Stefon Diggs Reflects connected Teammate Damar Hamlin's Collapse

Like the millions of radical watching Monday Night Football from their couches on Jan. 2, Stefon Diggs didn't instantly cognize what to expect, either.

His Buffalo Bills teammate Damar Hamlin had conscionable collapsed, 9 minutes into their crippled against the Cincinnati Bengals. Players from some sides circled the country of the tract wherever aesculapian unit administered CPR and used a defibrillator connected the 24-year-old—who had suffered a cardiac arrest, seconds aft getting to his feet pursuing a routine-looking tackle.

Fast-forward to Feb. 9, erstwhile Hamlin appeared astatine the yearly NFL Honors ceremony and thanked everyone who'd saved his life. But connected that upsetting nighttime past period that sent shockwaves done the sporting world, nary 1 knew if helium would propulsion through. And for what felt similar an interminably agelong time, it was unclear whether or not the crippled was adjacent over.

"There was a debate, would we person to spell backmost retired there?" Diggs recalled successful an exclusive interrogation with E! News, explaining what helium felt his work was arsenic a squad skipper successful that moment. "I was trying to get them mentally prepared, effort to beryllium successful the close mindset—but much so, like, 'Okay, you play for your brother, enactment motivated.'"

And erstwhile it was wide that the crippled would, successful fact, not spell on, Diggs took disconnected for University of Cincinnati Medical Center, wherever Hamlin had been taken by ambulance.

"I went implicit to the infirmary conscionable to cheque connected my member because, astatine the extremity of the day, each shot aside, I conscionable privation to cognize he's okay," the 29-year-old said. "I emotion this game, I emotion playing this game. And I cognize he loves this game." (True story: Two days into his infirmary stay, awake but inactive connected a ventilator, Hamlin scribbled, "Did we win?" connected a notepad.)  

"It was a batch for everybody to person went through," Diggs reflected. "To cognize that he's connected the different end, it's similar a enactment of caller air. I kept saying, the higher powers answered our call. So that feels good."

But helium was hardly the lone 1 breathing easier erstwhile Hamlin was said to beryllium out of the woods.

"Damn, everybody took a second," Diggs said of the outpouring of enactment for the young safety, not conscionable from the legendary "Bills Mafia" fandom but from each implicit the country, including the masses that funneled $4.1 cardinal successful donations overnight to a Pittsburgh artifact thrust Hamlin was supporting. "Humanity is real, cognize what I'm saying? There's inactive immoderate bully radical successful the world."

Diggs, wearing a natty grey suit and presumably smelling fantastic thanks to his collaboration with Downy Unstoppables—"My ma ever tells me, 'Make definite you're smelling good, marque definite you're looking the part,'" helium explained the motivation for being a look of the laundry scent booster—chatted with E! connected Zoom from the media analyzable successful Glendale, Ariz., wherever Super Bowl LVII volition beryllium played Sunday.

"I'll everlastingly deterioration my emotions connected my sleeve," Diggs explained. "This isn't conscionable a crippled for me, I enactment a batch of clip successful it—and radical don't truly recognize it. With the Damar Hamlin situation, that's erstwhile you recognize that it's much than a game. It's damn adjacent everything to us, particularly erstwhile helium comes to and says, 'Did we win?'"

That, for Diggs, says it all.

"The happening that radical spot arsenic conscionable entertainment, we're giving it everything we got," helium continued. "This occupation involves a batch of passion, a batch of aggression—you gotta really, truly emotion this crippled to play this game. So, I could ne'er apologize for my emotions. I'm much truthful conscionable thankful that I got 'em, due to the fact that I cognize immoderate radical that don't care. But I truly do."

Diggs, who's besides the begetter of 6-year-old girl Nova, passed that intensity connected to younger member Trevon Diggs, 24, who was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys successful 2020 and is already a two-time Pro Bowl selection. Let's conscionable say, it's a bully happening ma Stephanie Diggs enjoys traveling.

"It's surreal, due to the fact that that conscionable ne'er truly happens," Diggs (a three-time selection) said, his fraternal pridefulness obvious. There are different pairs of brothers successful the league, helium noted (Super Bowl-bound Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce, who play for the Chiefs and Eagles, respectively, among them), "but conscionable a mates of others playing astatine a precocious level."

Diggs added, laughing, "I'm conscionable blessed that 1 of my brothers is 1 of the players playing astatine a precocious level! When I spot my member retired determination ballin', I'm like, 'Ah, determination you go, determination you go. There helium is!' It's a arrogant moment."

Knowing Trevon is succeeding, helium added, "My mind's astatine ease."

And aft this season, he'll instrumentality it.