The Buffalo Bills have finished first in the AFC East each of the past four seasons, and in each of the past five have earned a spot in the playoffs. Eight games into the 2024 season, it appears the streaks will continue.
At 6-2, Buffalo holds a four-game lead in the win column over the other three AFC East opponents, by far the largest gap of any division in the league. One of the reasons Buffalo has had so much success this fall is because of its bend-but-don’t-break defense — ranked No. 6 in the league with just 18.3 points allowed per game — and its league-leading +11 turnover differential.
>> Subscribe to Sports Spectrum Magazine for more stories where sports and faith connect <<
A crucial piece to both key statistics has been the play of safety Damar Hamlin. The fourth-year man out of Pitt has piled up 47 tackles (second most on the Bills), and he’s also recorded his first two career interceptions.
The first came on Sept. 23 during a 47-10 drubbing of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
DAMAR HAMLIN WITH HIS FIRST CAREER INT 😱 🙌
(via @NFL)
pic.twitter.com/lWhDbW0Jpk— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 24, 2024
“It’s all God right there,” Hamlin said in his postgame press conference. “So, I been giving Him the praise like crazy lately.”
The second interception came less than a month later, on Oct. 20 against the Tennessee Titans, in a 34-10 rout. After his pick, Hamlin ran to the back of the end zone, knelt down, and folded his hands in prayer.
View this post on Instagram
Hamlin is back to being a starter this season in one of the most inspiring and almost unthinkable stories in recent sports history. On Jan. 2, 2023, in a nationally televised game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Hamlin collapsed on the field after making a tackle. He laid motionless for minutes, had to be resuscitated on the field, then was transported to a nearby hospital and intubated. It was later revealed that his heart had stopped due to commotio cordis.
Still, he improved incredibly rapidly, was discharged from the hospital a week later, returned to Bills practice the following August, and was on the 53-man roster last season.
Now, he’s a starter for one of the best teams in the NFL and making clutch plays.
Bills coach Sean McDermott perhaps said it best: “I think God’s hands have been on Damar and his family and will continue to be,” McDermott said in September. “We’re just extremely proud and full of gratitude to watch him go through what he’s went through and where he is now.”
Since that fateful day nearly two years ago, Hamlin has taken refuge in God throughout the recovery from his very public near-death experience.
In his first public comments after the episode, the now-26-year-old recognized that God was at work in his story.
“What happened to me on ‘Monday Night Football’ I feel is a direct example of God using me as a vessel to share my passion and my love directly from my heart with the entire world,” he said in a video posted to Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
Hamlin’s story led thousands around the sports world and beyond to turn to God in prayer, and resulted in millions of dollars raised for God-glorifying causes.
Hamlin said he was “walking by faith” during his recovery, and once he got back on the field, he told everyone about Who it was that sustained him.
“My strength is rooted in my faith, and my faith is stronger than any fear,” he said in August 2023. “That’s what I want to preach up here, and that’s the message I want to spread on to the world, that as long as your faith is stronger than your fear, you can get through anything. That’s what I’m living by right now. … I’m trusting in Him and that’s my strength in all of this right now.”
Playing the sport he loves, rather than running away from it because of what happened, is what God has called him to do.
“I’m a football player at heart,” he told NFL.com at the beginning of the 2024 season. “It’s in me to want to compete. Football keeps me closest to God.”
Monday Night Football 🫶🏾™️
God is the greatest. 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/pGSCSjJtSb
— 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐢𝐧 (@HamlinIsland) September 24, 2024
“I would say my motivation is walking my life, keeping God first, making sure that’s the relationship in my life that I’m mostly prioritizing,” Hamlin, who often wears eye black in the shape of a cross, told Forbes.com in September. “That’s my main focus — just as far as any process — whether it’s my career, family, business, is keeping God first.”
Hamlin has proven many skeptics wrong with his play this season. But he knows there’s nothing for him to prove. God didn’t keep him alive ultimately to make tackles, snag interceptions, or even hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Ultimately, God kept Hamlin alive to glorify Him, enjoy Him, and draw close to Him.
Hamlin will always seek to keep his eyes on God and keep his eternal perspective in mind, even as he seeks to help the Bills earn a postseason berth yet again.
Buffalo hosts Miami (2-5) on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET with an opportunity to extend its division lead.
>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<
RELATED STORIES:
— Bills’ Damar Hamlin back practicing, declares ‘faith is stronger than any fear’
— Bills’ Damar Hamlin announces plan to return to NFL: ‘I’m walking by faith’
— SS PODCAST: Bills chaplain Len Vanden Bos on prayer & Damar Hamlin
— Bills QB Josh Allen describes ‘spiritual awakening’ after Damar Hamlin incident
— Bills coach Sean McDermott on Damar Hamlin’s improvement: ‘Glory to God’
