Bills-Bengals "no contest" part II

[RyanChristiansen]

After listening to other opinions about the situation, I will say that I was wrong about thinking the Bills' players were being selfish for not finishing the game that night. I believe the players needed a break to process things, and in the aftermath, I think the Bills organization has handled the situation as well as they could.

As with everything, there is no easy answer, but it's clear the NFL messed up on this.

First, both the in-stadium and television audiences waited and waited for a decision, and the fact the Bills started packing up on the sidelines before even the broadcasters knew what was going on shows how things broke down terribly. One thing I learned as a public affairs specialist in the Air Force is that when something happens, you get as much information out as you can as quickly as you can. The worst thing you can do is to remain silent.

Second, the Bengals agreed the game should be postponed, but they did not expect the NFL would decide to make the game a "no contest." The Bengals waited for days to find out what was going to happen. Maybe the Bills should have forfeited if they were unwilling to proceed with a continuation on a different day, but the NFL commissioner took that decision out of their hands, which he has the authority to do. However, he and others came up with a solution that strays from precedent, tradition, and/or expectations. This hurts the integrity of the league.

Third, it's not clear whether the NFL contributed to the media hype to make a dramatic story about Hamlin and the ensuing game with the Dolphins. The reason we follow NFL football in the first place is for the stories we can share with one another, but over-dramatizing things actually hurts the integrity of the league.

Fourth, the Department of Defense needs to stop paying the NFL to do their "Salute to Service" things. It's disrespectful to veterans. The players and coaches dress up in camouflage and pretend to be warriors, but they clearly are not warriors (and they never signed up to be warriors). The only men who should be wearing anything resembling military fatigues should be players and coaches who actually served. The Commanders, too, should re-think their military-esque uniforms and whether looking like a military unit disrespects those who actually served.

[ChrisBabcock]

One explanation I don't hear talked about as a possible explanation for the delay in between deciding the game will not be resumed and the actual announcement is that to ensure the ambulance made it out of the stadium and well on its way to the hospital. I don't know the exact footprint of Paycor Stadium and it's exact relation to city streets but if that ambulance had to weave it's way through fans exiting the stadium the situation could have been worse for Damar. In other words, keep the fans inside the stadium without causing a panic while the ambulance safely exits the property.

[RyanChristiansen]

One explanation I don't hear talked about as a possible explanation for the delay in between deciding the game will not be resumed and the actual announcement is that to ensure the ambulance made it out of the stadium and well on its way to the hospital. I don't know the exact footprint of Paycor Stadium and it's exact relation to city streets but if that ambulance had to weave it's way through fans exiting the stadium the situation could have been worse for Damar. In other words, keep the fans inside the stadium without causing a panic while the ambulance safely exits the property.

Good point on the logistics for getting Hamlin to the hospital quickly, but there could have been an announcement of some nature, such as "the teams have entered their locker rooms and we will update you in 10 minutes" or something of that nature. The fact the first thing everyone saw that indicated it was over was the Bills packing up was a really bad look.