What did Damar Hamlin’s mother say to the Bengals player that hit him, Tee Higgins?

While there has rightly been heavy focus on the condition of Damar Hamlin, his family and of course the massive outpouring of love that has been show, little has been reported about the Bengals player who was involved in the collision with Hamlin, that seemed to trigger his ordeal. That is, until now.

Hamlin follows Pats vs Bills game from hospital

Bengals’ Tee Higgins has positive exchange with Damar Hamlin’s mother

Since the fateful events of Monday night’s game, we have seen some incredible examples of humanity, love and kindness. From the immense donations made to Damar Hamlin’s GoFundMe, to a touching show of solidarity from fellow Buffalo based franchise, the Sabres, we’ve definitely seen a wide array of the kind of words and actions that restore our faith in our neighbors. Now, it seems we’ve got one more. In his first comments since his team’s game against Hamlin’s Bills, Bengals’ Tee Higgins said on Thursday that Hamlin’s mother, Nina, has in fact been in touch with him and even offered her prayers in his support, following the events that saw her son collapse on field due to a cardiac arrest.

“It was just telling me she’s thinking of me, praying for me and things like that, telling me he’s OK, all the good, positive stuff,” said Higgins, who went on to admit that knowing Hamlin is improving has been a major internal relief for him. Incidentally, Higgins and Hamlin have known each other from even before their time in NFL. The Bengals wide receiver attended Clemson where he met Hamlin on the field of play while the latter attended Pittsburgh’s university. Further to that, the pair played together at Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd’s annual football camp in the Pittsburgh area, where both Boyd and Hamlin are from. Curiously, Higgins also added that he initially thought Hamlin had flopped on the play after making a tackle on Higgins, however, when he looked once more, it was clear there was no faking involved. “I just turned my head to try and not think about it because I know it was something crazy and something tragic,” Higgins said. “It was hard.”

Bengals received updates about Damar Hamlin’s condition

Given the severe nature of the situation, it’s understood that Cincinnati’s players actually received updates about Hamlin’s condition from physicians at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, before a press conference was held to inform the public about the situation. Higgins admitted that it was a “big relief off his chest.” According to reports, Hamlin is now awake, responsive and able to communicate via written word.

Tee Higgins is a human being

In empathetic fashion, Boyd said he knew that Higgins felt terrible about what happened to Hamlin, because he was of course involved in the play itself, having made a direct impact into Hamlin’s chest. Boyd disclosed, that he constantly checked up on the Bengals receiver, knowing how awful he felt, before adding that those who have criticized Higgins for his role in the situation are simply being disrespectful. “Tee’s a human being, too,” Boyd said. “It could’ve flipped. It could’ve been Tee. It’s football, at the end of the day.”

In similar fashion, Bills quarterback Josh Allen - speaking for the first time alongside head coach Sean McDermott - addressed the scenario for the first time since Monday’s game and ended his comments by expressing solidarity with Higgins as well. “I do want to say one more thing: I haven’t reached out to Tee. I hope that he got some relief today. I saw some stuff on Twitter. And people should not be attacking him whatsoever,” Allen said. “And I’m glad that Damar’s family came out and said that. And hopefully he found some relief today. Because that’s a football play. And I hope that he doesn’t hold that upon himself because there’s nothing else that he could have done in that situation.”

The Bengals try to return to normal

Though there was initially talk that the NFL would reschedule the game, we now know that the Bills and Bengals will not meet again as the game has officially been canceled. With that, Cincinnati must now focus on their upcoming showdown with the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, something that they’ve been doing bit by bit. Higgins himself was among those was in attendance at the team’s latest session and was even reported to have been playing on one of two table tennis surfaces in the locker room while music played. Fittingly, Higgins made it clear that he is focused on their coming playoff campaign and has no intentions of skipping their next game.