Damar Hamlin Presents Pat Tillman Award to the Bills’ Training Staff that Saved his Life
By Movieguide® Contributor
Damar Hamlin was brought to tears while presenting the Buffalo Bills’ training staff the Pat Tillman Award at the 2023 ESPY Awards.
The awards presentation started with a pre-recorded video in which Hamlin narrated the events of January 3rd and recalled the way that the Bills staff saved his life.
“Thanks to their training, their poise and their commitment to serve other, the Bills training staff kept me alive,” Hamlin started the video. “I didn’t wake up that morning in January thinking that I would need someone to save my life that day, and I doubt that the training staff thought that they would have to do what they did either.”
“That, as much as anything else, is what I took away from what happened to me six and a half months ago,” he continued. “That any of us, at any given time, are capable of doing something incredible as saving a life, and living a life of service to others. It’s a blessing.”
As he stepped up to the mic to present the award, Hamlin had to wipe tears away. The crowd responded with an immediate standing ovation as the Bills’ training staff came onstage to accept the award.
Head Athletic Trainer Nate Breske accepted the award on behalf of his staff, reflecting on that January night and sharing his gratitude for Hamlin.
“Damar, first and foremost, thank you for staying alive, brother,” Breske said. “Seriously, we are so honored to be standing up here with such a strong and courageous human being.”
The Tillman Award is named after an Arizona Cardinal who gave up his career in the NFL to join the military shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. Tillman was killed by friendly fire while on deployment in 2004.
The Award is presented to “a group with a strong connection to sports who has served others in a way that echoes the legacy of the former NFL player and U.S. Army Ranger, Pat Tillman.
Movieguide® previously reported on Hamlin:
“I just want to show people that fear is a choice, that you can keep going in something without having the answers and without knowing what’s at the end of the tunnel,” Hamlin said. “You might feel anxious. You might feel any type of way, but you just keep putting that right foot in front of the left one and you keep going. I want to stand for that.”
Hamlin spoke to FOX Sports’ Michael Strahan and expressed that Hamlin gave his future to God and that he just felt grateful to still be breathing.
“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 stated. “But I’m allowing that to be in God’s hands. I’m just thankful He gave me a second chance.”
As Hamlin has dealt with all the ups and downs since his collapse, he plans to stay faithful to God and fully trust Him.
“I’m riding the roller coaster of emotions,” he expressed. “I’m taking it one day at a time, and I’m trusting God, you know? I’m walking by faith.”
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