Damar Hamlin will start at safety when the Buffalo Bills open the season on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, continuing his “incredible” story, coach Sean McDermott said Wednesday.
Taylor Rapp will occupy the other starting safety spot.
Hamlin started 13 of the 15 games he played in during the 2022 season, before he went into cardiac arrest on the field on Jan. 2, 2023, in a game against the Bengals in Cincinnati.
“It’s one thing to come back off of an ACL or a broken bone. It’s another thing to come back off of what he came back off of,” McDermott said. “Let alone just to decide to play football, contact football in full pads at the NFL level. I don’t think I need to say anything more. It’s incredible.
“I think God’s hands have been on Damar and his family and will continue to be. We’re just extremely proud and full of gratitude to watch him go through what he’s went through and where he is now.”
Hamlin, 26, played in five games (no starts) last season, playing just 17 snaps on defense and 94 on special teams. He was brought back slowly and ramped up activity this year. McDermott said he earned the starting job through “consistency and opportunity.”
“The opportunity that was there, he took advantage of it and was consistent. (He) built a certain level of rapport with T-Rapp, and that’s important as well at the safety position,” McDermott said.
Hamlin played in college at Pitt and was a sixth-round draft pick by the Bills in 2021.
In all, he has appeared in 34 NFL games (13 starts) and has 95 tackles, 1.5 sacks, four passes defensed and a forced fumble.
