Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin appeared in his team’s locker room and attended a game on Jan. 23 for the first time since he collapsed on the field during another game a few weeks earlier.
The Bills lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, but Hamlin pumped up fans, holding his hands in the shape of a heart and eliciting loud cheers as he raised his arms up and down.
On TikTok, some users are suggesting the love was undeserved, and not because the Bills didn’t advance to the AFC Championship Game.
“Someone playing Damar Hamlin at game performing ritual,” reads the description of one video of Hamlin at the game as a digitized voice says, “Use your brain. If this was actually Damar Hamlin, why isn’t he showing his face?”
Other footage in the video shows him wearing a mask over his face and wearing sunglasses.
“Cloned,” one comment says. “He died on the field, why do you think the rest of his teammates haven’t been talking to him.”
“The world IS a stage,” someone else said.
But this claim is unfounded.
The footage in the post comes from the Buffalo Bills’ Twitter account.
“We’re so glad you’re here, @HamlinIsland,” one tweet said, sharing a video showing Hamlin from the perspective of a field camera as he raises his arms and makes a heart shape with his hands from inside a box suite. It also cuts to a view of Hamlin from inside the suite as he stands next to his brother, Damir.
Another Bills tweet shared CBS footage of Hamlin arriving at the stadium with his mother and brother.
Bills coach Sean McDermott told ESPN it was “a pretty cool moment” when Hamlin appeared on the “big screen” in the stadium during the game.
Bills center Mitch Morse said his presence spoke “volumes.”
Quarterback Josh Allen said it was “a warm feeling.”
We found no credible sources to corroborate the claim that this was someone pretending to be Hamlin.
We rate this post Pants on Fire!
