Bart Scott Accused Of Placing Blame On Tee Higgins Over Damar Hamlin Incident On ‘First Take’

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On Monday night, the Bills, Bengals, and NFL fans who were watching the two teams face off endured one of the scariest moments in the history of the league when Damar Hamlin was rushed to the hospital after suddenly collapsing onto the field. Updates concerning the condition of the safety have been scarce, and while the status of the game remains up in the air, every sane person would agree his health is the only thing that matters at this point.

One of the most difficult aspects of the current situation is the understandable urge to want answers to questions we currently don’t have. That includes the factors that may have led to the traumatic development that unfolded in Cincinnati; some medical experts have attempted to shine a light on what transpired, but we won’t truly know until the team tasked with treating Hamlin releases more information.

The incident has obviously been a major topic of conversation on sports networks on Tuesday, and while it’s been handled fairly delicately, it’s still created some awkward television.

That includes what unfolded when Bart Scott discussed what went down on First Take during a segment where he implied Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins may have played a role in what went down by lowering his helmet on what would be the final play of the game.

While it may have come off as insensitive, it’s hard not to give Scott the benefit of the doubt here. More than anything, a take that could be misinterpreted as offensive is indicative of the issue ABC and ESPN encountered while scrambling to cover the initial fallout on Monday night: there’s only so much that can be said, and Scott and others who are paid to talk about football for a living find themselves in an unenviable situation where missteps are virtually unavoidable.

With that said, Scott still caught plenty of heat from people who accused him of mischaracterizing Higgins’ actions and failing to exercise the restraint he probably should’ve before delivering the comments in question.

As of this writing, Scott has not attempted to publically address the backlash or clarify what he said, although it’s safe to assume it will only be a matter of time.