Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has been cleared to resume his NFL career and is attending the team’s voluntary workout program four months after going into cardiac arrest during a game against Cincinnati, general manager Brandon Beane said on Tuesday.
“He is fully cleared to resume activity,” Beane said, with the clearance coming from the team after the player met with a third and final specialist on Friday.
Beane said all three specialists were in agreement that Hamlin can resume playing without any fear of setbacks or complications. While the Bills had their own doctor sit in on Hamlin’s meetings with specialists, Beane said the team is following the lead of the specialists.
“[Returning to football] is always the goal, like I said, as a competitor, you know, I’m trying to do things to keep advancing my situation,” Hamlin told Fox in February. “But I’m allowing that to be in God’s hands. I’m just thankful he gave me a second chance.”
Hamlin has experienced what doctors are calling a remarkable recovery since collapsing on the field after making what appeared to be a routine tackle in a January game against the Bengals, which was suspended and eventually canceled.
The second-year player spent nearly 10 days recovering in hospitals in Cincinnati and Buffalo before being released. He attended the team’s season-ending 27-10 loss to Cincinnati in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Hamlin has since made numerous appearances around the country, including meeting with Joe Biden last month. During the Super Bowl festivities in Arizona in February, he received the NFLPA’s Alan Page Community Award. He also took part in a pregame ceremony in which the NFL honored the Bills’ and Bengals’ training and medical staffs and first responders who treated the 24-year-old.