‘He looked death right in the face’: Ex-EWU standout Taiwan Jones on frightening moment Bills teammate Damar Hamlin collapsed on field, and his miraculous recovery

If there was a more surreal incident in Taiwan Jones’ life, he certainly can’t remember one.

The former Eastern Washington University All-America running back and current special teams standout for the Buffalo Bills was just a few yards away from Damar Hamlin when the incomprehensible happened against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2 on Monday Night Football.

Hamlin fell to the field after the Bills safety made a normal-looking tackle. His collapse triggered life-saving measures on the field that included cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED). Even more distressing was the angst amongst everybody in the stadium and those watching the nationally televised game.

“I’ve never been in a situation like that where it got as intense as it did,” Jones said on Tuesday, barely a week after viewing the real-life nightmare firsthand. “I’ve seen teammates carted off and leave in ambulances, but never to the point where you are unsure if he’s going to live or die, or if he’s even still breathing. We watched the entire ordeal that close.”

Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest, and the game was postponed and ultimately canceled. Since then, Hamlin has made a remarkable turnaround, and a week later was moved from a Cincinnati hospital back to Buffalo, New York, where he continues to recover.

Jones, Buffalo’s special teams captain and a 12-year veteran of the NFL, couldn’t be more relieved. And proud. And anxious for the upcoming playoff run after an unforgettable week – one the Bills certainly would like to forget.

Jones is in his second stint and fourth year overall with the Bills. Coupled with a one-year gig with the Houston Texans, this will be his fourth straight appearance in the playoffs. Buffalo will host the Miami Dolphins in a wild-card game Sunday at 10 a.m. on CBS.

The Bills wrapped up the regular season at home on Jan. 8, and Highmark Stadium was filled to the rafters with fans showing signs and clothing in a sign of encouragement to Hamlin, who wears the No. 3 jersey in Buffalo. All 16 NFL stadiums paid tribute by painting a white ‘No. 3’ on the field’s 30-yard line, outlined in the team color blue of the Bills.

In addition to Bills players and coaches wearing hats or shirts, Jones was among those players raising flags in support of Hamlin when the team ran out of the tunnel before the opening kickoff. Jones said he always runs to the opposite end zone to say a prayer, but this time he had a flag that said “Pray for Damar.”

“It was more symbolic for us to go out there and fight for our brother,” he said. “That emotion was something I was excited about. We were emotional in the locker room, and somewhere in between the locker room and the field I was handed the flag. It definitely made for a cool picture, but it was more meaningful running out of the tunnel as a team in honor of our brother. That was special.”

But the surreal of the moment soon turned to spectacular. On the game’s opening kickoff, Nyheim Hines of the Bills returned New England’s opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. Jones is a member of that squad, as well as the punt team and kickoff and punt coverage units.

“To score on the opening kickoff after everything that had transpired was definitely a special moment,” said Jones, who wears jersey No. 25 for the Bills. “To do that on the opening kickoff felt so good, especially knowing that Damar was watching.”

Even then, New England – including former EWU wide receiver Kendrick Bourne – found itself ahead 17-14 midway through the third quarter.

Then Hines took the moment to a new level by returning the subsequent Patriots kickoff 101 yards for another touchdown, and the Bills never looked back. Jones had a big block to help spring Hines, then ran alongside him all the way to the end zone.

“That second one was really special,” Jones said. “Everybody screamed and gave full effort until the whistle blew when he reached the end zone. We just want to do whatever we can to make a difference in the game.”

It was the first time in more than 30 years that any NFL team returned two kickoffs for scores in the same game. It reportedly had been three years and three months – even more fitting because Hamlin wears No. 3 – since a Bills player last returned a kickoff for a touchdown, before Hines did it twice last Sunday.

Jones and his Buffalo teammates honored Hamlin with a dramatic 35-23 victory over New England. The loss knocked the Patriots (8-9) out of the playoffs and gave head coach Bill Belichick just his third losing season in 23 years with the Patriots.

Hamlin got the game ball in an obvious, yet meaningful, postgame gesture by Bills head coach Sean McDermott. Hamlin wasn’t there, but instead was able to participate via social media from his hospital bed.

He even broke down the team’s huddle, and one Bills player recounted that Hamlin said, “Love you, boys. Bills on three! Bills on me! 1-2-3, BILLS!”

“It was special, especially after what we went through the week before,” Jones said. “New England came in here to win the game and get to the playoffs. We had to fight through the emotions of the uncertainty of our brother, and then to find out he’s OK – all while trying to get ourselves into game mode.

“To be able to do that and come out with a victory was hard. To have him there in that moment made it that much more special. It was definitely fitting.”

With the win, the Bills finished 13-3 and clinched the AFC’s No. 2 seed, behind Kansas City (14-3). Buffalo, with a win in the canceled game, could have been the No. 1 seed and received a first-round bye, but instead will play on the opening weekend.

Because of a special, single-circumstance playoff provision passed by NFL owners on Jan. 6, should the Bills and Chiefs advance to the AFC championship game, it would be played in Atlanta. That is in a expression of fairness because of the cancellation of the Buffalo-Cincinnati game.

Another player said that late in the week Hamlin texted his fellow defensive backs an apology for having put them through the emotional chaos.

Jones has also communicated with Hamlin via texts and a short phone call, and was able to see him in person back in Buffalo as preparations began for the Dolphins game.

“He looked death right in the face, and he’s saying sorry to his teammates,” Jones said . “It’s like, ‘Man, you have nothing to be sorry for. We’re just so happy to have you still with us.’ He was just thinking about how other people felt and what they went through. It just shows you what kind of guy he is.”

Hamlin was a rookie out of Pitt in 2021 and spent plenty of time alongside Jones on special teams the past two years. They’ve even taken trips and spent New Year’s Eve together.

Against the Bengals, Jones watched with concern, then horror, when Hamlin fell to the ground.

“I didn’t see the hit, but I saw him stand up and fall,” Jones said. “It was a scary moment. Initially, I thought he just got the wind knocked out of him, and I didn’t think it was a concussion because he was able to stand up. There was a lot of confusion with exactly what it was and what was going on.

“We were pretty much on the field the entire time when he stopped breathing and they gave him chest compressions, and then using the machine to shock him. The entire time, you can hear the training staff being verbal about everything. So you heard them say he was not breathing on his own, and you can see the (AED) machine. I’ve never experienced anything like that.”

As team captain, Jones felt a need to be vocal and try to comfort his teammates, including Hamlin.

“I’m a very optimistic person and I always think the best is going to come out of every situation,” Jones said. “The whole time the other leaders on the team and I were very vocal. We were trying to let the other players feel our positivity and for Damar to keep fighting. We needed to let the team know that everything was going to be OK.

“It’s crazy to say, but I never thought we weren’t going to finish the game. At the time, that’s how I was able to kind of compartmentalize my feelings and be a voice to keep the team focused and ready to transition back to the game. I didn’t think it would be suspended – I thought we would have to play and say, ‘Damar is fighting right now, and now it’s time to fight for Damar on the field and win this game.’ That was my mindset, and what a few other players thought and assumed would happen.”

But what Jones witnessed in the locker room quickly changed his thought process.

“That was such a traumatic experience, and everybody handles things differently,” he said. “We had players who were so emotional and were in a space where they couldn’t stand, let alone to play a game. We were told to go to the locker room and that’s when reality hit that this was a lot bigger than an injury. There was a lot of uncertainty, and playing the game wouldn’t be possible for a lot of the players.”

The suspension of the game was 100% the right decision, Jones said.

“(Coach McDermott) stood up in front of the team and said that regardless of what the outcome will be – even if we had to forfeit and take the loss – he couldn’t send us back out there,” Jones said. “It was the right call. It took a lot for him to do that, but the other players and I appreciated it.”

With their fallen teammate fighting for his life in a Cincinnati hospital, the team made the solemn trip back to Buffalo.

“Once we landed back in Buffalo and I got in my car, that’s when I reflected on everything and reality hit me,” Jones said. “Knowing he could die is when I really got emotional.”

The next day, Jones and his teammates had to begin thinking about their next task at hand. But football seemed so meaningless, until the news started to get better.

“The first two days he was heavily sedated so he could heal, so there wasn’t much news they could tell us,” Jones said. “But each day after that he got better and better, and once we found out he was responsive and his brain was totally functional, it was relief.

“At the beginning of the game week, we almost felt guilty moving forward without our brother. It was hard to get back to work and act like nothing happened. But we kept hearing from the doctors that he would be OK, and hearing from Damar’s dad made it a lot easier. He told us on a Zoom call that we committed to a mission with his son, and we needed to see it through while he was fighting a different fight. Hearing that made it a lot easier for a lot of us to move forward.”