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Plenty of people have said there was no real way to prepare for the terrifying incident that unfolded when Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field during a game between the Bills and the Bengals earlier this month. There may be some truth to that statement, but it also minimizes the training and preparation done by the medical staff who scrambled to his aid and wasted no time stepping up at a literal life-or-death moment.
That team of first responders included Buffalo’s assistant athletic trainer Denny Kellington, who has been widely credited with performing the CPR that revived Hamlin before he was placed in the ambulance that rushed him to the Cincinnati hospital where he ultimately embarked on the path toward his ongoing recovery.
When wide receiver John Brown caught a touchdown pass from Josh Allen in Buffalo’s regular season finale against the Patriots, he wasted no time tracking down Kellington to hand him a token of his (and everyone else’s) appreciation in the form of the football he snagged in the end zone.
Now, the trainer has found himself at the end of another classy gesture courtesy of Suzy Kolber.
The veteran reporter found herself in an incredibly unenviable situation while covering the development in the studio alongside Adam Schefter and Booger McFarland during the Monday Night Football broadcast. However, there’s a chance she could’ve been tasked with sharing some even more traumatic news on the air if it hadn’t been for Kellington.
As a result, it’s easy to understand why she opted to reserve a spot on her MVP ballot for the trainer who likely saved Hamlin’s life. According to Rob Maaddi of The Associated Press, Kolber cast a fifth-place vote for Kellington prior to submitting the full list as a “symbolic gesture” intended to call attention to his efforts and the contributions of everyone else in his particular line of work.
The vote came from @SuzyKolber, who said it was a “symbolic gesture representing ‘everyone’ who carries the weight of that job, every week. They rarely get the recognition they deserve.”
— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) January 15, 2023
Credit where credit is due for a great move.