The high school football coach who trained NFL player Damar Hamlin before his 2016 graduation is hoping and praying Hamlin recovers while offering powerful insight into the player’s stellar character.
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Terry Totten, the former football coach at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told CBN’s Faithwire Hamlin, a safety for the Buffalo Bills, is an “incredible person” both on and off the field.
Watch what Totten had to say:
“He is a tremendous player, but that belies the fact of what an incredible person he is,” Totten said. “He was just always willing to reach across any line of communication to another fellow student, a fellow teammate, a coach, and anybody. He just he absorbed it all. He was very, very steady kid.”
Hamlin, 24, collapsed and cardiac arrested Monday night during a football showdown between the Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals and is currently in critical condition.
Totten called watching the scene during Monday night’s game an “absolute horror for a football coach, a parent, [a] fan.” He added, “You’re just watching a scene unfold that makes your stomach sick.”
Totten also spoke about Hamlin’s background and said the player’s hard work paid off as he made his way to the NFL.
“I’m sure he dreamed of playing in the National Football League,” he said. “He probably dreamed of playing on the Monday night football game, and then this horror unfolds.”
But Totten said Hamlin is a fighter and believes the player has much more to offer the world.
He encouraged people to keep praying for a full and speedy recovery.
“Demar’s a fighter. Damar has so much to give left,” he said. “What an incredible person he is, and we’re just hoping that he’s given that chance to continue on that path.”
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