Updated Survivor Pick
I wrote I was leaning Bills earlier this week, but I changed my mind and am now leaning Cowboys.
I had misgivings earlier in the day when I had to email in the pick for my home league pool, and I as was walking to get a haircut, it dawned on me what could be the reason why: The Damar Hamlin incident.
No, I don’t think he died and was replaced by a body-double, but while Hamlin’s recovery is great news, it was marketed as a feel-good story and a great reminder to learn CPR, and anything else besides the elephant in the room: Why did a 24-year old in excellent physical condition suffer a sudden cardiac arrest?
I don’t feel that question has been answered satisfactorily, especially in an environment where the league coerced players — especially marginal ones like Hamlin who could easily be cut — to inject themselves with novel medication they didn’t need that has increased risk of heart attacks, especially in 16-24 YO males.
People speculated his cardiac arrest was in fact caused by comotio cordis shortly after the incident, but I don’t believe that condition was ever diagnosed and confirmed by his doctors. (I could be wrong, but I just searched for 20 minutes and saw numerous articles claiming Hamlin himself attributed it to comotio cordis, but with no quoted statements or supporting links. One of the articles claimed Hamlin’s vaccination status was unknown! If he were unvaccinated, people would be screaming it from the rooftops, given all the speculation about the mRNA shots to which Hamlin’s collapse gave rise.
That is not to say I know conclusively the mRNA shot caused Hamlin’s heart attack. I do not. But given the incentives, the NFL’s coercive policy, the prevelance of heart problems as a result of the shot and the bizarre avoidance of the topic or communication of a clear and certain diagnosis, I would set the odds on it being mRNA-related at about -1000, i.e., the moneyline on a roughly 14-point favorite. Don’t forget the NFL, one of the military industrial complex’s go-to public relations partners, was happy to help sanitize the Pat Tillman story too. I don’t think it’s a stretch to imagine them doing the same on behalf of the pharmaceutical conglomerates, especially given their mRNA-shot policy and the advertising dollars at stake.
But what does a reserve safety who was inactive in Week 1 have to do with my Survivor pick? After the Hamlin game against the Bengals, which was cancelled, the Bills beat a weak New England team at home, barely outlasted the Dolphins in a home playoff game and then got blown out in Cincinnati. Then they opened the year, losing to the Zach-Wilson Jets.
For me, there is something rotten about the whole affair. The players are forced to pretend Hamlin is a feel good story when many of them have to believe among themselves it was likely caused by the injections they also took (most of them at least.) NFL players are not typically from the laptop class whose professional and social incentives align such that they dare not question “The Science.” So I imagine they are going along with an unpleasant charade while simultaneously trying to compete and coalsece as a team at a high level. Maintaining a lie takes a psychological and emotional toll.
That’s just my speculative opinion, of course — maybe Hamlin really did just have a freak occurrence of comotio cordis, and the team has moved on entirely from the incident or might even be inspired by his recovery. As I said, I do not know for sure. But the whole situation seems off to me, and it’s enough to sway me from majority Bills to majority Cowboys. (Though I will probably still sprinkle in a couple Bills among my 10 offshore sportsbook entries, because even if the shot was the cause, the idea it’s distracting them, might be wrong.)
