“Everyone reacts to these things in a different way. But what I know, I can’t completely put aside.”
On Jan. 2, Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin suffered a devastating injury in the middle of a game. Luckily, thanks to immediate and excellent medical care, Hamlin recently regained consciousness. And while he certainly has a long road to recovery, fans and players alike are relieved that Hamlin survived with his neurological function seemingly intact.
In spite of that good news, many are left feeling shaken by the violence that these athletes endure for the sake of entertainment. Fanatics are questioning their love for the game, while critics are being vocal about their disapproval of such a high-risk yet popular pastime.
To better understand both Hamlin’s injury and how people are processing this terrifying turn of events, Katie spoke to her friend legendary sports broadcaster Bob Costas. He’s covered NFL games for decades and was with NBC sports from 1980 through 2019. He and Katie discuss how he’s dealt with his growing uneasiness with the sport and he addresses what makes Hamlin’s near-death injury unusual yet completely unsurprising.
Katie Couric: Let’s start out with good news, Bob. Thank goodness Damar Hamlin is doing well, although there are still some unanswered questions about his future. How did you feel when you heard about Damar Hamlin’s improvement?
Bob Costas: We were cautiously optimistic beginning Tuesday. We knew that if something like this was going to happen, he had the best possible circumstances for a good outcome. There were all kinds of medical professionals — paramedics and independent medical people — who are at every NFL game. Say whatever you want about the nature of the sport, but they’ve taken whatever steps they can to try and make it safer. You’ll never make it safe, but they make it less dangerous to some extent.
They performed CPR and did so competently. There was a defibrillator available, and they used that as soon as possible. There was an ambulance right there. There was a very good hospital with top doctors very close by. As rare as this kind of occurrence is in sports — and it’s very, very rare, actually. If this had happened in a high school football game somewhere, it’s very unlikely that they would have that level of equipment and expertise available. It’s quite possible that the kid might have died right there on the field.
Many people have been opining about the violent nature of the sport — not for the first time, certainly. Kurt Streeter wrote in The New York Times, “It’s unclear whether Hamlin’s medical emergency was related to the tackle that preceded it. [Parenthetically, I think we now know it was.] But the specter of destruction on the field, let’s face it, is part of what makes football such an American draw. That’s why the highlight shows are full of the most jarring, brutal hits.” Is there anything that can be done about an inherently violent sport?
There’s not much that can be done about the inherent violence and aggression in football as we know it. Is it part of the appeal of the game for some people, undeniably. Then there are others who are attracted by the strategy, the shared experience, the excitement, the drama, and the athletic skill. They somehow make their peace with the other ugly aspect of it.
As you know, Katie, my misgivings about it date back to the 1990s. I actually asked to be removed from NBC’s football coverage at that time. Dick Ebersol was kind enough to allow me to do that and continue with my other duties. When NBC got Sunday Night Football, it was so important to the network, especially at the outset. They wanted to put together what they called their “Mount Rushmore.” They brought Al Michaels and John Madden. I brought in Cris Collinsworth. Because I had been associated with hosting all the biggest events at NBC Sports at that time, Dick asked me if I would host the games. Because of my regard for him and our close personal relationship, I did it. But my misgivings continued.
What prompted you to ask to be taken off football coverage?
I didn’t feel as organically connected to it, as I did to baseball, the NBA on NBC, and some of the other things I did. It wasn’t that I disliked it, but I had ambivalent feelings about it. I’d grown up as a football fan, but the closer I got to it, I felt — as much as a nonparticipant can — the routine violence of every play, even plays that are not remarkable and don’t result in some kind of injury, it just didn’t appeal to me as much as other sports did. It wasn’t as if I was looking to put it down. But I didn’t feel as connected to it as other commentators and avid fans.
Cumulatively, other network broadcasters aren’t really being critical of the nature of the game — no matter how good they are at other things, and I respect them for all those reasons. They may talk about issues that come up like a specific injury, or a domestic violence issue, but they seldom get at the essential nature of the sport. I did that several times while I was still hosting the football coverage for NBC. But that eventually just got to be untenable. My inclinations and their interests were too divergent. So despite the fact that I have great appreciation and gratitude for nearly 40 years at NBC, we’ve reached a point of diminishing returns. It was time for us to go our separate ways.
I was reading about a different football player who died on the field, and since you are absolutely encyclopedic in your knowledge of all sports, do you remember another player who had a heart attack on the field?
Yes. His name was Chuck Hughes. He played for the Detroit Lions in the early 1970s. He had a pre-existing heart condition. It’s possible, although not certain, that a blood clot in a clogged artery was dislodged by a hit. In any case, he had a fatal heart attack on the field during a game against the Chicago Bears. It wasn’t the same situation as this one.
[Hughes] had a heart attack and died on the field. It wasn’t the same situation as this one, where a normal tackle that you see thousands of times during the football season has a point of impact near the heart. The tackle hit at exactly the wrong place at exactly the wrong millisecond in the cardiac cycle to send [Hamlin] into a state of cardiac arrest. Had they not had all the medical personnel there, it’s very unlikely that he’d be on his way to recovery.
Injuries happen during the game all the time, maybe not like Damar Hamlin’s, but devastating injuries are not that unusual, are they?
No, not unusual at all. I’ve said this several times on the air in the past few days. This particular event is exceedingly rare. And statistically, it’s actually more likely to happen in so-called projectile sports, like baseball, hockey, or lacrosse. A player — very often at the amateur level — is hit in the heart area at just the wrong place at just the wrong time. Then, this sort of event occurs. So this is not something you can really pin on football.
But this brings to mind those things you most certainly can pin on football: Brain trauma, spinal cord injuries, the players who have difficulty getting out of bed in the morning, the knee replacements, the hip replacements, the broken bones, and the torn ligaments. Ephraim Salaam — who played 13 years in the NFL as an offensive lineman — said on CNN, “I played football so that my sons will not have to play football.” He dedicated himself to the game. He appreciates the camaraderie with his teammates, the thrill of competition, and the sense of doing something at an excellent level. Yet he would not let his sons play the game because he understands the nature of the game. So, the event with Damar Hamlin is not particular to football, but it brings to mind all the things that most definitely are.
CTE is the issue that’s gotten the lion’s share of attention in recent years because players may suffer from Alzheimer’s or other debilitating neurological illnesses as they age or shortly after they stop playing. Has that influenced the NFL to institute any changes at all?
Yes, it absolutely has. A generation ago, the NFL could be compared to the tobacco industry. They were in a state of public denial, claiming there was no connection between playing football, and CTE and dementia and Alzheimer’s. They offered testimony to that effect before congressional committees. The evidence is now too overwhelming. Too much has been written. Documentaries have been made. Everyone acknowledges that. In fact, the chief medical officer for the NFL said a few years ago that somewhere between 25 and 30 percent of those who play football for an extended period of time will experience some sort of neurological or cognitive difficulties at some point in their lives as a result of that. So they’ve acknowledged it. To their credit, they have made many changes, and continue to look for more innovations in terms of equipment and concussion protocols.
We saw those protocols in place in Cincinnati on Monday night. If you’re going to have football, it’s in their best interest both for humane reasons and also for public relations and business reasons to do all they can short of just not playing football. I think they’ve done that.
In The New York Times piece, Streeter says, “Violence and danger will remain at the beating heart of football. Take it out, and the game is football no more. So we will watch enthralled and sometimes horrified…but hopefully, we will never see the game quite the same way again.” Do you think this will have a lasting impact on how we view football?
I think some of us have already made that adjustment. I can watch a game, but I’m not remotely as engaged in it as I once was. I don’t have to be from a professional standpoint. I don’t build my Sundays or Monday nights around it. But if I’m channel surfing and happen upon a game, I can watch it. I’ll watch a good portion of the playoffs, and I’ll watch the Super Bowl because everybody does. But for me, it’s long past the point where I can just compartmentalize the violent nature of the game and become completely enthralled.
I imagine that there are many, many people like me. But then there are other people who certainly are concerned with Damar Hamlin’s condition and concerned with the people who’ve suffered brain trauma, but it hasn’t lessened their passion for the game. I’m not criticizing them. Everyone reacts to these things in a different way. But what I know, I can’t completely put aside.
