FOXBORO — Most weeks, Bill Belichick says he doesn’t watch Monday Night Football reside. He’s too busy making ready for the Patriots’ subsequent opponent.
But final Monday, with the Bills enjoying six days earlier than they have been scheduled to host the Pats this weekend, he did.
Then, like the remainder of the football-watching world, Belichick noticed Bills security Damar Hamlin collapse from cardiac arrest in Cincinnati that led medical personnel to manage CPR on the sector and rush him away in an ambulance. As the state of affairs unfolded, Belichick mentioned his thoughts traveled again to December 1997.
Then the Jets’ defensive coordinator, Belichick was on the sideline for a regular-season finale at Detroit, when former Lions linebacker Reggie Brown lay nonetheless on the sector after making a sort out. Medical personnel found Brown wasn’t respiratory, administered CPR and stabilized his head. The Silverdome fell silent.
“It was a very chilling game,” Belichick mentioned in a press convention Thursday. “Obviously one I’ll never forget.”
Brown was later recognized with a critical spinal twine harm, which instantly left him paralyzed, unconscious and near demise. Over the next months, Brown made a miraculous restoration. He now resides in Houston along with his spouse and two sons.
Five years in the past, Brown advised The Detroit News the one remaining seen signal from his harm is proscribed flexibility in his neck, although he additionally experiences erratic numbness and ache in numerous areas of his physique most days.
Since Monday evening, Belichick has repeatedly referenced Brown’s harm throughout conversations with Patriots personnel, as he helps them course of Hamlin’s near-death expertise. Belichick advised reporters Thursday he has some sense of what the Bills and Bengals skilled Monday evening. Belichick added he texted Bills coach Sean McDermott to ship ideas and prayers on behalf of the group.
“Life is bigger than this game,” Belichick mentioned. “This is one of those humbling moments for all of us that stands out.”
After Belichick’s press convention Thursday, particular groups coordinator Cam Achord praised his boss’s management, saying Belichick has emphasised that each participant, and coach is a human being first, then a Patriots worker. Belichick mentioned everyone within the group has been made out there to gamers to assist them discuss by Hamlin’s harm, together with the workforce chaplain, workforce psychologist, coaches and former gamers. Achord mentioned just a few gamers have stopped to sit down in his workplace and course of collectively.
“There’s nothing more important than the health and safety of our players,” Belichick mentioned. “I respect how much they put into this.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com