The Pittsburgh Steelers started the new year right in the form of another comeback win over their division rival Baltimore Ravens. On a day where everything had to go right for the Steelers' playoff hopes to survive, the defense stood up tall in critical moments and the offense put together another game-winning drive in the final minutes.
Kenny Pickett was monumental in orchestrating that drive that was capped off by a vastly underrated 10-yard touchdown pass to Najee Harris. Not to mention, as fate would have it, Pickett found Harris beating Roquan Smith to the endzone, who just three weeks ago had knocked Pickett out of the first game. After that Sunday night performance, Pickett and the Steelers were clinging to a 19 percent chance of reaching the postseason tournament for the third consecutive year.
Steelers' Kenny Pickett (#8) hands off the football to Najee Harris (#22) in Baltimore, MD. | Photo Credit: Karl Roser/Pittsburgh Steelers
Just 24 hours later, those playoff aspirations were put on hold. Not only for the Steelers but for the entire NFL. In what was supposed to be one of the most crucial games of the season between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, there was an abrupt halt just seven minutes and 48 seconds into the game. By now, we’ve seen the footage of Damar Hamlin after making a tackle on Tee Higgins and the scene that unfolded in the following 30 minutes. At that moment, the football world stood still as players, fans and coaches waited for the ‘all good’ from Hamlin.
That never came.
Being from the Pittsburgh area, Hamlin’s roots run deeper than his home in Buffalo after being the 212th overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft. Hamlin played high school football at Central Catholic High School where he would earn a scholarship to play at the University of Pittsburgh. It was in college that Hamlin and Pickett would develop a special bond that carries through today. With Pickett being a year younger than Hamlin, he only had one year where Hamlin wasn’t with him in the locker room.
In their “COVID season” in 2020, Pickett and Hamlin were team captains. That speaks to the testament of the strong character Hamlin and Pickett share and this is just one of the strings that sews their bond together.
“Football creates bonds,” Pickett said. “I played basketball, I played baseball. Football has something special to it. You just go though so many ups and downs together.”
Pickett continued to embellish that special bond.
"Damar, he is an unbelievable person, does so much for the community. A guy from Pittsburgh stayed home, could've gone anywhere he wanted to. He wanted to stay home and we had a great run together and he had an unbelievable career at Pitt. Captains together in 2020, just an all-around great person, great family. His brother was always around the facility. They’re just like Pitt family to all of us,” Pickett explained.
“Thoughts and prayers to his family. Just trying to keep in touch with his family through coach (Pat) Narduzzi. I’m sure they’re getting swamped with messages, but trying to stay up to date on how he’s doing. It seems like everything is going in the right direction. Just hoping for the best for him, just want him to get better.”
Kenny Pickett, Pat Narduzzi, and Damar Hamlin talk with the press after winning the Quick Lane Bowl in 2019. | PhotoCredit: UPMC Pitt LiveWire
Since Hamlin’s alarming cardiac episode took place at the 50-yard line at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, both former and current players remain in shock. For every player at any level, there is a level of understanding that injuries are a part of the game. Fans see this seemingly every game and reviewing the weekly injury reports has become routine. In a sport filled with broken bones, torn ligaments, muscles and various neurological ailments, cardiac arrest doesn’t necessarily get top priority in terms of player safety leading into a game.
With that said, players have now turned their attention to this possibility. We saw the players and coaches react at the moment by agreeing to postpone the game on Monday night, it seemed only right. But with another game week now in full swing and a critical one at that, players are forced to exercise their ‘short memory’ skillset and prepare for Week 18. Pickett acknowledged that it's easier said than done.
“It’s extremely tough. When you sign up for this, you don’t expect that (cardiac arrest) to be a possibility,” Pickett said. “Obviously that kind of stuns you, especially when it hits close to home like that with Damar.”
To amplify the respect level Pickett, Head Coach Mike Tomlin and the Steelers have for Hamlin, we can think back to Week 5 in Buffalo, New York. The Bills were capping off their dominant performance in the waning moments of the third quarter with the score sitting at 31-3 in favor of the home team. In an effort to extend a play, Pickett rolled out of the pocket to his right. As he approached the line of scrimmage, Pickett felt the pressure of Hamlin coming hard from his left and went down to slide.
Steelers' Kenny Pickett gets hit by Damar Hamlin (#3) in Buffalo, New York. | Photo Credit: AP Photo/Matt Durisko
Hamlin would proceed to launch himself at the sliding Pickett, thus igniting a series of retaliatory pushes and shoves from the Steelers. The play was not flagged, but James Daniels was flagged for unnecessary roughness coming to Pickett’s defense. In a moment where you’d typically see the coaches and players harass the league and the officials to eject the player, we saw the complete opposite from the Steelers. On the contrary, there was admiration for Hamlin's play.
“I had a problem that officials didn’t have a problem (with the hit),” Tomlin argued. “Not necessarily Hamlin. I love Hamlin. He’s a 412'er. He plays hard. He’s a good kid. I have a problem with the fact it wasn’t officiated in the way I anticipated it being officiated.”
“I’m fine with D-Hamlin,” Pickett said. “He’s one of my guys.”
“He’s our franchise quarterback,” Daniels proclaimed. “I’m shocked they didn’t throw the flag. If other quarterbacks in the NFL, if that same exact situation happened, they easily would have thrown the flag. I was upset that there was no flag on that.”
The respect for Hamlin is nothing new for the Steelers and Pittsburgh community as a whole. Across the country, fans have supported Hamlin’s foundation, Chasing M’s, through its GoFundMe page. The foundation strives to help children in western Pennsylvania and provides families with assistance in tough times. In the spirit of that initiative, with Hamlin now being the one in need, the foundation has raised over $6.5 million at the hands of fans and peers across the country. Needless to say, the respect for Hamlin has permeated outside of the Steel City and continues to swell in anticipation of his recovery.
You can access the foundation’s GoFundMe page here.
Do you remember watching Pickett and Hamlin play together at Pitt? Or Hamlin's play in Week 5? Let us know in the comments below!
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