MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Damar Hamlin doesn’t want to be the spokesman for football’s mortality.

He wants people to see him not as a medical miracle, but as a quality football player. That process continues to unfold with every game Hamlin plays. Four nights after the Buffalo Bills’ season opener, he led them with eight solo tackles and 10 total tackles.

However, during one of those plays, his new normal collided with a terrifying reminder of the cruelty of football.

“I just tried to make a routine tackle,” Hamlin said, “and tried to get them off the field on fourth down.”

Thanks to Hamlin, anyone who watches football should know that there is no such thing as a routine tackle. Catastrophe lurks on every play.

All the points had been scored in the third quarter of the Bills’ 31-10 win over the Miami Dolphins , and on this particular play, all the yards Tua Tagovailoa needed for a first down had been gained. But the quarterback with a troubling history of concussions didn’t slide.

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On fourth-and-4 from Buffalo’s 13-yard line, Tagovailoa looked to pass before a lane opened up straight ahead. He scrambled 7 yards up the middle, but instead of going safely, Tagovailoa closed his eyes, lowered his helmet crown and plowed head first toward Hamlin.

Upon contact with Hamlin’s right chest and arm, Tagovailoa’s neck and head shook. Tagovailoa went limp and collapsed onto his butt, causing the back of his head to strike the Hard Rock Stadium grass. In a telltale sign of brain injury, Tagovailoa’s arms went into a fencing position, his right arm stiff and involuntarily raised, his fingers twisted.

Unfortunately, we’ve seen Tagovailoa in a similar position. He’s been diagnosed with at least four concussions and is considering retirement due to a head injury he suffered in 2022.

Hamlin didn’t immediately know how bad Tagovailoa was in trouble. Hamlin clapped his red-gloved hands in disgust and pulled out his mouthpiece, frustrated that the Dolphins were moving the chains. Tagovailoa stayed down, but Hamlin thought it might have been a cramp on a muggy South Florida night.

And then the moment arrived, perhaps only for a moment.

Damar Hamlin says he has undergone trauma therapy to help him move forward with football, despite the risks. (Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Hamlin acknowledged that he may never be able to let go of the seriousness of major injuries, but he’s trying. It’s been 20 months since he went into cardiac arrest while making a routine tackle against the Cincinnati Bengals. An extremely rare event triggered concussion, a condition in which blunt force to the chest causes the heart to stop within 20 to 40 milliseconds of the heart’s rhythm. Hamlin was revived with CPR and a defibrillator and spent two days in a medically induced coma.

Hamlin would like to say he didn’t think any more deeply about Tagovailoa’s attitude than any other player, but that wouldn’t be entirely fair.

“It’s trauma. It’s always going to be there,” Hamlin said at his booth in the visitors’ locker room. “I can’t let it get to me because of the work I’ve done. I’ve done trauma therapy. I have a psychologist that I talk to. It’s allowed me to push my mind forward, push my process forward.

“Last year I did the hardest part, like putting on the pads, tackling and getting ready for the game, but now I know I’m completely fine and I can play again.”

Hamlin was a healthy scratch for all but five games last season, starting none. He recorded two tackles on just 17 defensive snaps, playing time he nearly quadrupled in last week’s win over the Arizona Cardinals.

On Thursday night, he recorded his first tackle for loss since the game before his cardiac arrest. Two plays after tackling Tagovailoa, Hamlin showed no hesitation in stopping Dolphins tailback De’Von Achane on second-and-goal from the 7-yard line. The play helped the Bills deny the Dolphins more points.

“It’s football,” Hamlin said. “I did the hard s— last year to free my mind, to be able to know that the field is one of the safest places to be for the situation that I had. We have so many professionals practicing these situations that come up, and that’s what helped me come back.

“So my mind is free. My mind is clear. I’m just out there trying to play football.”

Hamlin’s medical emergency was even more catastrophic. He died on the field. But there had never been a case of concussion in the NFL before, and the chances of it happening again are slim.

Tagovailoa’s situation is repetitive and sometimes frightening to watch. We know how football can damage the human brain.

Many in the football world emailed Tagovailoa on social media to tell him to retire, saying his long-term brain issues weren’t even worth the massive four-year, $212.4 million contract he signed during training camp.

Even strangers begged Hamlin to stop playing.

“You have to ignore all that,” Hamlin said. “At the end of the day, there’s nobody on the field with you except the people who are on your side. There’s nobody in the room when the cameras are off except your family. Those are the opinions that matter.”

Hamlin gave him further encouragement.

“I’m praying for him,” Hamlin said. “I hope he has a quick recovery.

“I know he’s a dog. He’s a fighter. He’ll be back soon, that’s for sure.”

(Top photo: Jasen Vinlove / USA Today)