The on-field cardiac arrest of Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin traumatized some players and underscores the need for more consistent support in a league whose athletes are trained to show no weakness.
When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field in the middle of the "Monday Night Football" game in Cincinnati on Jan. 2, Carrie Hastings, half a continent away, understood what she needed to do and right away.
The league is working its way toward the kind of mental health support for its players, coaches, and staff in which a range of counseling is standard and readily accessible.