Bills' Damar Hamlin OK to play after suffering cardiac arrest

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Bills safety Damar Hamlin has been fully cleared to return to playing football, Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane said Tuesday.

Hamlin saw his last specialist Friday and is in attendance and participating at voluntary workouts with the Bills this week.

«He's fully cleared, he's here and he is of the mindset, he's in a great head space to come back and make his return,» Beane said.

The Bills began their voluntary offseason program on Monday.

The announcement comes three and a half months after Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during the first quarter of the Jan. 2 regular-season Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Beane said that Hamlin visited with a variety of specialists since returning from Cincinnati and that they have all been in agreement on his case and that he can fully return to playing football.

«When he left Cincinnati, he came here, it was Buffalo General [Hospital],» Beane said. «He saw a couple of specialists here in Buffalo and then since then, he's seen three additional specialists, most recently on Friday and they're all in agreement. It's not 2-1 or 3-1 or anything like that. They're all in lockstep of what this was and that he's cleared, resumed full activities just like anyone else who was coming back from an injury or whatever.»

Hamlin said in February that he hoped to return to the field.

«Eventually. That's always the goal, like I said, as a competitor, you know, I'm trying to do things to keep advancing my situation,» Hamlin told Michael Strahan in an interview that aired on Fox during the Super Bowl LVII pregame show. «But I'm allowing that to be in God's hands. I'm just thankful he gave me a second chance.»

Bills coach Sean McDermott said that they