CBS is not the only network that has cut to Damar Hamlin after an injury this season. However, the Paramount-owned broadcast network is facing backlash for doing so as a player left the game in an ambulance this summer.
It is time to stop doing that. That should not have been a thing in the first place.
The distressing sequence on Sunday evening involved Bills safety Taylor Rapp. CBS reported that he was not taken to the hospital and was still in the locker room after exiting the field on a backboard.
Rapp made a funky tackle on running back Breece Hall during the second quarter. After initially walking away from the collision, he stumbled and fell to the ground next to the sideline before rolling over and presenting with a fencing response.
As the Buffalo medical staff assisted Rapp, the broadcast cut to Hamlin on multiple instances. Jim Nantz did a good job of addressing the situation. It is true that Hamlin was on the mind of many during the moments that followed his teammate’s injury.
There is no need to cut to him, and certainly not twice.
Rapp, 25, was a second round draft pick out of Washington in the 2019 NFL Draft. He played his first four seasons in Los Angeles with the Rams and won a Super Bowl in 2021/22.
The Bills listed him as out for the game with a neck injury. Rapp was able to move his hands as he got into the ambulance, which was a good sign.
Seconds after showing the movement, CBS faded back to a somber image of Damar Hamlin on the sideline. It was not necessary to do so a second time. (Or a first.)
Micah Hyde commented on the events that transpired with Rapp during the postgame press conference. He is thinking of his family.
As are we.