Bills’ Damar Hamlin OK to play after suffering cardiac arrest

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Bills safety Damar Hamlin has been fully cleared to return to playing football, Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane said Tuesday.

Hamlin saw his last specialist Friday and is in attendance and participating at voluntary workouts with the Bills this week.

“He is fully cleared. He’s here … and he’s in a great headspace to make his return,” Beane said.

Beane said that Hamlin visited with three different specialists after suffering cardiac arrest during the Bills’ Jan. 2 regular-season game against the Cincinnati Bengals. All three specialists were in agreement that Hamlin could fully return to playing football.

Hamlin said in February that he hoped to return to the field.

“Eventually. That’s always the goal, like I said, as a competitor, you know, I’m trying to do things to keep advancing my situation,” Hamlin told Michael Strahan in an interview that aired on Fox during the Super Bowl LVII pregame show. “But I’m allowing that to be in God’s hands. I’m just thankful he gave me a second chance.”

Last month, Hamlin spent time in Washington, D.C., to help promote the bipartisan legislation Access to AEDs, which would increase the availability of automated external defibrillators, and related training, on school campuses. He also met with President Joe Biden at the White House.

The NFL has launched the Smart Heart Sports Coalition, a collaboration with several groups to advocate for policies in all 50 states aimed at preventing fatal outcomes from sudden cardiac arrest among high school athletes. The goal of the coalition is to pass legislation at the state level and implement these policies within the next three years, and the group sent letters to governors of 43 states where it believes additional policies are needed.

Hamlin has had a busy couple of months, including receiving the NFLPA’s highest honor, the Alan Page Community Award, for his work helping others. His Chasing M’s Foundation raised over $9 million in the days after he went to the hospital, with the money largely going through GoFundMe for a toy drive that had an initial goal of $2,500. He was also recognized alongside the medical and athletic training staff of the Bills and Bengals and some of the staff from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center at the NFL Honors and on the field before Super Bowl LVII.