If it had been in a Hollywood script, someone would have taken it out.
Friend and college teammate of a player who collapsed in a game recovering a fumble at the exact spot on the field that bore a tribute to the jersey number of his collapsed friend? Get out of here with that corny stuff. No one will believe that!
But that’s exactly what happened in Jacksonville Saturday night.
Rashad Weaver is a linebacker for the Tennessee Titans. However, he is also a college teammate of Bills safety Damar Hamlin (who collapsed during a game this week after suffering a cardiac arrest, as you might have heard) and has remained a close friend of Hamlin. The two reportedly talk on the phone at least once a week, and Weaver was one of the first to reach out to Hamlin after his collapse on Monday Night Football.
On Saturday night, as the Titans prepared to take on the Jaguars, Weaver wore a #3 (Hamlin’s jersey number) on his eye black.
In addition to personal tributes such as on Weaver’s eye black, the Jaguars and the NFL outlined every #3 on the field to honor Hamlin.
A detailed view of the painted 30-yard line to honor Damar Hamlin #3 of the Buffalo Bills before a game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans at TIAA Bank Field on January 07, 2023, in Jacksonville, Florida. (Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images)
And in last night’s game, in one of those moments that only sports can give you, Hamlin’s friend, Rashad Weaver, recovered a fumble that happened to be lying directly on the outlined #3.
Tennessee would end up scoring off the turnover. You just can’t make this stuff up. And if someone did, no one would believe it. But it happened.