Bills, NFL Teams Show Damar Hamlin Love With Touching On-Field Tributes

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) Damar Hamlins old high school teammate clutched the ball he had just intercepted, jogged to the 30-yard line, gingerly placed the pigskin at the top of the red-outlined 3, raised his hands over his head and formed them in the shape of a heart.

Im just glad I got a chance to go out there and make a play and honor him the way I did, said Hamlins buddy, Colts safety Rodney Thomas II.

Thomas gesture might have been the most poignant moment, but it was far from the only shout-out to the Bills safety on an NFL Sunday filled with love for a stricken player whose impact is being felt across the nation.

Hamlins number number 3 was on display everywhere across the league, outlined on 30-yard lines on fields, worn on special patches on the Bills uniforms and featured on jackets and sweatshirts and even on red hearts dangling from the tailgate tents outside the Bills home stadium.

The highest volume of tribute poured in, naturally, from that parking lot in Orchard Park, New York, where Buffalos 35-23 victory over New England was punctuated by a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Nyheim Hines on the games opening play.

OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!, Hamlin tweeted after the quick score.

CHILLS.

: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/9uXnx91reb

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CHILLS.

: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/9uXnx91reb
Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 8, 2023

The safety, whose recovery after his collapse on the field Monday night in Cincinnati has overtaken every NFL story line, also shared a photo of himself making a heart with his hands from his hospital bed shortly before kickoff with the text GAMETIME!!! @BuffaloBills.

Before that, in the lot outside of Highmark Stadium, Ryan Magnuson stood in front of a 4-x-10-foot canvas greeting card that he placed at the foot of the Bills stadium entrance for fans to sign. The message on the card: If you get a chance to show some love today, do it. It wont cost you nothing a reprise of a tweet Hamlin sent back in 2021.

Its been very positive. Ive seen Bills fans, Ive seen Patriots fans and people wearing other NFL jerseys coming up. I think this is bigger than a team thing at this point, Magnuson said.