Orchard Park, N.Y. (WHAM)— Safety Damar Hamlin is set to start in the Bills’ season opener Sunday against the Cardinals.
The last game Hamlin started was in Cincinnati at the end of the 2022 season, when he went into cardiac arrest on the field.
MORE:A closer look at the condition that caused Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest
He did play some last year, but it was a different kind of season.
“Last year primarily was just about healing and coming back into myself, who I always was, and who I was trying to become,” Hamlin said Wednesday while speaking to media.
The game in Cincinnati was Hamlin’s 13th start of that season.
That’s why his teammates have faith in him.
“He’s a very smart football player,” linebacker Terrel Bernard said. “We all trust him, and he trusts us, and I think having that communication daily and spending time watching tapes together, it ends up becoming second-nature.”
“I kept my competition internal, and I think that allowed me to be my best self,” Hamlin said. “So I’m using past experience— however many starts you said it was— to allow me to be more of a veteran presence out there on the field this year.”
RELATED: Hamlin’s ‘mind is free,’ a year after resuming football after a near-death experience
Hamlin reads a lot. He likes sayings, which he’ll put on post-it notes and keep where he can see them.
He said one of his favorites is “Consistency is the mark of greatness.” That’ll be his goal for this season.
MORE:Red Wings to host inaugural home run derby; Damar Hamlin to make appearance
For complete Bills coverage, visit the Buffalo Plus YouTube page.
_____