Zac Taylor: Bengals Are 'Moving Forward' Not 'Moving Past' Damar Hamlin Tragedy
CINCINNATI — Bengals head coach Zac Taylor spoke for the first time since Monday night's postponed game against the Buffalo Bills and had a lot to say.
He began the press conference with an extended open praising first responders and sending prayers and well-wishes to the Hamlin family, Damar, the Bills, and others. Then he dove into what was said when he trotted across the field at Paycor Stadium after the ambulance took Damar Hamlin away.
“When I got over there, the first thing [Bills head coach Sean McDermott] said was, 'I need to be at the hospital for Damar, and I shouldn't be coaching this game,'” Taylor said.
The powerful, blunt response triggered a human one from Taylor, who knew then and there that no more football could get played. Teams went to their locker rooms, where Taylor described the Bengals captains wanting to go over to the Bills' locker room and offer support.
Taylor took Joe Burrow & Co. across the stadium, and McDermott got his captains upon arrival.
“When you saw both those groups interacting, you immediately knew that was the right decision,” Taylor said. “I think both sides needed that. Both sets of players, the leaders on the teams, for them to come together—I just stood back and watched. You could tell that's something both locker rooms needed."
Following the game getting postponed, both teams were ready to provide their players with as much emotional support as possible. The Bengals are preparing for Baltimore, but they are not flushing Monday night away like Burrow would with a tipped interception.
“I think [former Bengals linebacker] Vinny Rey, our team chaplain, has helped with his messaging to a lot of different people that way,” Taylor affirmed. “And one of the things I've taken from that is you do have to move forward as a team because we do have a game to play Sunday, and we do have to move focus toward that. But at the same time, you don't have to move past the situation that's happening right now.”
Cincinnati is now back to its regular schedule after conducting a team walkthrough on Wednesday.
The Bills' safety tackled Tee Higgins in the first quarter of Monday night's game, and then Hamlin immediately collapsed after getting up from the play.
Paramedics administered CPR and an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) on the field for nearly 10 minutes before transporting him to University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
After his injury, Fans immediately found a GoFundMe toy drive fundraiser that Hamlin started in 2020. The original goal was $2,500—as of this writing—the total had surpassed $6 million in donations.
Click here to support Hamlin's foundation.
The Bengals and Ravens clash at 1 p.m. ET this Sunday on CBS. Watch via fuboTV—start your free trial here.
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Russ Heltman is a contributor for AllBearcats and AllBengals. He is the morning host and producer for 89.3 WMKV in Cincinnati, OH. Russ can be found on Twitter: @RussHeltman11 or you can reach him by email at [email protected].