But this week, what one football player is experiencing reminds us that there is something bigger than football.

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin tackled Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins in the first quarter of the NFL Monday Night Football game on January 2.  In the collision, Higgins’ helmet struck Hamlin around the head and chest.  It was a regular football play.  Hamlin arose from the tackle but collapsed onto his back a few seconds later.  Medical personnel rushed to the scene.  It was quickly determined that Hamlin had gone into cardiac arrest.  CPR had to be administered to get Hamlin’s heart beating again.  He was rushed to a nearby hospital in Cincinnati.  The latest report is that although he is still on a ventilator that there appears to be “no identifiable neurologic deficit.”  Hamlin was even able to write a note on Thursday.  He asked who won the game.  The doctors told him that he had won the game – the game of life.

The game between the Bengals and the Bills had playoff implications.  But because of what happened to Hamlin, the game was suspended.  As Fox Sports commentator Skip Bayless astutely remarked, the game and its implications seem so irrelevant.

Mike Brown, Cincinnati Bengals’ owner, said in a statement on Tuesday, “Last night was supposed to e a great night for the NFL and a great showcase for our hometown.  Instead, the human side of our sport became paramount… and in that moment, humanity and love rose to the forefront.”

Here are some ways that humanity and love have been displayed:

• The Bills gathered on the football field and prayed for their beloved teammate.

• Several members of the Bills and Bengals teams visited the hospital.

• Fans from both teams gathered outside the hospital in prayerful support for Hamlin.

• NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky prayed for Hamlin on live TV.

• National news has included updates on Hamlin as a nation has rallied around a single football player and his family.

• A GoFundMe account established by Hamlin in 2020 with a $2,500 goal to raise funds for a community toy drive in his hometown has grown to $7.7 million from over 232,000 donations.

There is something bigger than football here.  A man’s life was at stake, and the game ended.  All of the focus is on praying that Hamlin will be okay.

In a world in which sports can be a religion, we needed that reminder.  We need to realize that people and life are what’s most important.

That’s been God’s focus all along.  He loves us so much that He gave His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins so that we can receive forgiveness and the gift of eternal life (John 3:16).  There is nothing more important than that.

Let’s continue to pray for Hamlin, his doctors, and his family.  Let’s also never forget what Hamlin’s experience has taught us: there’s something bigger than football.

-- David A. Sargent