Opening day of the 2007 NFL season - Sunday September 9th - was an unseasonably cool and wet day in Orchard Park, NY. My seats were near the 30 yard line, south side tunnel end of the stadium. After attempting a tackle on the return of the second half kick-off, Bills tight end and special teamer Kevin Everett lay motionless on the field. Medical staff ran out, the stretcher board appeared, then the ambulance. I think I remember him giving the "thumbs-up" but I'm not sure about that. Away he went, the game resumed and the Bills lost 15-14 on a Denver field goal as time expired. We wouldn't learn the extent of Everett's injuries or of his grim short-term prognosis until later that evening. The most remarkable outcome from the event was that, despite doctors giving him a statistically very small chance to walk again, he indeed did walk again. In the days following the injury, he made slow incremental progress, finally being able to move his arms and wiggle his toes after a few days. Aside from spinal surgery which included a bone graft and a plate with screws between his third and fourth vertebrae, the medical team's best move - described as experimental at the time - was to cool Everett's body and spinal cord immediately after the injury by way of ice water immersion and cold intravenous treatment. Four months later, Everett sat with Roger Goodell at the Superbowl and, on opening day the following season, he walked on to the field in Buffalo to receive the George Halas Award, given every year since 1969 to the NFL player, coach or staff member who overcomes the most adversity in order to succeed.
Last Monday's truncated game in Cincinnati brought me back to that day 15 years earlier. But it was obviously a much more dire situation for Bills safety Damar Hamlin, at least in the short term. Bills Trainer Denny Kellington performed CPR on Hamlin - for several minutes we are told - and this, along with a shot from a defibrillator, saved his life that night at the 50 yard line of Paycor Stadium on the banks of the Ohio River. Hamlin has made significant progress in the days since and it is my hope that he can walk on to the field at Bills Stadium one day to accept his own George Halas Award.
The NFL, its senior management team, team owners and scores of talking heads on television and radio across North America had much to discuss last week not only about Hamlin's injury but about if and when the Bills and Bengals might resume or replay their game and how the fallout would ripple through the rest of the league. The decision to declare the game a "no contest" was made mid-week then the owners approved a plan which included possibly playing the AFC Championship Game at a neutral site and the possibility of a coin toss determining the location of a playoff game between the Bengals and the Ravens. The first of these two possibilities remains (by virtue of the Bills securing the second seed yesterday) while the second won't be necessary (by virtue of the Bengals securing the third seed yesterday). Sports talk radio covered little else last week.
Despite continuing to mask in all indoor public settings, a non-COVID virus finally got me over the holidays. And it really got me. Worst thing I've had in at least ten years. Maybe 20. Far worse than the COVID which I had in April. Anyway, throughout the week after Christmas, I was hunkered down in north Toronto riding out the virus and listening to the radio at all hours of the day and night (I turned on the TV only for the PBS News Hour and Jeopardy). Since CBC radio was carrying mostly specialty holiday programming which I'm sure is quite interesting for some, it wasn't for me so I stuck with WGR 550 and the syndicated CBS Sports Radio carried by the FAN Toronto. WGR would occasionally mention the Sabres and CBS would occasionally mention the NBA but otherwise, I figure I consumed, actively and passively, about 100 hours of football discussion and analysis that week leading up to the Bills v. Bengals Monday night game. Although my nasty cold virus is much-improved now, I'm not sure I'm any smarter for any of the endless football discussions . It all just seems to blend together to form a football-flavoured word salad with gridiron buzzwords liberally spread throughout: Joe Borrow needs to get the ball out in about 2.5 seconds; the Michigan offensive line will have its way with TCU's front seven (this was wrong); Tua has had two concussions this season - or maybe it's three if you count the week three incident against the Bills; Derek Carr is done in Vegas; the Broncos need to figure out how to get out from under the crushing Russel Wilson contract; Tom Brady could end up in Vegas or Denver or even with the Jets next season; the weather in Cincinnati on Monday should be mild but maybe there'll be rain in the second half (rendered moot) and on and on and on. Even as a pretty keen football fan, it just got to be too much. By Saturday and then Monday, I was well beyond ready for some actual football.
But we only got about a half a quarter on Monday Jan 2nd before the game was called with the Bengals leading 7-3. I didn't sleep very well and awoke to check for news on Hamlin a couple of times in the night. I, like others I'm sure, was genuinely worried that he might not make it.
Yesterday in Orchard Park, the Bills clinched the second AFC seed and eliminated the Patriots from post-season play. Thanks to two kick-offs returned for touchdowns by Nyheim (Gregory) Hines, the Bills will play at home again on Sunday January 15th at 1pm against the Miami Dolphins who eked out their first win in six weeks to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Which of their quarterbacks will be healthy on Sunday remains unknown but this game will be third meeting between these teams this season and obviously the most important one.
The four-team college football playoff format has had its share of detractors since it was created nine years ago but no one could complain about the quality of either of the semi-final games played on New Year's Eve. TCU outlasted Michigan 51-45 and Georgia rallied to top Ohio State 42-41, setting up tonight's Championship game which will be hard-pressed to match the excitement of either of the semi-final games. I support expanding the playoff field to eight teams. Since each of the four semi-finalists had more three weeks to prepare for their playoff games, there is obviously enough time to add another round and doubling the number of teams would create certainty that the best teams in the country are all given a chance at the title. But change comes painfully slowly in the world of US college football, steeped in tradition as it is and with a myriad of competing interests, many of which are motivated to maintain the status quo. Maybe it was easier and simpler when the Rose Bowl was played on New Year's Day between the Big Ten Champs and the PAC Ten Champs with no other consideration to be made. That's how it worked for 100 years anyway. The playoff format used now is better than the incomprehensible Bowl Championship Series (BCS) which came before it and better than having the National Champion decided by ballot. The Championship Game goes tonight in Los Angeles at 7.30pm Eastern.
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