Damar Hamlin Looking For Redemption Story Upon Return To Field In 2023

It has been nearly three months since Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered an on-field cardiac arrest in their Week 17 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, and his status for the 2023 NFL season has been cleared up.

Bills general manager Brandon Beane confirmed that Hamlin has been medically cleared to play once again without worries about any setbacks happening.

"He's seen three additional specialists, most recently on Friday (April 14), and they're all in agreement. It's not two-to-one or three-to-one or anything like that. They're all in lockstep of what this was and that he is cleared to resume full activities just like anyone else," Beane said.

For the Pittsburgh product, this is everything that he needed to hear and confirmed his intentions to play this season at the same press conference where Beane gave an update.

"This was a life-changing event, but it's not the end of my story. I plan on making a comeback to the NFL," he declared as quoted by sources.

"The 'wow' moment is every day just being able to wake up and just take deep breaths and live a peaceful life, to have a family and people that are around me that love me. They almost lost me. Like I died on national TV, you know what I mean?"

Hamlin was sedated and on a ventilator in the intensive care unit of the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center on January 3 and two days later, Hamlin was feeling much better and his first initiative upon showing no signs of any damage was to ask about who won the game.

"When he asked, 'Did we win?' the answer is, 'Yes, Damar [Hamlin], you won. You won the game of life,'" Dr. Timothy Pritts said at the time.

Nine days after his harrowing experience on the field, Hamlin was cleared to continue his rehabilitation at home and made a special on-field appearance at Super Bowl LVII and appeared to be in high spirits.

In an almost ironic fashion, the Bills' season came to a screeching halt at the hands of the Bengals in the AFC Divisional Round after outlasting the Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card.

The Bills were unable to make too many impactful moves in the offseason due to a tricky cap situation and will have to suffer the loss of two-time Pro Bowler Tremaine Edmunds this season.

Their hopes of a Super Bowl appearance are not going to be pretty early on, but having Hamlin back on the field should serve as a boost to their spirits.