Fox Sports 1 personality Skip Bayless was blasted by fans and former athletes after talking about the difficulties of postponing the Bengals-Bills game after Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin collapsed after making a hit on the field.
Hamlin made a tackle on Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins on the Bengals second drive of the game. Hamlin appeared to stand up, then promptly collapsed. Players, coaches, and referees, gathered around Hamlin as medical staff provided CPR. Around 8:25 EST, an ambulance took Hamlin to a local hospital.
The NFL soon announced that Hamlin was listed in critical condition.
The game was eventually postponed. But, before it was, Bayless took to Twitter to question how the NFL could consider postponing a game that was so “crucial to the regular-season outcome…which suddenly seems so irrelevant.”
No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game – but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome … which suddenly seems so irrelevant.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 3, 2023
Bayless was savaged online for the comment, specifically by former athletes.
You’re a sick individual. Real Talk.
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) January 3, 2023
I hope they fire you bro!!! For you to even THINK of the game is very sad.
— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) January 3, 2023
all u care about is football when damar hamlin’s life is at risk. coming from u i expected more. this tweet is not. u of all people should know better bro.
— Darrelle Revis (@Revis24) January 3, 2023
Christ… what is wrong with you? How in the hell can you put something like this out there? A man’s life is at risk. Nobody gives a damn about playoff seeds and standings right now. Read the room, and have a heart man.
— Jacob Hester (@JacobHester18) January 3, 2023
Bayless eventually wrote a tweet attempting to clarify his position.
Nothing is more important than that young man's health. That was the point of my last tweet. I'm sorry if that was misunderstood but his health is all that matters. Again, everything else is irrelevant. I prayed for him & will continue to.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 3, 2023
Clearly, the part of the tweet that bothered people was the part that read, “crucial to the regular-season outcome…” This gave everyone a chance to shout about how the “regular-season outcome” doesn’t matter. And it doesn’t matter when we’re talking about someone’s life. Though Bayless did close by saying that the regular-season outcome “suddenly seems so irrelevant.” This suggests that Bayless was not trying to draw an equivalency or make the seriousness of Hamlin’s situation subservient to playing a football game.
But this is also why it’s dangerous to tweet right after traumatic events.
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