For the past eight months, the city of Buffalo has been ravaged by one tragedy after another: a racist massacre at a Tops supermarket in May, a deadly Christmas-time snowstorm, a weekend house fire that killed five children.
But through it all, the city’s beloved football team, the Bills, has been a bright spot, offering its legion of fans, known as the Bills Mafia, a welcome distraction from the grim headlines.
That shell of easy escapism was shattered Monday night, when the team’s 24-year-old safety Damar Hamlin collapsed after a tackle during a highly anticipated game in Cincinnati. Mr Hamlin went into cardiac arrestaccording to the team, and had to be revived on the field with his fellow Bills openly weeping around him.
Shock and sadness were felt across the country, but especially in western New York, where the Bills’ recent success and sloppy play have made the team emblematic of the region’s down-but-never-out spirit.
“It’s the snowball I was hoping would stop,” said Mark Poloncarz, the Erie County executive director, before repeating a comment he first uttered after the December blizzard that killed 39 people in his county. “Karma owes us.”
At the Big Tree Inn in Orchard Park, New York, the all-things-Bills bar just down the road from the team’s stadium, the pain was felt by patrons who knew Mr. Hamlin as one of the players who sometimes visited after games.
“We know him personally,” says Eugene Smaszcz, the general manager of the bar, where jerseys of famous Bills players hang along the wall. “The nicest man you’ll ever meet.”
Mr. Smaszcz recalled how Mr. Hamlin’s injury had suddenly silenced an exuberant crowd at the Big Tree, which was packed Monday night as the Bills took on the conference rival Cincinnati Bengals in a critical game.
“It was heartbreaking,” he said. “It went from a very busy bar to people crying at the bar and crying at tables.”
On Tuesday, the team said Mr. Hamlin was staying in intensive care and in critical condition. At the same time, there were local elected officials Remind residents of crisis hotlines if the deluge of bad news had become simply overwhelming. A candlelight vigil was scheduled for Mr Hamlin outside Highmark Stadium on Tuesday night.
A flood of “enough already” spread online, with many Buffalonians, past and present, praying for both Mr. Hamlin and their hometown. On Twitter, the hashtag #Buffalostrong – a catchphrase following the mass shooting at the Tops supermarket in May – was back, even though it seemed worn out from overuse.
“Buffalo is strong,” Michael Bennysaid a local news anchor on Twitter. “But this is all too much.”
The vigil over Mr. Hamlin’s health came even as some in the area planned to bury relatives killed by last month’s “once-in-a-generation” blizzard, which brought hurricane-force winds and blinding snow to town, leaving some victims trapped. in their cars and others in the cold on the streets and in snowdrifts.
Days later, a New Year’s Eve fire tore through a house on the northeast side of town, killing five children, none older than 10 years. Only one baby was spared.
Lisa Balderman, 38, a Buffalo resident and psychotherapist, said she believed many Buffalo residents and Bills fans suffered “vicarious trauma” from the barrage of terrible events, noting that the region was also dealing had with the impact of Covid-19, causing thousands of deaths in Erie County alone.
“Add the layers of the recent events that happened specifically in Buffalo — a mass murder, deadly snowstorm, and now looking at a major medical crisis — and there’s a heaviness,” she said, adding: “The needs in terms of mental health of our community are important now.”
On Monday night, as Mr. Hamlin was transported to a hospital in Cincinnati, elected officials across the state, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul, a resident of Buffalo, offered their prayers.
Jim Kelly, a former quarterback and Bills legend, expressed disbelief at what he was watching.
“I’ve never experienced anything like it before,” said Mr. Kelly. “The game doesn’t matter. Pray for Damar and his family.”
For fans who have watched the Bills come tantalizingly close to championships only to fall short, the team’s recent number of winning seasons has both raised expectations and soured the mood in town following its recent string of calamities.
“We had bad luck in Buffalo,” says Patty Oswald, 59, who lives in nearby North Tonawanda. “I was hoping a Super Bowl win would cheer us up.”
At the same time, other fans said the horrifying sight of Mr Hamlin being resuscitated on the field and leaving in an ambulance had made them think.
“You expect to see injuries, but not life and death,” said Jim Palladino, 73, who said he had been a Bills fan since the Eisenhower administration. “It really puts things into perspective. I reflect more. I think about what’s more important, what’s worth getting angry about, what’s worth letting go.”
Although Mr. Poloncarz said it was hard to explain how much Bills fans loved their team – “a passion that’s indescribable unless you’re from here,” he said – adding that Mr. the moment.
“Nothing is more important,” he said, “than to see that young man live.”
Mr. Smaszcz agreed, saying the outcome of the Bengals showdown, which he called one of the most crucial games in years, no longer made a difference to him or many other Bills fans.
“This area looking forward to the Bills football: on Sundays you see people with smiles on their faces for a few hours,” he said. “But right now, here, nobody’s thinking about the game.”
Lauren D’Avolio reported from Buffalo, NY