“There is nothing inspiring about what happened!” Bomani Jones wants the NFL to stop glorifying Damar Hamlin’s ‘horrific’ incident

The analyst believes it is high time that the NFL move forward and let Damar Hamlin play football.

Bomani Jones, a sports analyst, is not happy with the NFL giving Damar Hamlin attention. The analyst does not understand why the league decided to make his return to Paycor Stadium, the home of the Cincinnati Bengals, a big deal.

The reason Hamlin’s return to Paycor was special was because almost a year ago, the safety collapsed right there on the field and gave everyone the biggest scare of their lives.

Hamlin had gone through a cardiac arrest; the league decided to dub his journey back to the field as “inspiring,” and this event in general has inspired others to be fluent with CPR. The safety taught the New York Yankees CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, nearly six months after his collapse on the field.

Damar Hamlin’s medical tragedy took place on January 2. Bomani Jones, on his show, The Right Time with Bomani Jones, asked a rather controversial question:

is it finally time to stop talking about Damar Hamlin?

However, more interestingly, he did not just stop at that but doubled down on this take and suggested:

How about we just act like that never happened?

Bomani Jones is tired of seeing the NFL paint Damar Hamlin’s situation as inspiring

Jones further stated the reason for his take, saying that although he truly recognizes the role of sports in our society

I do recognize that the role of sport in society is value promotion...but now that everything has to be made into a television show, the NFL has to stand in every way for all that's good.

With that being said, it seems like he hates the fact that the league is exploiting this situation at this point and continues to milk it for publicity.

Damar Hamlin and Bomani Jones (via AP)

If there’s an inspiration…the first responders and their ability to save somebody’s life under those circumstances.

As he hears more and more about Hamlin, he finds himself asking the same questions over and over again, why is he watching this, and for what particular reason?

In the Bengals victory over the Bills on Monday night, Hamlin took some time after the game to go and visit the exact spot where he collapsed last week. While it was clearly an emotional moment for the safety, Jones was left to wonder:

What is or was in his mind as he’s doing that.

The safety has played in just one game so far this season, as Buffalo is taking a rather cautious approach with his return to the game. Damar Hamlin’s collapse was unfortunate, but at this point, the NFL is not allowing him or the fans to move on from this red-letter day in his life.

It is a good thing that the league has been promoting fans and staff of different teams to learn CPR after this event, but it should stop at that.

Damar Hamlin is a football player; the game comes first. While he would also be more inclined toward putting this incident in the rearview mirror and moving forward, it is not possible, not as long as the NFL decides that it wants to continue running with it for clicks and publicity.

It has also left the Bengals in a tough spot, as they are hesitant to completely activate Hamlin after his scary collapse.

Nobody is denying the fact that Damar Hamlin did something impressive by returning to the game that almost took his life for a few seconds. But for how long is he going to be remembered and admired for just that?

Is he not a competent athlete? Does he not have an established career as a safety? He has worked on his craft far longer, and it does get disrespectful toward him if all the league attempts to do is continue glorifying him for his unfortunate medical complications.