'Life And Death' Became Name Of The Game: Philly Sports Chatter

WARMINSTER, PA —We watch sports with a passion in Philadelphia that cannot be matched by fans in other cities. We can argue that point, but Philly sports fans have that reputation.

We bleed Eagles green. We scream from the heavens and blast our opinions on the radio airwaves that the sky is falling. We all were in panic mode Monday morning after the Birds laid an egg against the New Orleans Saints to the point that Sunday's game against the New York Giants mattered so much.

Would Jalen Hurts start at quarterback? Could we clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC and have a home-field advantage throughout the playoffs? "It's a Must Win."

We always think about some of our Philadelphia teams' games as "life and death."

And then "Monday Night Football" happened. And then suddenly, the only thing that mattered was the life of Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin.

The safety collapsed early in the game and went into cardiac arrest after making a tackle. Suddenly, everything went quiet. Suddenly, there was silence on the ESPN broadcast.

Suddenly this "must-win" game between the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals that had major playoff implications meant absolutely nothing. (It's now been canceled completely, the NFL announced late Thursday.)

I watched in fear and horror as many of you did. Suddenly, ambulances were on the field, players knelt or embraced, and many cried. We all just stared at our televisions stunned. The broadcasters didn't know what to say. They were just as stunned as we were.

Suddenly, these players in uniforms became human beings, and this popular, but brutal sport suffered a major dose of reality, one never experienced before on a playing field —"life or death."

We spend hours of our lives watching these games and rooting for our teams. We change our schedules and skip running errands or spending time with family so we can gather to watch on television or in person this sport that captures our hearts and minds.

It's more than entertainment. The Eagles are a major part of our lives —I've been watching them since 1974 —and it really impacts how we feel on any given day, especially after a loss on Sunday.

We get depressed. We panic. We worry. We wonder. We struggle to stay upbeat. You all know the feeling.

But Hamlin's medical emergency shook us to the core. It's made us reflect. It's made us wonder why football matters so much to us when a young man is fighting for his life.

Thankfully, Hamlin seems to be on the road to recovery. It was reported Friday that his breathing tube had been removed and that he had Facetimed his teammates.

This is Week 18, the final week of the NFL's regular season, with a lot on the line.

There are big games littered throughout the broadcast schedule that will all have us tuning in, certainly to watch the Eagles late Sunday afternoon and win-and-in-the-playoffs games Saturday and Sunday nights.

Will Jalen Hurts start at quarterback Sunday? Can the Eagles take the No. 1 seed?

Those questions matter a great deal to Eagles fans. But maybe, after what we witnessed with Hamlin, we won't think about that as much anymore.