In the midst of thousands of people (and more than a few on-air reporters) sending Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin thoughts and prayers for a quick recovery, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky took it a step further Tuesday afternoon in what can only be described as a refreshing and rare moment of sincerity and conviction.
And, frankly, courage.
Instead of simply wishing Hamlin well, Orlovsky took the largely unprecedented step of actually stopping his commentary, closing his eyes, and praying directly to God for the player’s return to health after Hamlin suffered a massive cardiac event on the field during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals Monday night.
"I heard the Buffalo Bills organization say that we believe in prayer, and maybe this is not the right thing to do, but it’s just on my heart and I want to pray for Damar Hamlin right now. I’m going to do it out loud. ’m going to close my eyes and bow my head, and I’m just going to pray for him," Orlovsky said.
ESPN’s @danorlovsky7 praying for Damar Hamlin on NFL LIVE. Beautiful words of empathy, hope and love.#PrayForDamarHamlin pic.twitter.com/aQ54x3WwLm
— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) January 3, 2023
"God, we come to you in these moments that we don’t understand, that are hard because we believe that you’re God and coming to you and praying to you has impact,” he continued. “We’re sad. We’re angry. We want answers, but some things are unanswerable. We just want to pray, truly come to you and pray for strength for Damar, for healing for Damar, for comfort for Damar. Be with his family to give him the peace."
"If we didn’t believe that prayer didn’t work, we wouldn’t ask this of you, God. I believe in prayer. We believe in prayer. We lift up Damar Hamlin’s name in Your name. Amen," he ended.
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It’s not very often you see a media personality - much less one on an increasingly left-leaning outlet - give much deference to God by name, much less stop in the middle of a broadcast to pray. And the moment wasn’t lost on social media.
Dan Orlovsky didn’t just send off a ‘praying for Damar Hamlin’ tweet.
— Mark Harris (@itismarkharris) January 3, 2023
He paused during NFL Live, bowed his head, and prayed.
Powerful, brave, and genuine. 🙏
pic.twitter.com/zj98W3EaSC
Dan Orlovsky's prayer is the most important thing to happen on ESPN in a decade
— James David Dickson (@downi75) January 4, 2023
This was one of the most supportive things I’ve ever seen in my life. Dan Orlovsky from ESPN actually stopped and prayed for Bills safety Damar Hamlin. He didn’t just say “thoughts and prayers” etc. He actually stopped to pray for Damar on national television. Truly incredible! pic.twitter.com/xBvmk2Wbzn
— Aidan LaPorta (@aidanlaporta69) January 4, 2023
Shoutout to Dan Orlovsky for not just saying thoughts & prayers but actually stopping NFL Live to bow his head, close his eyes, and pray for Damar Hamlin.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) January 3, 2023
Kudos to you, @danorlovsky7 👏 pic.twitter.com/oBahDRc3ak
Not long after the clip began making the rounds on Twitter, Orlovsky retweeted the post with a simple Scripture reference to Matthew 18:20, which reads, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Hamlin, who is being treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, remains in critical condition and unable to breathe on his own after suddenly collapsing on the field after making a tackle only nine minutes into Monday night's game. The game was suspended and officials have not announced a date to resume it.
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