DALLAS — When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went down Monday night, the ESPN audience, alongside the fans and players in Cincinnati, watched in shock.
Initially, it was up to three people to guide the TV audience through the uncertainty and unknown that was unfolding at the stadium: ESPN's Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters.
The broadcast team didn't say much - because there wasn't much to say, and because details were so limited on what was happening to Hamlin. But, as the ex-Cowboys quarterback Aikman explained on his weekly appearance on The Ticket in Dallas, the broadcast didn't have many other options in the immediate aftermath of Hamlin's injury.
ESPN typically has a Monday Night Football pregame, halftime, and postgame show on the field of the game. But since Monday night's game started immediately after the Rose Bowl, there was no ESPN crew outside of Buck, Aikman and Salters at the stadium.
It was up to those three to navigate the situation, the best they could, as ESPN's studio crew in New York mobilized into place.
Here's what Aikman told The Ticket:
Initial thoughts on Hamlin's injury
When all of us start playing football, we all understand there is risk. And there is more risk with football than all of the other sports. You just don't ever, in a locker room prior to taking the field of play, do you anticipate it could be a life or death situation. In racing you do. We've seen it too many times. But not in football. This was not unprecedented...I didn't know it at the time. But this was unlike anything anyone of my generation or generations after me have experienced or witnessed.
Initial reaction in the ESPN booth
There was a lot of moving parts, as you can imagine. It became a sports broadcast that turned into a news broadcast. Bob Iger returned to run the company of Disney just a couple of months ago. He showed tremendous leadership from the start. He was actually in New Zealand. He was in the middle of it from New Zealand. That meant a lot.
But I think part of it, too, because it led in from the Rose Bowl, they didn't have the typical Monday Night Football countdown. When this happened, there was nowhere to go with it. I know [Scott Van Pelt] was scrambling. A lot of people were scrambling. Everyone was trying to get into a position to try to help with the story.
On how Joe Buck handled it
I will say this, Joe Buck, as you guys know, I've worked with him for 21 years, and I've seen him at his best. He's unbelievable. I think this was his finest moment. I think he handled everything better than anyone could have. Any broadcaster. Sports, news or whatever it might be. He was really good at what he was doing and broadcasting to America what was taking place and doing it in a way that he wasn't speculating or sensationalizing in any way. Not an easy thing to do. He and I were on the air for over an hour before we ever really did anything with it. There was a lot of time that had to be filled with a story that we weren't getting any information.
