NEW YORK — The harrowing scenes of Damar Hamlin’s on-field collapse after suffering cardiac arrest has forced some fans to yet again confront a truth they’ve always known but hated to think about: Football, a game with violence in its DNA, can go from exciting and joyous to dark and tragic in a flash.
Now, as the Buffalo Bills defensive back remains in critical condition in a Cincinnati hospital, fans like Max Cerone are reflecting on their relationship with the sport they love.
Cerone, age 24 like Hamlin and a high school guidance counselor in the Buffalo area, grew up minutes from the Bills stadium, attending games from childhood with his dad “in pre-season and 90 degrees, or negative degrees and snowing.