In short
Episode Notes: Damar Hamlin Given A Second Chance In Life: Faith, Football and Fighting Back
Podcast Overview
- Title: THE ED MYLETT SHOW
- Description: The show features peak performers across various industries, sharing their journeys, knowledge, and insights.
Episode Summary
- Title: Damar Hamlin Given A Second Chance In Life: Faith, Football and Fighting Back
- Description: Damar Hamlin's inspiring recovery after a cardiac arrest during an NFL game in January 2023, highlighting themes of faith, resilience, and purpose.
Key Themes and Insights
Damar's Life-Altering Experience
- Collapse on the Field: Damar experienced cardiac arrest during an NFL game, leading to a nationwide prayer movement.
- Miraculous Recovery: His survival was attributed to quick medical response, community support, and faith.
Faith and Community Support
- Role of Faith: Damar emphasizes the importance of faith and prayer during his recovery.
- Universal Impact: His near-death experience resonated with many, including those who identified as non-believers.
Personal Transformation
- Return to Football: Damar returned to the field eight months after his incident, showcasing profound emotional and mental changes.
- Dealing with Emotions: He discusses feelings of anxiety and fear, especially regarding his return to contact sports.
Overcoming Adversity
- Imposter Syndrome: Damar addresses feelings of doubt and the universal quest for authenticity.
- Message of Hope: He encourages others facing hardships to find purpose and take actionable steps toward improvement.
Personal Relationships and Life Lessons
- Family Dynamics: His experience strengthened family bonds, emphasizing that they remained unchanged despite his fame.
- Perspective Change: Damar now values simple joys and moments in life more deeply than before.
Advice for Others
- Moving Forward: Emphasizes taking one step at a time and not dwelling in despair.
- Taking Action: Encourages listeners to set realistic goals and hold themselves accountable.
Notable Quotes
- "You can't conquer the world in one day."
- "Don't allow yourself to sit in the pool of pity; get up and move."
- "I shed tears driving up to football camp... nothing made me face my fears like that."
Conclusion
- Final Thoughts: Damar Hamlin's story serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration, illustrating the power of resilience, faith, and community support. His journey reflects the importance of cherishing life and the ability to overcome immense challenges.
Call to Action
- Share the Episode: Encourage listeners to share this inspiring episode and reflect on their own lives and challenges.
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This episode of THE ED MYLETT SHOW is not just a recount of a tragic incident; it's a powerful narrative of recovery, faith, and the strength of the human spirit.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:28So, hey, guys, are you frustrated with where you're at right now?
0:33this is the admiral show all right welcome back to the show everybody so the man that we're going to talk with today is a very important man to me there are not five people on planet earth that i would rather speak to today than this young man and uh my dream list for people that would be on this podcast he is at the very very top of the list because uh he's a story of resiliency faith strength comeback and um you all know his story on january 2nd 2023 with about five minutes and 58 seconds left in the game against the cincinnati bangles my dear friend here uh tackled wide receiver T Higgins was running with the ball he hit DeMar and in the chest with his helmet and DeMar made the tackle as he always does and he got up after that tackle stood up for a second and then collapsed on the field and in that moment our country was captivated and literally hundreds of millions of people were in prayer for this precious young man I don't know that I've ever said this and meant it more.
1:46I am so grateful that you are here today and welcome to the show, Damar Hamlin. Good to have you here, brother. Thanks for having me. I appreciate the intro. You've talked to some of the biggest and the best across the world. To be in that top five that you wanted to talk to, it's an honor. I'm glad to be here. Glad to believe you. I'm not sure you're not number one. I just used a little wiggle room there. I have to tell you, And the reason is, is that I just believe in some strange way, Damar, I know this sounds crazy to start the show with it, but I almost feel like God blessed you with this opportunity to express to people things that really only you are qualified to express.
2:31So without getting into every single medical thing that happened, we're going to save that for an incredible documentary that he has coming out with my friend Bo Flynn sometime, hopefully this year. But take us through your recollections of that moment, the game. I'm sure it was like any other game for you. But what are your recollections of that moment, if you have some? Well, first, you know, definitely shout out to Bo. You know, that's my guy. That's really my guy. Yeah, you know, and I mean, you know, just leading up to the game, I remember it was a it was it was a very big game. You know, that's that's that was the lead of everything, you know, was for the number one seed in the AFC.
3:15And, you know, that was all that was on my mind. We had the number one seed at the time. The Bengals were the number three seed, but they had they won the tiebreaker with the Chiefs. so if they won the game, they would go to the one seed. But, you know, I wasn't worried about any of that. I'm just worried about let's get this one seed so, you know, we can finish up the regular season and then get a bye week. You know, it was my first full season in the NFL, so, you know, my body was, like, you know, super banged up. I'm making 10 to 12 tackles a game, you know, so I'm like, let's do whatever we can to get this bye week in the playoffs.
3:57So, you know, all week, I just remember a great week of practice. I was super motivated, just like every other week. You know, I'm locked in. You know, I like to trust my instincts, but, you know, you don't get to use those instincts if you don't know what's going on in the game. So, you know, I'm a super student of the game. I watch a lot of film on my own time. I dissect notes that, you know, my coaches give us. And, you know, I was super locked into the game plan for that week. and, you know, the atmosphere was set. It was the most to watch a game on Monday Night Football. And like you said, man, it truly feels like a blessing from God.
4:38Really? Yes, in a unique way because, you know, the platform that – my platform that he's magnified, you know, because all the work that I'm, you know, currently doing was all in vision already. You know, it was all in processes already. I was just in a small space planting the seeds already before everyone was paying attention. But I always had big visions and big goals of, you know, working myself, whether it was through, you know, hard work of a long 10 year career of having success in the NFL and then having this platform. Or if it was, you know, by the grace of God, you know, seeing that, you know, I was one of his soldiers on the front line of really doing good work.
5:22and, you know, he handpicked me. He hand-selected me. You know, he brought me through some traumatic things, you know what I mean? But, you know, he used me. He truly used me. He brought the world together in love and prayer. You know, man, I have people that said they were atheists that have never prayed in their life, you know, that told me that they got down on both of their knees and prayed for me to, you know, see another day. and I don't know what's more powerful than that. I don't know what I would have been able to do in my life to have an impact on people that would have had that much meaning.
6:01You know what I mean? Because that meaning right there is a lot bigger than just football. That meaning is a lot bigger than just accolades and just trophies and even bigger than the ultimate goal in football, which is, you know, to get a gold jacket. You know, I think to truly have non-believers take a second to where they see the man that's created this whole life all because of me. And that's that that right there. It truly makes me feel special. It truly makes me feel touched. And, you know, I'll be forever indebted, but I'm continuing on to do to do good work. What a great answer, man. What a great answer.
6:46A couple of things struck me about that game. I was watching the game. And obviously prayers for you, not really knowing what had happened, but knowing something was really serious. Speaking of faith, I'm sure you've at least watched the playback a couple times. But one thing that struck me, because we're going to protect some things for your documentary, but one thing that struck me was no one had an answer. So while this beautiful young soul was laying there, no one had an answer. Coaches didn't have an answer. The officials didn't have an answer. We'll talk about Denny Kellington in a minute.
7:22Thank God he had an answer. But even the TV broadcast, I remember they threw at one point to Booger McFarlane, and he's like, I just don't know what to say but to pray. What was interesting to me was that situation that God used you in. It seemed to me, I'd like you to speak to this, because I'm sure in reflection you've heard this from other people. The players were very emotional, so everyone knew something was really serious. but it's interesting when we get to the end of our own understanding in life in other words we were at the end of our own ability to understand what did everybody go do they went and prayed players on the field people in the television studios people at home and it was almost as beautiful to some extent example of our acceptance of our own understanding of events we almost have to surrender and have faith in those moments.
8:12And everybody, as you said, from every walk of life seemed to reflect and just say they were praying. Have you ever thought about that part of it, that one of the examples of it is this, we don't understand what's happening here. And so we sort of surrender to something greater than ourselves. Yes. And I learned that lesson early on in life. When you don't know, you have to give it up to God, you know, and you have to use faith and you have to use hope. And, you know, faith doesn't work if you don't do the work as well. And sometimes the work is praying, you know, so that's a common ground that, you know, as people that we all kind of have had an understanding of, you know, some have, you know, relied on it more than others.
8:57But, you know, I think it's fundamental for everyone, you know, to truly grasp that, you know, when we don't understand things, pray, you know what I mean? And go to a higher source. And even when you do, you know, you, we never do, you know, even when you think you do still give it up, you know what I mean? That's, that's how I've always kind of lived my life, you know, a lot of things would, would, would stress me, you know, on the journey of, you know, just being a young kid, having a dream, having a goal and no one in my community ever reaching or achieving or coming close to this goal. So, you know, I didn't have the proper guidance.
9:37So that gap of not knowing if I was doing the right things the right way, if I was doing enough, if I was doing enough, if I was doing it the right way, or if I, you know, just all along the lines of doing enough of what it took, it created a lot of confusion in my world. And it created a lot of like anxiety because, you know, I wanted to achieve just success and making it to the NFL and being able to take care of my family and being able to give back to my community. It created a lot of anxiety within those spaces because I wanted to achieve my goal so bad. So the only piece that I found within that space, you know, was doing my research, you know, having idols, you know, having people that are already doing it at a high level how I wanted to.
10:22You know, maybe just they weren't in my personal life to be able to show me. But, you know, the biggest thing that I relied on was, you know, my prayer, you know, my faith and, you know, giving everything up to God because, you know, God is all knowing. He's all understanding, you know, and we don't we don't have the answers as much as we assume we don't have the answers. So that's what I've been relying on, you know, since a young kid, you know, a very young kid. Just figure things out. You also, though, you also relied, Damar, on another one of God's children or a team of them. and in our lives people you know i think you would agree that god will send people into our lives that can literally alter them i'm sure you knew i think denny's the assistant athletic fan i'm sure you knew denny before i doubt you and this other group of people i doubt you ever thought how important they would be at some point in your life but why don't you tell everybody about him and and i assume your gratitude for him and the other people that really intervened in the moment where you needed them the most?
11:23Yeah. Well, you know, I knew how important, you know, our training staff was to my career, obviously, because, you know, without the training room, you won't be able to go perform how you need to go perform every given day. You know, I go in there every day and I get stretched by Denny before we start our meetings, before I go eat my breakfast. And, you know, that's kind of our moment. That's kind of our alone moment, you know, to one another. We don't really say too many words during that stretch period, but, you know, it's just the comfort, you know, of going through something so dramatic together.
11:57And, you know, it's just, it's just a moment that I appreciate every day. And it just allows me to reflect on how far I've come, you know, and it's, it's a crazy experience, you know, I have a truly appreciation for the entire Buffalo Bills organization, because from the second I walked into the building, you know, they've treated me world-class, you know, they've treated me like a son that they have truly cared about. And specifically to my athletic training staff, you know, I definitely want to give everyone a shout out. You know, we got Denny, Denny Cullington, we got Nate, Tabani, Marissa, Joe, you know, they truly all had a hand in, you know, being my care team, you know, and making sure that, you know, I can keep showing up every day into the building, you know, so I have a super duper a special relationship with them.
12:48And sometimes on my downtime or off days, I'll just go sit in my trainers, sit in Nate's office and just read a book. You know what I mean? And just, and just, that's my alone time. But, you know, the training room is truly a safe space for me within the world, you know, not even just my building, you know, I truly feel my safest, you know, when I'm in Buffalo and I'm in that training room with my trainers because, you know, they experienced life with me a little bit differently. So I'll be forever indebted to them as well. Yeah. So it's reported everybody that Denny, you know, um, issued CPR to DeMar when he was on the field and it's been reported that DeMar was in cardiac arrest during that time.
13:29And this is the most fascinating thing about you, brother. So as the story goes, you kind of wake up a little while later, a few days later, tell everybody the first thing you say to your family when you wake up? Think about this. This man's life was potentially ending there on the field that day and he wakes up. Do you remember what you said to everybody first? Yeah, man. Well, I didn't say it. I wrote it out because, you know, I had breathing tubes in my mouth. I wasn't even speaking yet probably for like another few days. That's another story, you know, ended up pulling my own breathing tube out.
14:07But I was a warrior moment. I was trying to get back. But yeah, I wasn't, I wasn't speaking yet. So, you know, I wrote it out and I asked, did we win? So that was the first, you know, that was the first thought that came to my mind. You know, I had remembered that I was playing in a game, you know, and I was unsure of how I got out of the game and how I got to the hospital and how I'm just in the hospital bed. But, you know, just that competitive nature, you know, and just that me thinking about my brothers and the people that I lined up and go to war with every day. You know, and like I said, I knew what was at stake walking into that stadium.
14:47You know, I wanted that number one seed because I wanted to get that bout week in the playoffs and, you know, play two more games and go get a Super Bowl. So, you know, the first thing I asked was, did we win? And it was just pretty much me just, you know, that's just my competitive nature, me thinking about the people that I put blood, sweat, and tears into the game about and just me caring about my peers and my team.
15:14So, hey, guys, as you know, I've partnered up with my good friend, Brennan Brouchard, who's created the greatest personal development system that has ever been designed called Growth Day. There's everything from journaling to accountability programs, live messages every Monday from myself and other influencers. There's an opportunity for you to get courses that would cost thousands of dollars completely for free. It's incredible. Go to growthday.com forward slash ed and check it out. I want to ask you this. So first off, that blows my mind. Not how did I get here? Not what happened? Not am I alive?
15:48Am I in heaven? You know, where am I? It's did we win? I just want everybody to hear that just for a second, right? I mean, that gives you an idea of this man's character. At some point, and by the way, I'm glad that you cleared that up because I think you were on a ventilator for three days, weren't you? Three days? Yeah, yeah. A couple days. Three days. Yep. Three days. At what point do you walk us through this? Everyone in life, you went through, Damar, you went through, you know, ultimately everybody's greatest fear, right? And their greatest fear for their child. I've read a lot about your mom and dad.
16:24What an amazing family you come from. And the way that you were raised. And that, you know, Damar was always known, you guys, as just like this giving, kind, good person. In fact, Damar, I should tell you this. I won't say which teammate it was, but I had a house for sale before this happened. And one of your very well-known teammates was looking at buying one of my houses. And believe it or not, before this happened with you, your name had come up in conversation with me. And we were talking about, you know, because I said to him, I said, you're such a good guy. He goes, there's good dudes in the NFL, man.
17:04There's good guys everywhere. and he ended up naming three guys on the team that were the good guys and you were one of the three names that he gave that day. So I'm just curious, when did you figure out what happened? And then what's that moment like where you eventually wake up and you go, oh my gosh, I'm sure at some point it dawned on you or someone finally explained to you what happened. What does that feel like? Does it feel like it's a movie you lived in? Does it feel like it didn't really happen? Is it shocking? What does that feel like in those moments? Well, you know, my mindset was kind of, you know, as a as an athlete and, you know, how I was raised, my mindset was, you know, always, you know, whatever we go through, let's find a way to get through it.
17:49And let's get to where we where we see ourselves being in the end. So, you know, I figured out things, you know, through my family, through my doctors, through my through my peers, through my friends who were there. I'm knowing, you know, I actually had a kind of like a back and forth argument kind of with my dad in the hospital. And I was kind of like, you know, starting to get back to myself a little bit more because, you know, and he was 100 percent right by explaining this to me. But, you know, I wasn't there for, you know, everything that they experienced of the situation. So I had to have a respect for it.
18:27You know, I had to learn and get a different perspective for the situation, even outside of my own perspective, even though I'm the one that's going through it. I had to respect, you know, everything that my mom and my dad just experienced, you know, by just even seeing me like that, you know. So that was a journey in itself right there. But, you know, I learned through, you know, just seeing here. And, you know, I couldn't turn a TV channel without seeing myself on every single channel, literally one through 56. So, you know, actually, I found the love for motocross. I found the love for motocross.
19:12I actually, you know, I learned a lot about the sport, you know, for seven days. And, you know, it actually takes a lot of skill. It's not easy. It's very dangerous. It's a lot of bicycles and a small track. And, you know, that was the only thing on TV that I could watch without having to hear about my situation, which is why I explained the relationship that I learned with motocross, because, you know, I couldn't turn left or right without having to run back into it. You know, even like you say, man, three days or whatever, I truly haven't, you know, I truly haven't revisited all the details, you know, of my situation directly, you know, just because it still feels so soon to me.
20:01And, you know, like I said, as long as I'm focusing on the part of, you know, understanding the blessings that I received and understanding the responsibility that comes off of it. You know, my main concern right now is just, you know, being thankful every day, you know, to be able to just be able to take that deep breath, man. I take 10 deep breaths before I get up every day just to keep myself grounded and remember, you know, where, where new life started for me. You know, so yeah, Yeah, just just being able to remember, you know, the blessings that I receive and knowing the responsibility that comes with them.
20:37I've just been letting that lead my focus. And, you know, I know there will be a time down the line where I truly, truly, truly, truly, truly want to know more. And I want more answers. And they're there for me. You know, that's why I say that that training room is truly a safe space, you know, because I can walk in there and, you know, I can I can have a conversation of knowing direct more details whenever I want. You know, but that's that's my main focus right now. You know, staying, staying, staying focused, acknowledging, you know, the blessings that I received and the obligations that come with me.
21:12That's interesting to me that it's that fresh. I was prepping for the interview because, you know, the event happens and in your life, it's every day of your life. But for the average fan, they go on with their life, but they never forget that moment. I mean, like I remember what happened when, you know, I'm old enough, which is crazy. But I remember, you know, when 9-11 happened. I remember where I was when the OJ chase happened. I remember where I was. I remember where I was when the incident happened with Damar Hamlin. I mean, it's one of these like handful of moments of my life. I remember where I was.
21:45But when I was prepping for this, I mean, everybody that's kind of a casual fan, when I was prepping for this, it blew my mind. This was barely a year ago. Yeah. This was barely a year ago. For some reason to me, it was a couple seasons ago. And everyone that's a casual football fan, let me just tell you how remarkable this man is. He played in the NFL last year. He got back on the field and played in the NFL. He played five games last year. I mean, we're going to get into all the details of everything, but cardiac arrest on the field. He was resuscitated. This man comes back and plays football in the same calendar year.
22:20Like, first off, how remarkable is he and how good is God? Right. Like absolutely amazing. Literally. When I say that to you, DeMar, are you like, what in the world? Even when I say that back to you, is that part of you? Like, I can't believe that. I mean, like, you know, it's, it's, I live it every day and I know how hard it was, you know, to actually do it man i remember uh just all the emotions of everything just kind of hit me and i was just crying tears driving up to football camp you know because i had i've had a thousand emotions you know running through you know i was scared i was you know i didn't want to go through everything i went through once again you know and and that would never that was never my main focus because you know you can't move forward focusing on the negative but it's the reality of the situation You know, I had emotions.
23:10I was I had fear. I had anxiety. I had all of those emotions, you know, but I seen. Like I said, the obligation, you know, and I seen everything that I was standing for. And I knew how my journey of just continuing on. It inspired so many people across the world and still does to this day, you know, And to be able to stand for that and to be able to be the example behind that was more powerful to me than the negative emotion of the fear and the anxiety and things like that. But it like it does sound crazy to me. Like if you were telling me the story and I was unaware, I would definitely be like, no way.
23:53Like there's no way somebody did that, especially a contact sport. and then like you know people touch the stove and realize it's hot and won't ever do it again because they know what happened to them let alone someone you know redoing the same thing that took their life away right so you know it's it's it's literally literally one of the most inspiring real life stories of all time there is no way that night watching that football game had i told everybody watching that game tonight and if you hadn't seen it you can go youtube the clip or whatever. But I was going to tell you, and I said to you, in this calendar year, this man will be back on a football field tackling somebody again.
24:34That is, if you wonder in your life if you can overcome odds and adversity, if you can come from a low place and climb back, you need to look literally no further than this guy right here. Literally no further. And that lesson you just said about, you know, the dream and the hopes of what you could do for other people was greater than your fear is such a great formula to overcome things in our lives. I got to ask you this, though. I mean, if you don't mind being a little bit personal, that first tackle, you're out of practice, the first tackle, right? That first time, you had to have some trepidation about that, right?
25:07There had to be some part of you where it was just like, I'm back. It's what I've always done. I've done this 2 billion times. Or was that next tackle slightly different? Yeah, you know, that was how I anticipated my mindset being. Like I'm back and, you know, it won't be about anything, but it was the furthest thing away from that. So, you know, it was a journey. Like I said, man, going up and going into football camp, I shed in tears driving on the road because, you know, felt like, you know, there was nothing in my life that made me face my fears like that. Nothing in my life made me face my fears like that right there.
25:46But, you know, getting into the first time I hit, what I did do a good job of with my trainers was prepping for every moment, you know, and even down to, you know, when I first decided to play, meeting with, you know, our upstairs and just getting the right, just getting the right rehabilitation in place, you know, getting the right therapist, you know, being able to make sure that whenever we get to this position in the fall or training camp where I'm tackling and doing all of this again, that, you know, know, I've already had the proper steps to lead me up to it the right way. So with my trainers, you know, we, we were practicing tackling, you know, kind of through all the off season throughout the summer, even before, you know, we got into pads.
26:28And when we got into pads the first day, the off day before that, you know, I was out there with my trainers, you know, tackling dummies and doing things like that just to kind of, to prep it in. But, you know, once I got into the field with my teammates, before I could even make a tackle, you know, know, my coach sent me on a blitz in practice the first day I passed. He sent me on a blitz the first play. You know, I love my coach. You know, I love it. You know, I love the mindset. You know what I mean? Like, let's see what I got. But so, you know, it sends me on a blitz. And, you know, the lineman went down and I kind of came way too free.
27:05You know, and every time that you come free like that, there's going to be a lineman coming around and hit you right in the air hole and try to throw you off to the field and to the stands. so uh you know i came down and i seen that line we go down really fast and i'm like okay something's up like something's wrong i'm in the backfield way too fast way too free so here comes dion dolphins you know our our one of our best tackles and he just air holds me and i'm doing everything i can to like anchor my legs so i just don't go flying you know what i mean so uh that was like the first that was about welcome back to football moment right there so you know that even before a tackle let me know that you know if I can withstand that right there I'll be okay God gives you an ear hole tackle for the first time you get my first my first tackle tackle I think was in the preseason game um and you know my mindset was no God got me you know God got me um I'm also here with the people that saved my life so if worse comes to worse they got me as well.
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28:09Once you cross those lines, that was the best part about it all. I would really have a lot of anxiety on the sideline, maybe two yards of getting onto the field. Once I actually took that step and were on the field and it's down set hut and whistles are blowing and people are running around, I'm just playing football. Again, I was free. That was a beautiful feeling. That was a beautiful feeling. And it just it made me remember how much I appreciate my teammates. Because, you know, the people that you're out there playing with, I underestimated how much that you truly do it for them and that you truly, you know, have to bring 11 people together as one.
28:57And you are not out there alone. That was the biggest thing. You know, even though I went through this situation, I wasn't I'm not out there alone. You know, it's not one versus the other team. I'm out here with my teammates and we're all, you know, trying to do the same job together to reach a kind of goal. So, you know, man, I'm I've always been a team player and I've always, you know, love to, you know, put the team's needs and the team's goals ahead of, you know, whatever I'm experiencing. So, you know, that was I was able to do that. And me being able to do that, it made everything just like another day in the office.
29:37brother this is just an unbelievable conversation i just have to tell you i'm sitting here yeah do you know who inky johnson is i do uh i actually do yeah yeah he's a good friend he's been on the show a couple times anyway he was sitting in here with me just a few weeks ago i just have to tell you uh i think inky's one of the great speakers in the world if not my favorite he's also one of my favorite people yeah and a lot of you may not know this but inky was playing at University of Tennessee was going to be a first-round pick, took a hit, lost the use of his arm, couldn't play anymore. And he's paralleled that into, I'm just telling you right now, once football's over a decade from now, whenever you're done playing, you're going to be one of the top motivational speakers in the world.
30:15I can already tell from watching you right now, you're going to change millions of people's lives. By the way, this interview is going to change millions of people's lives. And you'll use this clip in your sizzle reel when you walk up on the stage and speak. But I got to ask you this, just specifically, how has it changed you? how has the experience changed you clearly you were a guy of faith before yeah but you don't go through this exactly the same on the other side how's it changed you yeah you don't you really don't um it's changed me in a number of ways um you know the first ones that stand out to me is like i said uh the obligation that comes with the blessings so you know realizing that um And, you know, it made me want to clean up my life.
30:58It made me want to appreciate, you know, first and foremost, it made me want to appreciate my health. So, you know, just cleaning up my life, you know, health wise, getting proper sleep, you know, getting proper nutrition, you know, things that you already do as an athlete. But, you know, kind of prioritizing them on a different level. It made me appreciate my family a little bit more. It made me appreciate all of the free things in life. You know, it made me appreciate family, made me appreciate love, made me appreciate peace. It's made me more emotional. I cry more. I cry more now, you know, than I ever had.
31:39And that's something a guy named Murphy Jensen, a tennis player who dealt with cardiac arrest. He told me that it did the same thing for him. And, you know, me being me, you know, I haven't really been emotional since I was a young kid. So it was it was real surprising to me as it like started to creep up on me. But it's something I've embraced, you know, because I just have a special way of appreciating life now. It's changed me in a number of ways. You know, that's a question that I would definitely want to dive deeper into because I've adjusted a lot of my life. But one thing about it with the new platform and, you know, the world, you know, wanting to pull me in a thousand directions.
32:26And I'll continue to I'll continuously always, you know, bring it back to my faith because, you know, I wouldn't be here without it. But it made me truly focus on my one relationship with God and allowing that one relationship to sort out the other ones. you know to truly allow me to let me know who should be in my personal life who i should do business with um who i should have my fun with you know who i should do things for who i shouldn't um i've allowed that one relationship to god all my other ones and that's what truly allows me to have peace because i i didn't have it for a while because you know i was still trying to do for everyone in my past.
33:08I was trying to do for people that I felt like I owed. I was just all over the place. I was all over the place every which angle. So once I truly focused on that relationship and I asked that one to sort all the other ones, everything kind of got smoother. I talked with obviously a real profound safety, Rodney Harrison. I told him that same kind of story. And, you know, he told me like, he was, he was so happy to hear that that was my focus. And he told me how I take it to the next step is I try to implement that into my teammates. And I try to implement that into the locker room and try to affect, have that same effect that I'm having in my own life and other people's lives.
33:53So that was just real powerful to, to hear, you know, just from, you know, someone older, I always respect, you know, the people that came before me. and I love advice, you know, so that was just real powerful to see that, you know, even when I can take it to another level. I don't know why I'm crying, but I'm crying. I'm not sure why this moment's got me that way. Um, I appreciate you. Yeah. Appreciate you. Um, man, you got me right there. Sorry about that. Uh, you know what I'm curious about is do you have any imposter syndrome about all this, you know, as my platform grew, more and more people started listening to me, you know, I was like, man, if they knew how much of this stuff I'm still working on trying to figure out, you know, everyone's looking at me for advice and I'm, I'm still trying to figure out this or that or the other thing.
34:43And it took me a while to accept that God will use my imperfections and the things I don't know. And the fact that I'm more like most people than not to connect me with them, that I don't have to be, I don't have to have every answer. I don't have to know everything. Um, it finally, you know, dawned on me that it's okay, but all that I'm not perfect, you know, they don't have it all figured out. Is there any part of you that's like, God, why me? Like, I mean, I'm still, I'm in my mid twenties. I'm trying to figure all this stuff out myself. Is there, is there any part of you that feels that way?
35:13Or do you just accept the anointing and the calling and you go with it? You know, um, maybe two times over this last year in two months have I ever decided to like, you know, let myself have a feeling of why me? You know, it's natural. You know, it's super natural. And a lot of it came with football because I truly loved the game of football. You know, football was truly my piece away from the world. You know, I would go to practice. I would have so much going on in my personal life in college, like arguing with girlfriends and dealing with class. and I'm probably arguing with my parents about something, just being a young college kid.
35:55Like my whole entire life is chaos, but I come to practice for these two and a half hours and I am at peace. I feel like I'm sitting at the beach, listening to the waves, you know, while I'm at practice because I truly love the process of getting better, you know, but to have that snatched away from you, you know, and then have the space where you truly had your peace and now you're facing your fears in that space and having to overcome that whole feeling, you know, it was something that, you know, I really had to work for, you know. But, you know, I only ask myself why me maybe two times in the whole time.
36:34And then I will always just correct myself. And, you know, I understand why, you know, I truly know that God seen me as somebody who was, you know, doing his work. You know, I was out here and I don't I don't mean to say that, like, I'm the most spiritual person in the world. or, you know, like, I don't remember the last time I showed up for church on a Sunday. You know what I mean? Just my personal life is busy. I have a lovely church that I do go to back at home in McKees Rock, Pennsylvania. But, you know, I don't remember the last time that I showed up to church on Sunday. So I don't want to even seem like I'm this perfect person or I was this perfect person, you know, that God just selected me because I was above all else.
37:16Like you said, I'm more like everybody than I'm not. But, you know, I was truly doing right by people. I clapped for others while I waited my turn. I learned from the people before me. I supported everyone. And I truly let my heart walk into every room before I did with no expectations in return, you know, with no expectations in return. And that's just because of how I was raised, you know, and I was truly a kid that, you know, I. I found God within my own personal life, you know what I mean? I grew up I grew up a Christian kid and I went to a Catholic high school, you know, and it was like it was like, you know, within that journey, I had to figure out what this relationship meant to me.
38:01And through that process, you know, I truly developed my own relationship and formatted all of the goals that I want to accomplish my life off of that relationship. it. And, uh, you know, I never asked my, I tried to never ask myself or let myself, you know, get the perspective of why me, because I know why me, because I was doing the work and I was, I was moving right by people and, you know, uh, who better than me, you know? And, you know, I don't, I don't want to take credit away from no one else, but, you know, I don't know if, if anyone would have, you know, been able to handle the situation like this.
38:35So, uh, you know, just thinking about that. Yeah. By the way, you're right. I think the other thing, when you look at God's work in hindsight, it always usually kind of lines up once you look at it. The other thing that's really obvious to me tomorrow, I'll just tell you, is that God chose somebody who could be a great communicator of this message. He chose a guy who's really good with words. And not only are you good with words, but when you say things, there's an energy transfer, there's an impact, there's an emotion when you say things. That's rare. When someone's gifted with the athleticism you've been gifted with and clearly the IQ you've been gifted with to also have the ability to communicate on the fly like you do is a very rare thing.
39:16And it's clear that I really believe that you were chosen for this. I just really do. Um, I have to tell you as a parent, I watched a conversation your mom had, your mom was at the game and was trying to get to you as I understand it. Is that correct? Yeah, she was it. My mom and my dad. Yeah. I'm just wondering, I asked you how it's affected you or changed you, what about how it's affected the people around you and their lives or even the way they interact with you? I'm wondering, I mean, obviously the attention you got is crazy. Every athlete and famous person in the world's talking about you all the time.
39:53But I've, you know, you know this when you're a college player, it's one thing you get to the NFL, the world changes around you a little bit, right? Like just the way the world responds to you is different when you're not well known and then you're famous when you're poor compared to when you're rich. So I have to imagine when you're alive and then you're not for a few minutes and then you're alive again, that the way the world treats you might change a little bit. Has it changed a little bit the way the world reacts to you? Yeah, definitely, man. You know, the first, the first way is people are touched.
40:27Like people are truly touched and like some people, like people see me, they just want to hug. Like people see me, they want to, you know, tell me a little bit about their story or, you know, somebody that they know or how they were affected or some things that they're going through personally. You know, so people are touched in all kinds of different ways. And, you know, even outside of the situation, people see my mission. You know, people see the mission that I've been on even greater now. You know, and that's a part of, you know, the blessings, because, you know, within my immediate family, nothing has changed.
41:03Like my mom, my dad, me, my brother, we're all still the same people. You know, like this hasn't my mom and dad. Once I decided to play football again, they're like, OK, this is what we're doing. And this is what you decided to do. And we're one hundred and ten percent behind you. You know, like whichever way it was, you know, they was going to be one hundred and ten percent behind me. You know, so my parents haven't changed a bit. They're on my back, just like I was in college. each they're not you know they're not cutting me any slack they're not you know the expectations aren't different if i still come home and you know i spend some time at my parents house i'm gonna be taking out the trash doing dishes i'm gonna be vacuuming the living room floor like you know so you know my immediate family thank god um that you know everything is still the same there um but you know it has caused a little bit of trouble you know within like friendships and things like that to where, you know, some people feel obligated to, you know, be around me more or, you know, it's all over the place.
42:07I try to not focus on it. But, you know, when it's the personal people around you that you grew up with, that you wanted to be spending the rest of your life with, that you thought would be in your wedding, you know, it has a little bit of effect on you, you know. So, but, you know, the people that truly love me and love me with no expectation behind it are all still in my life. They're all still the same people with me and we're enjoying life. We all have a different perspective and a different appreciation for life for sure. Are you 25 years old, Damar? Yeah, my birthday is in 20 days, 19 days today.
42:41You guys, you're listening to a 25-year-old man with this much wisdom and perspective. If you ever wonder if you get something for your pain in life, one of the things you get when you survive temporary pain in your life is you get some type of insight, wisdom, talent, skill, thought, relationship. God gives you something for your pain. Clearly, he's dosed this man with the wisdom of 80 years on earth. I mean, it's just unbelievable. And I want to kind of tap in. We've only got a couple more minutes, brother. I want to tap into that wisdom for a second. Somebody who's going through, they're on the bottom right now, right now in their life.
43:20They're like, man, I'm down right now. Nothing's working out. My business just failed or I just broke up with my relationship or, man, just nothing I've done has been clicking for years. I don't feel good about myself. I'm down. And this may sound like an interesting metaphor, but they need sort of a life version of CPR to get back up again. They need some life breathed back into them, literally. what would you say to somebody who's just down right now and wants to make a comeback what would you say to that person who's struggling with that right now first thing i would say is man you can't you can't conquer the world in one day so you know just take yourself out of that big perspective and see how you can take one step and put the right foot in front of the left foot you know um something i've heard a while is you can't sit in the pool of pity, you know, so even when you feel that feeling of, you know, you want to harp on your, your situation or your circumstances too much, get up and move.
44:23Like literally, I mean, get up and move, you know, so you can get yourself out of the feeling before you get sunk too deep into it. That's the first way I would say just, you know, to deal with the emotions that come off of your situation. Don't allow yourself to sit in it, get up and move. And don't think you can just know that you can't conquer the world in one day. So wherever it is you want to be, You know, you got to take it step by step one day at a time. You know, I knew that I had to take it step by step one day at a time. I couldn't worry about, you know, trying to suit up and play in the playoffs again.
44:55I would have drove myself crazy. Literally, I would have drove myself insane. I had to know that it's going to be a journey. And even through this season that I just went through, you know, people deal with ACLs and don't come back in the time period that I did. Or any other injuries that don't come back in the time period that I did. So I know it's going to be a journey. Even when some people return off the ACLs, they're not their same selves. That first season, not their back. They need time. They need steps. They got to put the right foot in front of the left, and they got to walk the journey.
45:23They got to go through the ugly phases, you know? I feel like I just went through an ugly phase this whole season. You know what I mean? But I'm super proud of myself, you know? So go through the ugly phases. Don't be afraid of it. Embrace it. That's the biggest part of it all. Focus on taking one foot in front of the right, go through the ugly phases, and just continue to try to get better one day at a time, one step at a time, man. Write down what you feel is necessary to accomplish what you want to get done and then follow it. Make no negotiations with yourself whenever you set the plan out.
45:55Like if you say you're going to do certain things at certain times or with certain people, make sure you're doing it. You know what I mean? Hold yourself to a different standard and accountability so that you can get out of your situation. You know, you can't get out of a situation doing the same things that puts you into the situation. So, you know, that's that's like insanity, doing the same thing and expecting different results. You know, and I'm kind of I'm kind of, you know, preaching that message to, you know, a lot of my personal friends in my life, you know, who are. No, they complain about certain things or they bring certain things to my attention.
46:28And then, you know, they keep doing the same things. I'm at the point where it's like, no, you're going to keep dealing with the same certain type of things. Don't even tell me because like, don't, don't sit up here and just waste all my time. When you okay with accepting the same things, I got you where you are. If you want to get yourself to a different situation, you got to do different things to get different results.
46:55That's my perspective on it. That's so good. Brother, I'm just sitting here going, you've got to be kidding me. This is so good. You know what you are? You're a great perspective giver, just who you are. I've got to tell you, today was a particularly not great morning for me. I was talking to my daughter, and she goes, how are you doing today, Daddy? I said, I'm not having a great morning, Bella. I'm not having a good day. Then we hung up, and I've been so excited about this interview for so long. It's kind of like re-preparing a little bit. And then I literally said to myself, I just everybody hear this for whatever you're going through.
47:32I said, really, you're not having a great day compared to what the day DeMar had on January 2nd, 2023. In that moment, that's a bad day compared to me. I'm at a couple of meetings, not go the right way. Right. And this man was in front of millions of people literally fighting for his life. Does it give you a perspective, brother, like when you're having what used to be a bad day? You're like, well, not compared to, like, compared to what, right? Do you ever have that thought? Does it give you perspective on that? Man, every day. Every day, to be honest. You know, there's no day where I can, you know, allow myself to get too low anymore because, you know, I have the appreciation of life.
48:13You know, so no matter what's going on in life, just to still be here is a blessing because we all know some people who are not. And we all wish that we could have some people still with us. So no matter my situation, I'm able to allow myself to appreciate something. You know, it's hard to appreciate everything, you know, especially when, you know, for the people that are listening, especially when, you know, you're going through situations where your emotions are rising and, you know, you're feeling whatever you're feeling the most. But I'm always able to bring myself to appreciate at least one thing, no matter what it is, no matter if it's the ability to still play football, because that could have been taken away from me.
48:55no matter if it's, you know, just appreciating family, my little brother, my mom, my dad, you know, no matter if it's just, you know, appreciating a deep breath, man, or appreciating wherever I am in the world, you know, if I'm in California, if I'm at home, if I'm anywhere in the world, you know, I always bring myself to find at least one thing that I can appreciate and it shapes your perspective differently. It really does. Wow. Brother, I love you. Two things. I got one last question. One, I'm grateful for you. You as well. I thank you for this. This was therapy for me. Good. Well, me too, and millions of people.
49:34The second thing is, as a brother, I'm just very proud of you. Very proud of you. You're remarkable. I have a football question because we'll be pissed if I don't ask. Are you a free agent? No. Okay, so you're under contract. I'm with the Buffalo Bills. I'm a Buffalo Bill. Okay, because I read something today, Bills Mafia, I read something today, you know what I'm going to ask you about. They were like, hey, I wouldn't mind ending my career playing for the Steelers, right? Is that an accurate quote? Like, I just make you awkward. I didn't push you too hard on what happened on the field. People want to know, what's going to happen with this young man?
50:14So we know you're a Bill, but is there a little part of you eventually they would love to finish up with the Steelers, or you want to be a Bill for life? I want to be a Bill for life. You know, that's the team that truly took a chance on me and gave me opportunity, you know, to show what I can do. You know, I'm a late-round draft pick. Throughout the whole entire draft, you know, I watched my name sit as the first name to best taken, you know, for like two, three rounds, you know, and I'm just like, will I ever get my opportunity? You know, I knew I had what it takes, you know, But, you know, opportunity, like preparation doesn't always meet opportunity.
50:51I was prepared, but I didn't know if the opportunity was going to come. So, you know, the Bills, when they selected me, you know, I was I was I felt so blessed, you know, and I didn't know anything about Buffalo. I didn't know anything about Bills Mafia at the time. But, you know, it didn't take long for me to for them to show me exactly who they were. for me personally and then doing my research as well, just seeing how they treated their players, how they treat other players on other teams. Donated$80 ,000 to other people's team, to other teams' foundations. It was just unbelievable of the support that Bills Mafia has for the players of the Buffalo Bills.
51:36First and foremost, I want to clear all year. I want to be a Buffalo Bill for life because that's the team that took a chance on me when I answered that question you know I answered it from the perspective of you know a childhood perspective you know a kid that you know grew up his entire life like I told you man I had to dream for a long time I had to dream for a long time you know just making it to the NFL and just being able to have an opportunity to you know take care of my family and give back to my community something that I didn't have as a kid growing up, you know, so that was always my driving force.
52:10But, you know, as a kid, you know, like playing the game, I always created myself as a Steeler and I always, you know, played the game like that just as a kid. So the question they asked me, I answered it from a childhood perspective. And then I also answered it from the perspective of, no, I don't want to play for the Steelers right now because I'm a Buffalo Bill. You know what I mean? Like I'm still under contract with the Buffalo Bills. And then on top of that, you know, I spent five years at the University of Pittsburgh and I shared the facility with the Steelers. That's how I built a close relationship, you know, with them.
52:46And then so that's college, five years and then four years of high school where we had championship games at, you know, the stadium. So, you know, I've had my fair share of time there. How I answered the question was it would more so be a dream to finish career than to be playing now. And I say that lightly because you see players all the time who have a career. They'll have like an eight, ten-year career with this team, and then they'll go play for this team for X amount of time. And then when they finally retire, they'll go sign that$1 contract. with the team that they felt most connected to and then retire with that team.
53:34So, you know, it was it was a lightly answered question that kind of like super stirred up social media. But to be honest, you know, even through all the chaos of it that it caused, I'm just super excited to finally see people excited to see me play football. Yeah. That was a great feeling that above all those, you know, above all the chaos it might have caused. that was just a great feeling you know what i mean i i dealt with so much um you know controversy and you know like just craziness all year long just uh it just if if i needed to if i needed to be playing if i was just all of a sudden just this trash player if i just was never good at football and i'm only famous for one thing and this and that uh you know so i went through a whole year or that, you know, and, you know, just chirping, you know, I don't allow none of that to enter my inner matrix.
54:30But, you know, it was super exciting to see people, you know, excited to see me play football again. So, like, you know, it turned me up a little bit, man. It made me go harder in the gym. It made me go harder in the gym those days because, you know, I'm excited for them to see what I got in the tank too. I am as well. Take it easy on the Patriots. I'm a Patriots fan. I can tell you, this is the greatest – this is – please do that. This is the greatest comeback story in the history of sports, and he is the most inspiring person in my lifetime in sports. And I'm so incredibly grateful that this conversation even exceeded my hopes and dreams for it.
55:09I rarely get emotional on the show. I think I'm emotional because it affects me, but I also got emotional, Damar, through the conversation because I've done enough of these over the last decade to know when we're doing something that's going to affect so many people's lives. And that was 100 % you're doing today and God working through you. So I love you, and I'm very, very grateful for you. And thank you so much for being here today. And I love you too. Thanks for having me. Like I said, this was like therapy. So I appreciate you coming on. I appreciate it being here. Yeah, so grateful. All right, everybody.
55:42I share the show. Share this episode, please. And continue to max out your life. God bless you, everybody. This is the Ed Myland Show.
From the publisher
What would you do with a second chance at life?
Damar Hamlin's story transcends the world of football, marking a pivotal moment not just in sports history but in the narrative of human endurance and divine intervention.
Damar collapsed on the field during an NFL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL game in January 2023. He went into cardiac arrest after taking a blow to the chest during a tackle. The world held its breath. But his story was far from over. Through a miraculous recovery fueled by quick action, unwavering faith, and a collective outpouring of support, Damar's life was saved, and his purpose magnified.
But Damar’s story doesn’t end there. Because eight months later, Damar stepped on the field once more to play the game he loves.
In one of the most profound conversations I've had on this show, Damar opens up about his extraordinary journey back to the field and how his brush with mortality has reshaped his outlook on life.
Here's what you'll uncover in this incredible episode:
Damar's firsthand account of that fateful day and the miraculous series of events that led to his survival.
The instrumental role of faith and prayer in his recovery
The emotional moment of communication with his family after regaining consciousness
Navigating the waves of notoriety that followed his recovery and the challenges of being thrust into the spotlight.
The profound mix of emotions experienced upon returning to the field and the internal transformation that ensued.
Insights on dealing with imposter syndrome and the universal quest for authenticity and purpose.
Words of wisdom for those facing their darkest hours, sharing the light of hope and the power of perseverance.
This is one of the most uplifting and faith-based stories you’ll ever hear.
If you wonder if you can overcome the odds in your own life, look to Damar and his example, and you will undoubtedly be INSPIRED just like I was.
