Meredith Hein
Guest
We’ll talk about this later: Toys for everyone, an apropos touchdown and nothing but love
Meredith Hein via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Your dose of lighthearted takes from this week’s happenings. Or, in this case, just a lot of heart.
Each week, we’ll break down something that happened during the Ohio State game (and occasionally other games and events) that we’ll be talking about for a while—you know, the silly sideline interactions, the awful announcing and the weird storylines that stick with us for years to come. We’ll also compare each of these happenings to memorable moments in pop culture, because who doesn’t love a good Office reference?
Sorry folks, this one isn’t exactly lighthearted, but it’s got a lot of heart.
Last Monday night, the world stopped for a moment as Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field in the Bills’ Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The game stopped. Nothing else in sports mattered for days.
As we anxiously sat refreshing our news feeds, hoping for good news on Damar’s condition, another story began to emerge. Damar had started a GoFundMe to purchase toys for kids in his community. He had hoped to raise $2,500. As folks searched for news and found this page, thousands and thousands of people began donating. Within hours, the fundraiser had pulled in more than $3 million in donations.
Damar Hamlin’s friends speaking on the great man that he truly is, is something we all need to hear tonight.
Damar Hamlin’s charity is now up to over $3 million raised and over 100k donors.
Keep praying pic.twitter.com/IhQdmpLaL3
— NFL Rookie Watch (@NFLRookieWatxh) January 3, 2023
The gifts kept coming in as Buffalo fans, non-Buffalo fans, sports fans and non-sports fans alike rallied for a way to do anything to support the 24-year old laying in critical condition in Cincinnati. Many fantasy football leagues, whose final weeks were left undecided with the game’s cancellation, donated their collective purses to the cause. As of Sunday afternoon, folks had donated nearly $8.5 million.
Did the postponement disrupt our fantasy league final? Yes it did.
Did we decide to donate the entire purse ($1200) to Damar Hamlin's charity? Yes we did.
— Captain Lou (Parity) (@TheCaptainLou) January 4, 2023
We collectively rejoiced when we heard Damar was awake and communicating through writing. We cheered when we heard his breathing tube was removed and he was making steady progress. We continued to hope and pray for a continued recovery. And we probably cried a little as tributes poured in throughout the weekend from NFL teams honoring Damar in their own ways, including in Cincinnati, where Damar was still hospitalized.
Bengals center Ted Karras says a company shipped these shirts to the team in honor Damar Hamlin. He says it was like air going out of balloon all week trying to play with so much unknown. When he heard good Damar news today, it made him smile for 1st time. pic.twitter.com/1cJY5Qvqk3
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) January 5, 2023
And then Sunday, in a moment of absolute poetry, Nyheim Hines ran back the opening kick for Buffalo against New England.
And it was clear who everyone was thinking of.
Meant to be.#LoveForDamar | #ForDamar pic.twitter.com/Etw3iAgTWY
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 8, 2023
From the absolute terror we felt last week, it’s been beautiful to see once again how sports have the power to unite and bring love and kindness into the world. From all the kids who will eventually benefit from Damar’s charity to the unity we’ve seen throughout the NFL and beyond — there’s nothing but love for Damar.
Continue reading...
Meredith Hein via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Your dose of lighthearted takes from this week’s happenings. Or, in this case, just a lot of heart.
Each week, we’ll break down something that happened during the Ohio State game (and occasionally other games and events) that we’ll be talking about for a while—you know, the silly sideline interactions, the awful announcing and the weird storylines that stick with us for years to come. We’ll also compare each of these happenings to memorable moments in pop culture, because who doesn’t love a good Office reference?
Sorry folks, this one isn’t exactly lighthearted, but it’s got a lot of heart.
Last Monday night, the world stopped for a moment as Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field in the Bills’ Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The game stopped. Nothing else in sports mattered for days.
As we anxiously sat refreshing our news feeds, hoping for good news on Damar’s condition, another story began to emerge. Damar had started a GoFundMe to purchase toys for kids in his community. He had hoped to raise $2,500. As folks searched for news and found this page, thousands and thousands of people began donating. Within hours, the fundraiser had pulled in more than $3 million in donations.
Damar Hamlin’s friends speaking on the great man that he truly is, is something we all need to hear tonight.
Damar Hamlin’s charity is now up to over $3 million raised and over 100k donors.
Keep praying pic.twitter.com/IhQdmpLaL3
— NFL Rookie Watch (@NFLRookieWatxh) January 3, 2023
The gifts kept coming in as Buffalo fans, non-Buffalo fans, sports fans and non-sports fans alike rallied for a way to do anything to support the 24-year old laying in critical condition in Cincinnati. Many fantasy football leagues, whose final weeks were left undecided with the game’s cancellation, donated their collective purses to the cause. As of Sunday afternoon, folks had donated nearly $8.5 million.
Did the postponement disrupt our fantasy league final? Yes it did.
Did we decide to donate the entire purse ($1200) to Damar Hamlin's charity? Yes we did.
— Captain Lou (Parity) (@TheCaptainLou) January 4, 2023
We collectively rejoiced when we heard Damar was awake and communicating through writing. We cheered when we heard his breathing tube was removed and he was making steady progress. We continued to hope and pray for a continued recovery. And we probably cried a little as tributes poured in throughout the weekend from NFL teams honoring Damar in their own ways, including in Cincinnati, where Damar was still hospitalized.
Bengals center Ted Karras says a company shipped these shirts to the team in honor Damar Hamlin. He says it was like air going out of balloon all week trying to play with so much unknown. When he heard good Damar news today, it made him smile for 1st time. pic.twitter.com/1cJY5Qvqk3
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) January 5, 2023
And then Sunday, in a moment of absolute poetry, Nyheim Hines ran back the opening kick for Buffalo against New England.
And it was clear who everyone was thinking of.
Meant to be.#LoveForDamar | #ForDamar pic.twitter.com/Etw3iAgTWY
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 8, 2023
From the absolute terror we felt last week, it’s been beautiful to see once again how sports have the power to unite and bring love and kindness into the world. From all the kids who will eventually benefit from Damar’s charity to the unity we’ve seen throughout the NFL and beyond — there’s nothing but love for Damar.
Continue reading...