While in the midst of watching the coverage of what happened in Cincinnati at the final 2023 regular season Monday night Football game, my thoughts went back to October of 1971. I had only been working professionally in the radio broadcasting business for a year or two at that juncture.
We kept track of the news via a teletype machine at the radio station. It was from our wire service that I discovered that an NFL player had died on the field during a game. Chuck Hughes was a wide receiver for the Detroit Lions. The Chicago Bears were in Detroit for a game on October 24, 1971.
Hughes had collapsed in the locker room after a preseason game in August. Doctors could not diagnose what went wrong. Despite being in pain, Hughes insisted on playing again.
After a play late in the game, Hughes collapsed on the field and was taken to the Henry Ford Hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. It was later discovered Hughes had a blockage of his arteries which had gone undiagnosed.
That is the only instance where an NFL player died on the field of play, as best we can determine from the records available.
So, when Buffalo Bills defensive player Damar Hamlin collapsed on the Cincinnati playing field Monday night, the players and coaches knew something serious had happened. The availability of medical help quickly saved Mr. Hamlin’s life, based upon the information from the teams, league and medial professionals treating Damar Hamlin.
As of Sunday evening, January 8, Hamlin is recovering and that is so good to see. But this incident should remind us all what is happening in the National Football League.
For many years, the players have become bigger, more athletic, quicker and faster. That means the collisions happening on the field are more likely to injure a player. Former Defensive End for the great Buffalo Bills teams of the 1990s, Bruce Smith, described every play he was in during a game as one car crash. In his defensive role, that meant more than 60 crashes in most games.
The NFL and the Players’ Association have made some progress in minimizing injuries in a sport that is violent by its very nature. I talked to one health professional that treated retired NFL players and the medical issues they live with every day once leaving the game never end.
I do enjoy watching the NFL but not as much as I once did. It is not easy to watch these players take violent hits on one play after another.
The NFL did the right thing by first suspending, then cancelling, the Bengals-Bills game, even though it has complicated the playoff plans. That was the right call, the players were in no condition to play that game after seeing Damar Hamlin transported off the field in an ambulance.
It should be noted that on October 24, 1971, the game resumed after Chuck Hughes was taken from the field in an ambulance. According to media accounts at the time, the game was played before a “stunned and silent crowd.” The Lions were informed of Hughes’ death once the game was over.
The NFL and its players have been wrestling with the dilemma of providing sufficient safety for the players in a game that is inherently violent. That is not an easy task.
Let’s hope once all the medical evaluations are in, something can be done to prevent another Damar Hamlin situation from happening again.
