if thats an accurate report or not. But there is an initial report that that is indeed what happened. Those players on the field after the injury were not playing for the bengals or the bills. They were a brotherhood of football players. Praying for this young man. Gentlemen, thank you so much. Were going to take a quick break. Were going to bring back local buffalo reporter. There is an nfl Conference Call going on right now with some reporters. Well get an update on the other side of the break. My husband and i have never been more active. Shingles doesnt care. I go to spin classes with my coworkers. Good for you, shingles doesnt care. Because no matter how healthy you feel, your risk of shingles sharply increases after age 50. But shingrix protects. Proven over 90 effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. Shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. An increased risk of guillainbarre syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. Fainting can also happen. The most common side effects are pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. Shingles doesnt care. But shingrix protects. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. Welcome back to our 11th hour special out of the nfl. Damar hamlin collapsed during tonights monday night Football Game after a tackle. He was given cpr and oxygen on the field. Hamlin was then taken by ambulance to a Local Cincinnati Hospital and Trauma Center where he remains in Critical Condition. Back with us is a Critical Care pulmonologist. I want to cover a lot. We just got an update. Local reporters have done a call with the nfl. They shared some of what they learned. I want to share a bit of it. Jay was with us earlier this evening shared, Conference Call starting now. Jeff miller, the on the nfl excuse me, Nfl Communications team, starts the call by saying there will be no update on damar hamlins medical condition or update on when the game is resumed. Troy vincent, the evp of Football Operations said, coaches players were traumatized by what they saw on the field. Neither head coach nor the players discussed resuming tonights game. Troy went on to say he has never seen anything like it. The nfl said that the bills are going to return to buffalo this evening. Some of the players have chosen to stay in cincinnati. They want to stay close to the medical center. They want to stay close to damar. As jay said earlier, the bills family, obviously from a smaller city, a true brotherhood. Many of those players want to be close to him. I want to share one other thing that we heard from the call. Nfl executive, vp of Football Operations, troy vincent said there was never a plan to let players have five minutes to warm up and continue the game. So there was some rumors out there that the nfl had said after he collapsed the players could take a few minutes, warm up. And they play again. Troy vincent dismissed that rumor. He said it was never being discussed. Dr. , thank you for coming back and joining us. You were with us in the last hour. I want to do a reset. America watched that 24yearold young man after a hit which appeared to be a clean hit then collapse on the field and we all witnessed something we have never seen on an nfl field. He received cpr. Explain to us to the best of your knowledge now having treated damar hamlin what you believe happened tonight. Thank you for having me back. Also to acknowledge to all those watching, this is traumatic. This is an out of hospital Cardiac Arrest as we call it. The heart stopped beating. Different from in hospital Cardiac Arrest which for all my Health Care Providers, fellow Health Care Providers watching or someone that experienced this from a personal standpoint, it is traumatic in a hospital. So this is a national trauma. And, of course, our prayers and our wishes are with the hamlin family to make sure he gets a Speedy Recovery. I will will say here, for everybody wondering what happened, it appears mr. Hamlin is a very healthy professional athlete, 24yearold young man. He got a pretty routine tackle, nfl tackle. And the impact was focused on the left chest, right where the heart is. Most folks you know, you know the difference between right and left on your sternum. So focused on the left based on what video can show us. He got up, a good sign. And then he came back down. He fainted immediately. Apparently lost his pulse. So he had Cardiac Arrest. Thats why cpr was implemented immediately. And the questions that still remain outstanding is when did he need an electrical shock . It appears that what caused all of this is something called Commodio Cartis for those that want to google this, thats how you spell it. And what this is, once you have that force focused on the left side of the chest, the electrical activity of the heart gets disturbed. Our electrical our heart is basically electrically wired to normally beat. Beat after beat. Its all electrical activity. Thats when normal electrical activity transition and the heart was not doing anything meaningful. No blood was going to the brain or kidneys or the lungs much less the heart. This is a life threatening situation. The only treatment for that, stephanie, in addition to good cpr, rapid cpr is you need to shock that patient as quickly as possible. So thats why im assuming a shock happened. We dont know how quickly it happened. Quickness matters. For every minute that there is a delay after that initial arrest, the chances of survival decrease by about 7 to 10 . So immediate defibrillation, thats what this is called, getting an electrical shock after the heart stops and setting of this particular scenario immediate defibrillation is vital. In addition to good cpr. That is key. Shocking is important. You notice somebody fainting, what you want to do is you want to start that immediate cpr. You want to make sure you call for help so you can get a defibrillator if you need it. The question for all of us moving forward in the next 12 to 24 hours is how quickly was that shock received and what is the status now . Did he have a Neurologic Exam . Was he interacting with the medical staff . We dont know that yet. He may have just been placed in a medically induced coma. He may have been interbaited in the ambulance itself which is common. There are outstanding questions. The fact that the medical team is not updating all of us right now is not unexpected at all. The university of cincinnati Critical Care department and emergency staff, theyre among the best in the country. Truly a phenomenal level Trauma Center. The fact theyre not updating us doesnt mean much. Hopefully you dont have an eventful night. Hopefully just monitoring and providing support of care. He briefly stood up before he collapsed. Is that typical with these type of cardiac events . It can be. What it tells us, especially listening to the early conversations, violent hits in football often we think above the head, we think concussions, maybe some sort of catastrophic bleed. If it were that type of consideration here, a brain injury, for example, we wouldnt expect him to pop right back up. Even if it was very briefly. The fact that he popped back up suggests there is something cardiac here not neurologic. Yes, you can have that moment where everything seems normal. The heart may have an extra normal one or two beats before the electrical activity actually truly becomes abnormal. So all of those Young Players who were standing on that field watched this young man get shocked. What could that be like . What is the trauma associated with Something Like this . These are all players that put themselves out there and put their lives at risk. And so presumably at some point while he was on the field, you dont know when, i think that will be a key question, when did he get shocked . I watched him get cpr. They probably will watch him get a shock or a defibrillation. And i cant what ill say, stephanie, when medical students in a hospital watch a Cardiac Arrest, the resuscitation we do to save someones life, it is a traumatic event for the students and for all of us, nurses, physicians, it is traumatic. This is something we whether or not we can save a patient or not, stephanie, in a hospital after they have a Cardiac Arrest, we do debriefs, emotional debriefs. We say what went well . What would we repeat again . What didnt go well . How are we all doing . Its traumatic. I cant imagine what its like for the young men on field who arent in the medical profession. They have the extraordinary medical teams on the sidelines. Before we go, we obviously talk all the time about football and concussions. But injuries like this, should we be focused on them more . Or are they just so rare that were blessed that they almost never happened and now is a night when were living this nightmare . You know, this happened on the sports biggest stage in front of a national audience. Its hard to say how often does this actually happen . I dont know if we have great data on that. I think this if there is if theres a however sad this episode is, if there is one and were all hoping for a rapid recovery from mr. Hamlin, if there is one Silver Lining here, is to your question, this should be alerting us that football is more violent than just injuries to the head. We should evaluate. Go to heart. Cpr. Org or go to your local red cross. Everybody in the country, especially those 16 and older at minimum, should have should be bls certified, basic life support. It should be free. That is a governmental thing f that all fails and not free, go to your local fire department. Theyll get upset with me. But theyre the best at basic life support. Theyll teach you ho you to save a life. I think the Fire Departments will be happy to see more people in the community being cpr certified in case of terrible emergencies. Thank you so much for joining us. Our Special Coverage continues right after this break. Were going to bring back a local Buffalo Bills reporter who just got off that Conference Call with the nfl and will give us a live update. Im Jonathan Lawson here to tell you about Life Insurance through the Colonial Penn program. If youre age 50 to 85, and looking to buy Life Insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. What are the three ps . The three ps of Life Insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. A price you can afford, a price that cant increase, and a price that fits your budget. Im 54, whats my price . You can get coverage for 9. 95 a month. Im 65 and take medications. Whats my price . Also 9. 95 a month. I just turned 80, whats my price . 9. 95 a month for you too. If youre age 50 to 85, call now about the 1 most popular whole Life Insurance plan available through the Colonial Penn program. It has an affordable rate starting at 9. 95 a month. No medical exam, no health questions. Your acceptance is guaranteed. And this plan has a guaranteed Lifetime Rate Lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. So call now for free information and youll also get this free beneficiary planner. And its yours free just for calling. So call now for free information. To tee my kids and Family Members watch what happened tonight, no one ever wants to see that. Were praying that, you know, he pulls through this and he makes it through this. As we hope that he will. And thats why were here tonight. You know, just because were bengals fans doesnt mean were not a fan of his. You know, i feel like cincinnati and the bengals, you know, were family. And we care about everybody when youre family. You care about everybody in your family. The Football Family outside that hospital. They gathered outside the cincinnati hospital and Trauma Center where 24yearold nfl player damar hamlin is in Critical Condition tonight after collapsing on the field during the monday night Football Game. Jay is back with us on the phone. He just got off the Conference Call with three nfl representatives. Jay, before break, i was trying to follow your tweets and share information. What did you learn . Again, damar hamlin is currently in Critical Condition here at an area hospital in cincinnati. As of right now, understandably, there is no discussion from the nfl on when or if this game will be resumed. Clearly that is secondary to damar hamlins health and wellbeing. I know everyone is very eager and hopeful praying to get some good news. Beyond saying he is in Critical Condition, that is the only update that we received tonight. The only update that we expect to receive. It was it is note worth you to point out that the Bills Organization is flying back to buffalo this evening. Buses just left the stadium here in cincinnati about 10 to 15 minutes ago. There, are we believe, at least some players and members of the organization, whether that is coaches or support staff, who have chosen to stay here in cincinnati to be close to damar. We dont know how many players that is. But we do know that there is the bills team plane is planning on flying back to buffalo here shortly. There was something that troy vincent said that was confusing. He said they never expected players to warm up and resume play. Do you have any more details on what conversations were going on before they decided to cancel . Yes. So yes. I do. The referee in this game was in constant communication with both head coaches. That being Shawn Mcdetermine not shawn mcdermot of the bills. But, of course, the bengals too. This was a Traumatizing Vent for anyone that witnessed it and especially those on the field. I was in the press box. I was not on the field. In now speaking with after the fact some people on the field, they have described a scene that can be described as nothing short of horrific. The raw emotions that poured out of the players. After the players returned to the locker room, that is when the head coaches had to discuss with the players what was basically going to happen in the coming minutes and how things were going to proceed. Through the discussions and i believe that the league was involved in those discussions or as well or at least listening in on those discussions with the referee, obviously was ultimately determined by all parties that the game was not going to continue this evening and was ultimately suspended. Easy for people in my seat to sit here and look that time line and think this took a very long time for the nfl to decide to not to continue the game. But in reality, it sounds like what youre saying, they were in constant communication. Thats exactly right. The time that damar spent on the field before he left the ambulance was roughly 15 minutes while being treated. He left 9 00 p. M. That is 30 minutes after he originally collapsed on the field. While he was being treated on the field, all of the attention, all of the focus and thoughts were with the emergency medical personnel, athletic trainers from both teams treating him. That point after the ambulance left the field, the referee had to send both teams back to the locker room. That way they could collect themselves and then speak, as i said, with the head coaches. Then the decision was made. So i think in the moment with emotions being as high as they were on the field, it was proper and right thing to do to send the teams back to the locker room before anything could proceed in terms of what would happen with the game. Devastating night that no one was prepared for. Everyone now thinking about hamlin, his family and health as he remains in that hospital in Critical Condition tonight. Jay, thank you so much for that update. Well go to take a quick break. Breaking News Coverage continues right after this. A must in your Medicine Cabinet less sick days cold coming on . Zicam is the number one Cold Shortening brand highly recommend it zifans love zicams unique zinc formula. It shortens colds zicam. Zinc that cold welcome back to our Special Coverage. Buffalo bills safety damar hamlin is in Critical Condition after collapsing on the field tonight. Espn reporter lisa salters was at the stadium and described the aftermath firsthand. The entire bills bench emptied and out on the field. The way that players, all of the players, bills and bengals, the way they formed a human wall around damar hamlin, that let me know there that this was not just another injury. There are things going on behind that human wall that we shouldnt be seeing. They were trying to protect that young mans privacy. Thats when i realized this was not just another injury. This was something very, very serious. His teammates now headed back to buffalo despite many wanting to remain in cincinnati. W. Him. I want to bring back into the conversation former nfl player randal hill. He played for the miami dolphins, Arizona Cardinals and new orleans saints. You were with us the last hour talking about what these young men go through. Theres another player besides damar hamlin that im thinking about, t. Higgins. The Bengals Player that collided with damar earlier to night. He was seen after the game with his mother, his mothers arm wrapped around him. What must this be like for that young man . Yeah. Thats a very good question. Thank you for having me back. You know, when youre involved in a situation like that, whether you were the one that was injured or one who caused injury, you really reflect hard on yourself. You say is it something i did . Is it something that i caused . Because at the end of the day, were still family. I was thinking about it during the last break. I have a few families. I have my nfl family. I have my personal family. And i have my family as a federal agent. But my nfl family is very, very special. And when someone is injured in this particular way, someones child, someones father, someones son, it really touches everyone and it goes out. Im even part of a group that we have, you know, University Of Miami players. And a lot of us, you know, didnt play in the nfl. And when this came out, you know, there was immediate its about 90 to 150 of us on one chat. When this went out, someone put it out. Hopefully he can make a Speedy Recovery and come back with his head held high and without injury or without any injury or without any drawbacks. The on Field Reporter was just sharing thoughts earlier saying that those players, they created a human screen to give damar privacy, to give him dignity after this horrible moment. What is it look for players . Are they ever prepared to endure this kind of trauma . Football is a game of collisions. Its a game of collisions on a consistent basis. So some players its going to be hard to come back. You may see a player or two say, you no he what . I dont want to do this anymore. Thats why i think its important. Im sure troy vincent will make sure that counsellors are there for the players who need counseling. Yeah. Football players and nfl players are big and tough and, you know, theyre super heroes to some people. They do have their feelings and they need counseling. Im grateful that you joined us tonight. For viewers that watched this whole horrific ordeal go down, many want to do something. Something to help. What is happening right now . Throughout the night, donations have been pouring in to a Gofundme Page that damar hamlin create ford charitys annual toy drive. So far this page has raised over 2 million tonight. Hamlins Chasing Foundation was raising money for a toy drive at a Daycare Senter in the keys rocks pennsylvania. He seemed proud and excited to show off the great work the toy drive accomplished this year. On the Gofundme Page, hamlin wrote this, thank you so much for supporting me on and off the field. I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with you, to help make the Holiday Season a little brighter for the kids in our community. For those watching at home, if you would like to donate, go to the gofundme. Com and search for the chasing ms toy drive. Well tweet it out right after the program. On that note, i wish you all a very safe night. From all of our colleagues across the network, were thinking of Damar Hamlin Tonight and wishing him a speedy, Speedy Recovery. Its about a young man at 24 years old that was living