As a Patriots fan, I have no love lost for the Buffalo Bills, although I know some Bills fans and they seem like nice people.

This week the Patriots lost to the Bills in a very interesting game, and while I was disappointed in the result and the fact that the loss meant the Patriots wouldn't make the playoffs, deep down inside, I felt happy for the Buffalo community.

The roller coaster of a week for that team, its fans, the city, and of course the family and friends of Damar Hamlin deserved to conclude with a victory. The game reinforced the fact that this week, I was proud to be an American.

The Damar Hamlin story has impacted America in many ways. Most know the story of the 24-year-old defensive player for the Buffalo Bills who was resuscitated on the field after suffering cardiac arrest.

Just a few days later he woke up from a medically induced coma in a Cincinnati hospital bed and greeted his teammates back in Buffalo via Zoom. The last time they had seen him they were on the field as a trainer saved his life with CPR and he was being loaded into an ambulance. 

As the week after his revival played out, more and more about America was revealed, at least to my eyes and ears. I heard a news story related to the situation the date this is being written, that made me get up and write. What did I hear? Let me start with some background about why the follow up to the story makes me proud to be an American.

The incident happened in Cincinnati: My family lived there for about 11 years, from sixth grade through college for my son. I have been to the stadium where the incident took place dozens of times. I’m sure there were 100 people at the game that I knew, maybe 200 people, including ushers who may have received a towel from us when we moved back to Massachusetts.

I have actually been on that field, very close to where the incident took place. This one hit close to home, even though it was 848 miles away.

My family was also watching the game together. We are all Patriots fans, of course, but having lived in Cincinnati with so many friends there, makes the Bengals our second favorite team.

What follows are six reasons that this incident made me proud to be an American.

But first, in a non-political way (if possible) I’d like to share that I have been somewhat disappointed in America in recent years, and it is mostly because a lot of what we read and hear is about how we are so divided.

“United” States of America may apply to geography, but not to what the media reports about us. The old expression ‘I don’t watch the news, it’s too depressing” has some validity. I do watch the news, but what depresses me almost as much as the bad news is how the media highlights how we don’t get along and how we don’t work together, and we don’t care about each other.

It seems that ‘hate’ gets viewers and sells papers, and ‘love’ gets pushed to the background at 6 and 11. That’s not the America I know. The America I know cares and tries to make a difference and takes care of each other and responds to a crisis.

One football player being injured hardly qualifies as an American crisis, but it does qualify as an event where we can peek through a different window to reaffirm why I personally am proud to be an American.

#1: Outside the Hospital

Cincinnatians joined Buffalo fans outside the hospital after the game in a candlelight vigil. When I saw this, I was proud to have been part of that community for more than a decade. I just thought it was a classy, noble, and very American thing to do. Instead of highlighting a fistfight between partisans with different team jerseys, the vigil showed that Cincinnati, and America, cared. I was proud to be an American.

#2: Team Leadership

The coaches for the two teams, Sean McDermott for the Bills and Zac Taylor for the Bengals, decided at mid-field before the ambulance left, they weren’t going to play the game, even if ordered to. 

One or both coaches decided that NOT playing was in the best interests of the individuals they were responsible for. There are too many times we hear about leaders NOT standing up for their team or NOT having their best interests at heart. 

Too many times we hear about moments of crisis where leadership fails, whether in the House of Representatives or crypto currency exchanges. In my own mind, as I was watching I thought to myself, if I were the coach of Damar’s team, I would forfeit before I would put my team back out there. 

That night on television, instead of highlighting one of the dirtbags who abuses employees, the night showed leaders who cared. I was proud to be an American and live in a place where leaders were taking care of their team in front of the whole world.

#3: The Chasing M's Foundation

Having worked in the donation-raising industry for many years, I was impressed that a 24-year-old second year player had started a foundation to raise $2,500 to provide holiday toys to local children in his hometown.

I also knew that the first dollars the foundation raised probably came from his own pocket. That’s how fundraisers start. 

As of press time (a phrase I’ve always wanted to use), the Foundation reached and exceeded its goal as more than $8.0 Million had been donated to the nonprofit by Americans who wanted to do something to help, but couldn’t do it with their expertise, so they used their wallets. 

Instead of highlighting someone who siphoned off donations from a non-profit, the week showed off the spirit and generosity of our country and I was proud to be an American and one of the small donors involved.

Chasing M's Foundation

#4 The Prayers:

The first call when something bad happens is to pray for the victims. Each week in our country of hundreds of millions of people, many things happen that are bad and there are victims. 

But usually, the call to prayer is a ‘one and done.’ Not this week. The family consistently updated the country and always, always, always, asked America to pray for their son, and I think America did. 

Those of a certain perspective know that it worked. Instead of letting the call to prayer evaporate, the week kept the power of prayer alive and showcased a side of America to be proud of, a country that owes part of its heritage to religious freedom and where in recent years public displays of religion have been challenged. The call wasn’t for Christians to pray, it was for America to pray. Proud to be an American.

#5 Corporate America

Ok, so it wasn’t the entirety of corporate America, and only one company, but the story that I heard that prompted me to get up at 4:30 in the morning and start typing was this: Damar Hamlin jerseys were flying off the shelves (physical and interest shelves) so fast that the company Fanatics announced they were donating all proceeds of the jersey sales to the Damar Hamlin foundation, instead of profiting from the situation. 

Instead of a cash grab, this one corporation decided to rise above the scramble and do something. My experience is that more corporations than not do the same thing every day for many causes, and I am proud to be an American and live in a country where this kind of thing happens.

#6 Denny Kellington

From Dan Shaughnessy's Column in the Boston Globe on Monday, January 9, 2023

No one knows what the long-term impact on Damar Hamlin will be and what his ultimate recovery looks like. 

What I do know is that when he first woke up in the hospital, he asked the doctors “who won the game”, and one of them replied ‘You did, Damar, you've won the game of life.’ 

That was very true and there was another winner last week, however, in my opinion, and that winner was America and that's why I’m proud to be an American.