{"id":22662,"date":"2023-01-12T10:37:03","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T15:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=22662"},"modified":"2023-03-16T15:34:21","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T19:34:21","slug":"bills-quarterback-josh-allen-holds-back-emotions-describes-kickoff-return-touchdown-as-spiritual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2023\/01\/bills-quarterback-josh-allen-holds-back-emotions-describes-kickoff-return-touchdown-as-spiritual.html","title":{"rendered":"Bills Quarterback Josh Allen Holds Back Emotions, Describes Kickoff Return Touchdown as &#8220;Spiritual&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_22671\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22671\" style=\"width: 768px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2023\/01\/josh-allen-credit-wikimedia-commons.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22671\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2023\/01\/josh-allen-credit-wikimedia-commons.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"514\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22671\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Erik Drost\/Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It has been a harrowing, terrifying, and oddly optimistic time for the Buffalo Bills. Last Sunday, just shy of a week after Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed and went into cardiac arrest during a football showdown between the Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, the Bills returned to the field and won against the New England Patriots.<\/p>\n<p>But that was only a bonus to the fantastic news that Hamlin was recovering and could watch the game from his hospital bed, sharing in the joy the 35-23 victory brought. Hamlin\u2019s healing has been an answer to prayer for a nation on the edge of its seat, wondering if the 24-year-old player \u2014 whose initial medical state was dire \u2014 would pull through.<\/p>\n<p>That emotional toll was palpable, particularly after the Bills\u2019 win last Sunday. Quarterback Josh Allen delivered an emotional statement and gave God all the glory. \u201cIt was just spiritual \u2026 I was going around my team and saying, \u2018God\u2019s real,\u2019\u201d Allen said. \u201cYou can\u2019t draw that one, write that one up any better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He continued, as he got emotional, \u201cIt\u2019s been three years and three months since the last kickoff return.\u201d Allen was addressing the first play of the game, a 96-yard kickoff return \u2014 a resulting touchdown that left the Bills in celebration. The significance here, of course, is Hamlin\u2019s number, which is 3.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">3 is a special number. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ForDamar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ForDamar<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LoveForDamar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#LoveForDamar<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/itjpxQ4wKv\">pic.twitter.com\/itjpxQ4wKv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BuffaloBills\/status\/1612215028085817345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 8, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With the players coming out donning Hamlin\u2019s number, Allen saw significance in the fact it had also been three years and three months since that last kickoff return. During the post-game news conference, Allen said he couldn\u2019t remember another play that profoundly impacted him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou want the truth? It was spiritual. It really was,\u201d he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/01\/08\/sports\/football\/buffalo-bills-hines-return.html\">said<\/a>. \u201cBone-chilling. It was special. I can\u2019t remember a play that touched me like that in my life.\u201d Dr. Timothy Pritts, one of Hamlin\u2019s doctors at UC Medical Center in Cincinnati, said Hamlin set off the alarms in ICU by getting out of his chair and jumping up and down at the thrilling runback.<\/p>\n<p>Later in the game, Hines scored a second kickoff return touchdown. In doing so, he became the 11th player in NFL history with two kickoff return touchdowns in the same game and the first since the Seattle Seahawks\u2019 Leon Washington in Week 3, 2010, according to the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>Hamlin on Monday was transferred from the Cincinnati hospital and flown to Buffalo, where he was at a medical facility but has since been sent home. Hines\u2019 two touchdowns were the catalysts in the Bills securing the No. 2 spot in the AFC Wild Card playoff picture with their 35-23 over the Patriots.<\/p>\n<p>Allen threw for 254 yards and three touchdowns \u2013 one each to Stefon Diggs, John Brown and Dawson Knox \u2013 as the Bills knocked New England out of playoff contention. It\u2019s an actual moment of hope and rejoicing after a terrifying ordeal that could have claimed Hamlin\u2019s life. Continue praying for the player\u2019s recovery and a complete restoration of health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It has been a harrowing, terrifying, and oddly optimistic time for the Buffalo Bills. Last Sunday, just shy of a week after Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed and went into cardiac arrest during a football showdown between the Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, the Bills returned to the field and won against the New England&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":22671,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3630,7,10],"tags":[5361,5373,5040],"class_list":["post-22662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletes","category-entertainment","category-sports","tag-damar-hamlin","tag-josh-allen","tag-miracles-with-god"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bills Quarterback Josh Allen Holds Back Emotions, Describes Kickoff Return Touchdown as &quot;Spiritual&quot;<\/title>\n<meta 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