Damar Hamlin: “Consistency Is The True Mark Of Greatness” | Buffalo Bills

good that's put the message you got shirt don't quit yeah man it does it aligns right with who I am can you quit share with us just it's been a long road for you and it's always been your goal to get back to this point what's what's the like to be there right now uh truly a blessing you know what I mean um you know I reflect back um on the whole process and you know not knowing if I will even be able to play again you know sitting in that uncertainty was like eating at me you know it was it was really eating at me because football is truly my passion um you know it's the thing that I've always been obsessed with my entire life so uh you know um just sitting back um and thinking all the way back then um but you know it just all goes to the power of being process oriented and taking things one day at a time and accepting where you are at each moment of the process you know it truly allows you to you know conquer anything of what you're facing how much did that skip skipping a step and going through tation went flesh but not skipping and you talked about how you free your mind was issue how much did that all help get you to this point yeah not skipping the step was important and you know last year primarily was um for me just about healing and coming in uh back into myself who I always was and then who I was trying to become and you know I think everybody in this building from top down for you know supporting me and giving me the space to allow me to heal and you know have my process exactly how I needed it to go um and you know it truly propelled me um into you know allowing myself to be free this season um you know last season was primarily just about healing and making myself do the hard stuff thrusting myself in the things that were uncomfortable um you know that that maybe were fearful or you know gave me anxiety but you know I was doing the hard stuff last year to make it easier this year you talked during training camp about just from a football perspective wanting to be more consistent with everything where do you feel you're at with that you know Sean talked about your consistency too but just what feels like the biggest step just from a strictly football standpoint one thing we talk about is consistency is the true Mark of greatness and you know I I wrote that quote down on a sticky note I I write all my quotes down on sticky notes and stick them all over my bathroom um so I can you know as I wake up in the morning and do whatever I need to do you know I'm reminding myself of the things I want to take with me for the day um and you know consistency being the mark of true greatness is you know something that resonates well with me and um you know I got to watch some of the greats uh do the same thing I'm doing right now so and I watch them be consistent in their processes um so you know I'm truly being process oriented and I'm trying to make my process at a championship level day in and day out is that a new sticky is it a new sticky note every day or how often do you update your quotes so um I I read a lot so um you know if I find something I like or you know it's a lot of knowledge just walking through these buildings you know we really got a lot of mentors as coaches and and as teammates so you know I'm always keeping my notebook around me writing stuff down to take home later and uh jot it down you had a lot of key veterans here around you since you what have you learn from the that help you get to this point man it's hard to pinpoint just one um you know the coaches uh Micah Jordan um they're probably the main that I got to give credit to um you know whether it was hands on or not you know I was learning I was a sponge um it wasn't hard to come in and just watch and just learn uh so you know them two primarily and um you know the guys up front vaugh um just a lot of the true leaders uh I'm blessed to have kjck in the building now you know 15 years of experience uh you know I'm picking his brain as much as I can um but you know just everybody you know there's always something you can learn from anybody um and you know whether you filter out what you need and you know let let the other stuff fly by as that night in Cincinnati gets further and further in your rear mirror how much do you think about it as much do it versus all the other things that the hurdles that you overcome over the last season of you say healing what do you find yourself reflecting on um you know as much as I'm you know growing and evolving into a new person you know I I think about it all the time you know it as much as the world experienced it it happened to me you know what I mean so uh I think about it all the time you know there's moments where uh but I enjoy that part of it because it allows me to stay connected with the reason why I'm here and my true purpose you know what I mean and to know that I'm blessed and many reasons and you know I have a second chance at doing things the right way in all areas of my life so you know the more that I think about that the more that um it connects me to my blessings of why I'm here and you know I would never want to disrespect my blessings so you know I take this opportunity and this process super serious Sean told us it was a defensive coach that told you you'd be starting can you just tell us a bit more about when you found out who it was and what that was like um you know I've been so process oriented and taking things one day at a time um that you know I was super excited um like not going to lie man it's like a dream come true to work so hard and then get what you worked for for um but you know I I want to continue on you know it's not about just performing in one game you know I want to be able to take my process and you know make it allow me to be successful the entire run so you know I'm I'm head down uh you know I'm just focused on you know doing my 111 and um making sure that I'm doing everything I need to do to help our defense be successful sorry about that what's your comfort level with Taylor rap right now and being back there with him and communicating with him uh very comfortable um I love playing with TR um you know he's TR is a leader he's a vet um he's been in the league a long time and he's seen success at the highest level in this league which you know people that have played 20 years don't reach the success that he has in this league at one point um so you know um we've we've built chemistry for these past two seasons um you know behind the scenes behind uh you know day in day out you know just being with the twos or whatever the case may be um and you know as we work through this year um just getting on the same page uh it was pretty much easy because you know he takes his game serious he takes his process serious and so do I so you know we just pass reminders back and forth and then we just go focus on making plays what's oh go ahead eviz some of those things that may those man if as you can imagine it was everything you know like it was a process like I said man being process oriented truly got me here I remember before Camp last year I was right here on the indoor um with Nate our trainer and um I was you know doing tackling drills before the first day that we put on pads just being able to uh you know get that that little like hint of contact before we went into it as a team and you know that's kind of how we walk the whole process down from the day that I sat in front of y'all and said I was coming back to play you know we walk the process down step by step by step by step by step and you know being in the moment of each uh part of the process allowed me to you know ultimately be where I am right now Mar you proved to your coaches a couple years ago you started at 13 games and now you've proven it again in you know now getting the opportunity and the trust them you thought about that I mean that's an important thing obviously to have to trust in coaches you all but to be in that role do you think about what that was like showing them that you're back to being that guy maybe even better than you felt in 2022 yeah it was a journey man I I I just had to prove myself and um you know it was just day in day out but you know I just kept my focus internal and how I can show up the best me each day and you know I competed with myself you know in a competition in a competitive environment you know I kept my competition internal and I think that allowed me to be my best self so you know I'm using the p experience however many starts you said it was I'm using the past experience to allow me to uh you know be more of a veteran presence out there on the field this year what stands out to you about the Cardinal offense as you're preparing for them um James Conor man that's my brother um you know um somebody that I've uh you know been a fan of for a very long time you know I came in the pit um watching him go through his process you know overcoming his cancer and you know I watched him fight back and uh uh just overcome so much adversity and then get back to success on the field and you know it was not easy for him but you know that was somebody I truly leaned on as well going through my process and um you know he was there every step of the way just as he's been you know my entire life so um you know that's that's my man shout out to him thank for sure