Sport can, and often does, mirror real life. Heights are easy to take; Depths can make us search for answers.
That has been made crystal clear lately, especially on New Year’s Day. Some memories of earlier memories have also risen to the surface.
Just hours after seeing the memory of the late Mike Leach firmly etched into the college football psyche with a wild ending to the Reliaquest Bowl, the frightening events surrounding Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin unfolded on Monday night football His apparent cardiac arrest during the game in Cincinnati left players, coaches and fans of the Bills and Bengals visibly shaken and Hamlin fighting for his life.
While Hamlin underwent CPR on the field, Buffalo players, including Edwardsville High’s AJ Epenesa, gathered to protect their teammate and shake their heads, cry, huddle, plead and wonder.
Inside: Hamlin’s life is in danger after cardiac arrest
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Epenesa, the former Edwardsville All-Stater and University of Iowa star, is a third-year defensive end for the Bills. He watched the game after which Hamlin collapsed. Epenesa was one of the players on the field closest to the game.
Hamlin, it now appears, almost became the second NFL player to die after collapsing on the field. Lions receiver Chuck Hughes collapsed and later died in a Detroit hospital. By the way, that Lions game against the Bears ended and the players were later informed that Hughes had died.
But as of Tuesday afternoon, Hamlin was recovering at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and his prognosis was hopeful.
According to reports from the Buffalo News, Hamlin was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But ironically, he was also lucky to be where he was after the events.
Explain:
As Hamlin made an innocent-looking tackle, he received a blow to the chest that ‘short-circuited’ his heart and sent him into cardiac arrest. Their hopes for Hamlin’s recovery seemed more possible than hours earlier on the football field.
That was not the case with Leach, the Mississippi State soccer coach, who suffered a heart attack and died at his home on December 12.
Or for JV Cain, tight end of the St. Louis Football Cardinals, who died of a heart attack during training camp at Lindenwood University in 1979.
Or for high school basketball umpire Jim Sims, who suffered a heart attack and died on the court in 1990 while officiating a Southwestern basketball game in Triad.
Earlier Monday, football fans watched as Illini led most of the game until the final seconds. A late field goal and wild kickoff that followed ended in a scoop-and-score TD for the Bulldogs. Many felt it was a fitting ending for a game that was packed with imagery and homage to Leach, the outspoken, one-of-a-kind trainer affectionately known as “The Pirate.”
Leach’s portrait oversaw the game from the pirate ship at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both teams had commemorative decals on their helmets and the Mississippi State marching band spelled his name on the field.
A win in Illinois would have been better for his fans, but no one begrudged Leach’s farewell.
However, planned goodbyes were not an option for JV Cain or Jim Sims.
I had just attended Cardinals training camp before Cain collapsed on that July 22, 1979—his birthday. The death shook the Cardinals, their fans, and the NFL world, even though it didn’t happen in front of a national television audience.
Later autopsy results showed Cain had a congenital heart defect that went undetected until it was discovered during summer training camp. Team officials and teammates were visibly shaken, and many attended Cain’s funeral in Houston.
Cain was the 1974 Cardinals Rookie of the Year and had his share of big roles during his four-year career with the Big Red.
But on his 28th birthday, Cain collapsed after performing a passing pattern during a light workout. Team doctors and coaches immediately performed CPR on him. He was resuscitated and taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Charles by ambulance, but died two hours later.
Team owner Bill Bidwill was not obliged to do so, but paid the remaining contract money to Cain’s wife. It was the right thing to do, and Bidwill didn’t hesitate.
JV’s Houston service drew more than 200 people, including Bidwill, Coach Bud Wilkinson and a host of other Cardinals. A fund was set up for the St. Louis Association for Retarded Citizens, and the team wore black armbands throughout the 1979 season.
The death of Sims during the 1990 Southwestern Triad basketball game also hit him hard. Former Telegraph sports editor Steve Porter was there to cover the game between the Triad Knights and Southwestern. Among the Piasa Birds coached by Darrell Burd was a senior named Jason Isringhausen, who later found great success with the St. Louis Baseball Cardinals as one of the best backup pitchers in the game.
But that night, eyes and prayers were on Sims, who was one of the most respected umpires in the area.
Sims fell during gameplay after suffering a massive heart attack.
“It was awful,” Porter recalled. “It was very sad. He was the trail official at a play and just collapsed on the floor.
“He could not be revived.”
Telegraph photographer Scott Cousins was also there.
“I was about 10 feet from him,” Cousins said. “All the action was under the hoop. (Sims) was away from it but suddenly his whistle blew and then he collapsed.
“They did everything they could to revive him and all the players went back to their benches,” Cousins said. “It was a terrible thing that I will never forget.”
As the New Year begins, thoughts of the second half of the basketball season fill the minds of players and fans alike. Visions of NFL and college football glory fill the headlines.
But there are reminders, perhaps sent by fate, that there are more important things.
Take a moment to think about it – and take it to heart.
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