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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is one of the longest-tenured head coaches in the NFL for a reason: not only is he an excellent coach but he’s an incredible leader of men.
Tomlin, who always seems to know exactly what to say, spoke about Bills safety Damar Hamlin on Tuesday and revealed that he’s known the young man since he was just a kid.
“I’ll say this about Damar Hamlin: It’s a really personal thing to me, being a Pittsburgher and that young man being a Pittsburgher, I’ve known that guy probably since he was about 12,” Tomlin said. “I’ve just got a lot of respect and love for him as a human being, his commitment to the pursuit of his goals and dreams of doing what he is right now, which is playing in the NFL. To watch him make personal decisions, and make that a realization, it’s just an honor to get to know young people like that.”
Coach Tomlin shares his very personal thoughts on Damar Hamlin: pic.twitter.com/gymuijitfp
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) January 3, 2023
You can read the rest of Tomlin’s comments below:
“I’ve had an opportunity to express that to him whenever I see him. We’ve played Buffalo each of the last two seasons and he and I had a moment because it’s just cool to not only appreciate these guys in terms of where they are now but to know them since they were younger people and to watch their maturation, their development, to watch them earn what they’ve been chasing, it’s really a cool thing, and he’s an example of that,” Tomlin said.
“I’ve got a lot of love for that young man. I’ve lifted him and that organization up in prayer. I’ve reached out to Sean McDermott to lend whatever assistance I could. But I don’t have a lot to add other than that. I just respect the fact that you guys appreciate how personal it is for me, not only for me, but for all of us.”
Coach Tomlin shares his very personal thoughts on Damar Hamlin: pic.twitter.com/gymuijitfp
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) January 3, 2023
At this time, Hamlin remains in critical condition and is in the ICU at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. On Wednesday morning, Hamlin’s family friend said that doctors got “promising readings overnight that they had been hoping to see.”
Just chatted with Damar Hamlin’s family friend @jordonr.
Per Jordon and Damar’s family, doctors overnight got promising readings that they had been hoping to see by this morning. Jordon couldn’t go into specifics, but progress appears to be made.
— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) January 4, 2023
If you would like to donate to Hamlin’s GoFundMe — which has raised over $6 million at the time of this writing — you can find it at this link.
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