Damar Hamlin soaks in return to Pittsburgh — and Steelers, fans return the love

Damar Hamlin was happy to be able to soak in the moment. The sights, the sounds.

The … smells?

“It kind of felt like college again, that feeling I got when I was playing at Pitt,” Hamlin said of his first football game in Pittsburgh as a pro. “Stadium smelled the same, it was the same energy. It was really taking me back to when I was on the chase and when I was hungry, giving me that old feeling.”

A McKees Rocks native who played at Central Catholic, Hamlin was back at what is now called Acrisure Stadium on Saturday to play for the Buffalo Bills against the Pittsburgh Steelers in a preseason game.

Hamlin’s return to game action in Pittsburgh came less than eight months since he went into cardiac arrest and needed resuscitated on the field during a game in Cincinnati. Hamlin was hospitalized for nine days afterward but ultimately was cleared to return to football. While he played in a Bills home preseason game last week, Hamlin’s return to the town he spent most of his first 22 years in carried a greater level of significance.

“Special,” Hamlin said after the game. “It was real special, like a moment of serendipity. Life coming full circle for me (after) everything that I have went through my entire life.”

As captured by Trib news partner WTAE-TV, Hamlin took a cellphone photo of the scene at what used to be called Heinz Field as he emerged from the tunnel for warm-ups Saturday night.

Bills coach Sean McDermott assigned Hamlin (and former Pitt teammate Dane Jackson) to accompany team captains out for the pre-game coin toss. There, another former Panthers teammate — Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett — gave him a hug.

“Super appreciative of my coaches for letting me do that,” Hamlin said. “It made me feel like a big kid out there.”

Earlier, during warmups, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin gave Hamlin a big hug. Tomlin has known Hamlin for the better part of a decade since Hamlin was a rising football star in the area.

Hamlin said he intended to give Tomlin his jersey from the game, but Pickett asked for it when the two greeted each other after the game.

“Kenny told me he really wanted that jersey,” Hamlin said. “I really wanted to give it to Coach Tomlin, at first. Just for how much he’s meant to this city, just growing up, being at at Pitt and even before Pitt, seeing what culture he brought to the city of Pittsburgh and him allowing me to be so close to him when I was at Pitt, it meant a lot to me and it really shaped my vision for myself.

“Coach Tomin will forever hold a special place in my heart.

“It kind of felt like college again, that feeling I got when I was playing at Pitt,” Hamlin said of his first football game in Pittsburgh

“It kind of felt like college again, that feeling I got when I was playing at Pitt,” Hamlin said of his first football game in Pittsburgh

Hamlin got to see Pittsburgh’s second-most prominent football coach pregame, meeting with not only Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi but his other position coaches from his time with the Panthers (2016-20).

Some fans Saturday wore or carried Hamlin’s Pitt No. 3 jerseys. They were prominent among the items signed for fans during pregame.

Many of those same people were part of a warm cheer when Hamlin’s name first was announced during the game — after he made a second-quarter takedown of Anthony McFarland, his first of three tackles in the game.

“Of course I heard it,” Hamlin said. “It made me want to make some more plays. It’s just special, it’s just a testament of the love that’s shown from my city. They care about me, so that’s why I am so intent on doing everything I can to make this city a better place.”

Since Hamlin drew the attention of concerned NFL fans across the country during and after his near-death experience, he has devoted time not only in Pittsburgh but also in Buffalo and Cincinnati (where the cardiac incident occurred) to raising money for his Chasing M’s Foundation charity and to raising awareness for the importance of learning CPR and having automatic electronic defibrillator (AED) machines on site at public locales.

“My whole life I wanted to stand for something bigger than myself, and I wanted to truly have a purpose and be able to leave my mark here before I left this place (the world),” Hamlin said. “To be able to be an inspiration and stand for certain things — courage, perseverance. The list goes on. It’s not always easy. It’s tough at times. I might have my doubts. ‘Why me?’ But God don’t put us in places where we can’t stand it. So I am confident and faithful, and I am just here to live out His purpose.”

Hamlin called it “a bucket-list” item of his to play on the Acrisure/Heinz Field stadium turf as a professional.

“Pittsburgh is truly my home,” he said, “and will forever be my home no matter what.”