The Pittsburgh Steelers, along with the entire NFL, were in shock on January 2nd as they watched the division rival Cincinnati Bengals host the Buffalo Bills for a Monday night game, when the entire world appeared to come to a screeching halt.
Just a few minutes into that game, an incredibly unfortunate situation happened, as Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field and nearly lost his life. At this moment, not a single person had football on their mind.
After attending the University of Pittsburgh for five years, Hamlin has developed several relationships with members of the Steelers organizations. Those relationships include Head Coach Mike Tomlin, his former college teammate and now Steelers quarterback, Kenny Pickett, as well as other players such as linebacker, Marcus Allen.
Pittsburgh Steelers Connections To Damar Hamlin Run Throughout Entire Organization
Hamlin’s connections within the Steelers organization don’t stop with just the ones he made while he resided in Pittsburgh, however. Levi Wallace, who signed a two-year contract with the Steelers in the 2022 off-season, is a former teammate of Hamlin’s who were both members of the Bills during the 2021 season.
While joining The 33rd Team podcast, Wallace spoke on several topics including Minkah Fitzpatrick’s greatness, Pickett’s play and development this season, as well as his relationship with Hamlin and the situation as a whole.
Wallace stated that he sees a lot of himself in Hamlin, as they are both people who love the game and try to get better at their craft everyday. His full comment on this is below:
“He’s just a great dude, he reminds me of myself when I came into the league. He’s just super passionate, always looking to learn the game. He’s behind two All-Pros with [Jordan] Poyer and Micah [Hyde], and not knowing if he would ever get on the field, and then Micah gets hurt this year and he’s had an exceptional year.”
There are definitely similarities you see in the way both Wallace and Hamlin approach the game, as both weren’t guaranteed anything coming into the NFL with Wallace being undrafted and Hamlin being a sixth-round pick. So the fact that both have had the amount of success they have had to this point in their respective careers shows they’re committed to getting better and truly love the game.
With the connection Wallace has with Hamlin, and the similarities they have, Wallace was struggling with the fact that he couldn’t be there with Hamlin, or with his former teammates to help them go through what is likely the hardest situation any of them will every face while playing football:
“It broke my heart that I couldn’t be out there with my teammates from old. Just seeing the faces, I’d never seen these guys cry before. Just seeing that pain, and I couldn’t be there and support them in that, it kind of broke my heart.”
There is no doubt that many felt similar feelings to the ones Wallace felt in that moment, and all of Steeler Nation shares those same thoughts and prayers that him and others continue to send to Hamlin and his family.
Hopefully Hamlin is able to get back on the field in the future, as he was having a very good season, but he still faces a lengthy recovery to get back to normal life, let alone football.
Before the incident, Hamlin started 13 games for the Bills following Micah Hyde’s injury. Over that span, he recorded 91 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, as well as recording 1.5 sacks on the season.
Seeing Hamlin continue to recover and improve is something everyone will love to see. Whether he steps on the football field as a player again or not, the amount of love and support that has been given to Hamlin, his family, as well as the contributions to his Go Fund Me, have been truly an amazing outcome of such a tragic event.
Let us know below any thoughts or comments you have for Hamlin and all of the people that have come out and spoke on their relationships him!
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