BREAKING: Is Damar Hamlin Actually Dead?

Could this be true? Is a series that looks at how conspiracy theories could plausibly (even very loosely) be true. Liberals will hate this series because they’re soulless no-funs without an ounce humor or pallet for tongue and cheek. That’s how we know it’ll be great!

The last installment was on how the CIA did Kennedy which was written a couple weeks before Tucker Carlson went on air confirming everything we laid out with an internal source. Free Press Fail always has the edge on the hot “conspiracy.

This time I’m going to look at a developing conspiracy theory that could be proven or disproven in the hours or days after this is published. We’re going to explore whether or not it’s possible that Damar Hamlin is actually no longer alive or seriously bedridden in the hospital despite claims he’s been at training and attending games. Let’s get into it. 

Damar Hamlin heart attack background 

On January 3, 2023, Damar Hamlin who plays football for the Buffalo Bills went into cardiac arrest on the field suddenly after a routine tackle collision with a player from the Cincinnati Bengals. The event occurred on live television and the nation watched in horror as Hamlin lay lifeless on the field for 9 minutes and had to be resuscitated right there on the field. Players wept and the stadium fell into silence watching the scene unfold. It was truly a throat clenching, unbelievable situation. Most believed he had died and was not coming back. It was nothing short of a miracle when Hamlin came back to life and was taken off the field. 

Since then there has been quite a bit of information coming out from primarily his team and allegedly from himself about his condition. Some of it more dubious than other (we’ll get into the dubious claims later). According to reports, Hamlin was placed in the ICU following the incident but remained conscious and was improving. 

The team said that about 24 hours after the incident he was writing questions and they claim, with bold face, that his first cognisant question was “who won the game” and that his surgeon responded “you did, you won the game of life.”

According to the team, he was in the ICU in Cincinnati until January 7 when he was well enough to be flown to a hospital in Buffalo. The team also was the entity to report that Hamlin had been released from the hospital on January 11 – one week following his admission and two days from his transfer to the hospital in Buffalo. Dr. William Knight from the Cincinnati hospital confirmed that he was doing well and “on the next stage of recovery” when the transfer was initiated. 

Immediately following this event, Damar Hamlin was allegedly live tweeting during the Buffalo Bills next game. 

The theory that Damar Hamlin is not alive 

The theory that Hamlin actually may not be alive came about when he attended the playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals in Buffalo on January 22nd. Despite reporters being all over the field, and Hamlin being top priority coverage for obvious reasons, a clear image of his face was not captured whatsoever and the only confirmation he was in attendance so far has come from the NFL and The Buffalo Bills organization. All photographic evidence totally obscures Hamlin’s face making it impossible to confirm ID. This spurred the idea that the person at the game was a body double which led some people to wonder why they would trot out a fake Hamlin at all? Is he perhaps actually not doing very well? The question has now called into question all of the facts which have been provided by the team about Hamlin’s status. 

The undisputed facts of the Hamlin cardiac event: 

• Damar Hamlin is a 24 year old football player in peak physical condition
• Moments before his heart attack, Hamlin made a routine tackle on the field, stood up and adjusted his helmet and then fell to the ground limp 
• Hamlin was dead on the field for 9 minutes and resuscitated through CPR and other methods  
• The kind of heart attack that is caused by impact to the heart is extremely rare and despite the constant hard tackling in the NFL has not occurred in that way before

What no one claims to know

• We do not know Hamlin’s medical history including whether or not he had a heart condition 

What is in question by the conspiracy theory

• Did Damar Hamlin actually recover and communicate as quickly as was said or at all? 
• Was Damar Hamlin actually at a practice with the Bills in the last few weeks since his heart attack? 
• Was Damar Hamlin really at the game on January 22nd? 
• Is Damar Hamlin even really okay at all? 
• Why would the NFL and the Bills create such an elaborate lie? 

Could it be true? Is Damar Hamlin actually dead or seriously bedridden? 

The stories of Hamlin’s recovery have always been dubious. There were claims made by the team that he was communicating via writing while intubated. Having had personal experience with intubated patients who had previously been dead (a niche experience to have had but lucky you guys (not so lucky for us), Free Press Fail has it), it is pretty amazing that Hamlin would be in a cognisant enough state to write out something as specific as “did we win” so soon after being resuscitated. So amazing it is actually pretty unbelievable. At the time, I dismissed this as just harmless cheer. Trying to create a pleasant, cute narrative for the media. That kind of normal lying that occurs in PR all the time. Now with the theory he’s not with us, it seems a bit more sinister. Perhaps his condition was bad enough at the time they thought they needed something pretty big to throw media off the scent of his condition. 

Some of the other stories of his recovery are odd. The fact that they claim he’s been walking, even jumping and celebrating while still in the hospital. That would mean only days after the event of dying and breaking ribs in the process of being brought back. Even as the team is reporting this information they’re noting that it’s unique and miraculous that someone would be back up and moving so much so soon after an incident as catastrophic as the one Hamlin went through. The person I know that died, was resuscitated and then intubated is still suffering the physical ramifications of that event years later. That person was not a peak athlete, so granted, every person is different. But even medical professionals have said the speed of his recovery has been way outside the norm. Perhaps too good to be true. 

Enter the smoking gun, Hamlin’s attendance at the game on January 22nd. Damar Hamlin entered the stadium with his face fully covered with a mask, hood and sunglasses not allowing for any media coverage whatsoever. The team representatives claimed he was in the locker room speaking with players and hyping everyone up. That I am aware of, there is not a single shred of footage of this happening even from other players. Which is weird because you’d think Hamlin would want to be more public on his good health and his support of his team.

The broadcast of the game showed footage of Hamlin from the box where he was viewing the game but a) it was snowing so hard you could barely see a human outline and b) despite being indoors he was still head to toe in a big puffy jacket with the hood up and wearing a mask. Which is quite weird. 

Finally, even the footage from Hamlin himself has his face totally obscured and body even mostly covered making it impossible to confirm who is in the red puffy coat. Why on earth would he post social media photos but so obviously obscure his face at every turn? If he wanted privacy and no media attention, why post the pictures himself? Its very unusual behavior that defies most motivational logic. 

Since the blooming of the conspiracy theories, Damar Hamlin has still not shown himself to be clearly alive and well. The liberal theory debunker sites like Snopes can only disprove the theory on the basis that the Bills officials and NFL say he was there at the game.

In order for this to be true, there would have to be a lot of coordination 

While the situation seems pretty suspicious, in order for it to be plausible the NFL, the Bills organization and all the hospital staff as well as most of the players would have to be complicit in the lie. One player actually posted a picture of Hamlin at a practice with him which is the only real sign of life that has been posted of Hamlin since the event. 

Skeptics say the photo looks like it’s from an earlier date which would mean the player willfully lied about the picture which seems a little far fetched, however if the NFL offered a large payment it still is possible. Quarterback Josh Allen scoffed at the theory it was a body double said that Hamlin was indeed in the locker room but he did stop short of saying he saw his face.

Further, Hamlin’s own mother and family would have to be complicit in the lie since his mother and brother were at the same game the faceless Hamlin attended. 

It’s certainly possible they have their reasons to lie or could have been paid off, but it requires a pretty low opinion of his family. 

But why would they do it? 

Plenty have speculated that the sudden cardiac event seems pretty familiar to other sudden cardiac events happening to young men all over the world who have the commonality of having been vaccinated. So some are speculating that because the NFL made such a huge deal about requiring vaccines, they might be highly motivated to shield a vaccine damage issue of this magnitude. 

Overall it is very possible that Damar Hamlin is at least less okay than the NFL is saying but not super plausible that he’s dead. While I’m not sure I can rate this one plausible due to the fact that his entire family would have to be totally complicit as well as so many other actors in the story from medical professionals to teammates, I do think the entire theory is possible considering the lack of hard evidence of signs of life. 

What I think is absolutely plausible is that Damar Hamlin is alive but not doing super well and not up to attending a game. I think it’s plausible that the body double theory is actually true in regard to the January 22nd game, but that the rest of the theory (re: his death) is not true. I could see his family agreeing to help rally the team with a fake appearance in the spirit of supporting his friends or even protecting Hamlin from showing himself looking sick or weak. 

This one could be proven or disproven very soon.