Watch: Damar Hamlin, Bills training staff come together for emotional ESPYs moment
The ESPY Awards have provided no shortage of emotional moments throughout the years and at the 31st annual event Wednesday, safety Damar Hamlin and the Buffalo Bills training staff created another.
Roughly six months removed from suffering a cardiac arrest during a nationally televised game, a teary-eyed Hamlin took the stage to present the Pat Tillman Award for Service to the Bills' staff that saved his life.
Following the presentation, the group embraced to rousing applause from the crowd in attendance which lasted nearly a minute. There wasn't a dry eye in the house for a good reason. Hamlin's journey isn't only the feel-good story of 2023. It's perhaps one of the most inspirational in sports history.
Hamlin suffered a cardiac emergency, collapsing on the turf during "Monday Night Football" on Jan. 2. Members of both the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals training and medical staffs quickly attended to Hamlin, resuscitating him on the field. After extensive rehab, Hamlin still isn't 100 percent. However, the 25-year-old recently returned to the field in June for Bills' OTA's, a significant leap toward an eventual return to the NFL.
There are still plenty of hurdles for Hamlin to climb before he sees action in an NFL game. However, he has the chance thanks to a large group of well-trained professionals who acted without hesitation in an intense, stressful situation where time was of the essence.
The moment between Hamlin and his heroes will go down as one of the more touching in ESPYs' history, alongside Jim Valvano's "Don't ever give up" speech, Stuart Scott's inspirational message while battling cancer, and the countless others which will now last a lifetime.
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