Bills safety Damar Hamlin is cleared to RETURN to football

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has been cleared to return to the football field four months after suffering an on-field cardiac arrest and being resuscitated by emergency responders.

Bills general manager Brandon Beane made the announcement on Tuesday, saying that Hamlin is with the team at the moment.

'They're all in agreement,' Beane said of Hamlin's doctors. 'It's not 2-1 or 3-1 or anything like that. They're all in lock step with what this was and that he is cleared to resume full activities just like anyone else who was coming back from an injury or whatever. He's fully cleared, he's here and he is in a great headspace to come back and make his return.'

Hamlin had previously said he hopes to return to the game, despite his near-death experience playing for the Bills in Cincinnati in early January.

The Bills begin off-season organized team activities (OTAs) on May 22, when Hamlin could be in uniform for the first time since his cardiac arrest. The team will hold minicamp June 13 through 15. The NFL's 2023 preseason games begin on August 3 with the season openers scheduled for September 7. In the meantime, Hamlin is working out at the Bills' facility in Orchard Park, New York. 

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has been cleared to return to football, according to the team

Players react as Hamlin is taken off the field and into an ambulance before emergency surgery

'We're super excited for Damar,' Bills head coach Sean McDermott said Tuesday. 'He's moving forward one step at a time here. He's been cleared from a physical standpoint. We'll provide all the mental help we can from a mind, body and spirit standpoint. Just happy for him that he's been able to check some of those boxes to this point, and we're moving forward, but taking it one day at a time.' 

Hamlin turned  25 last month in another milestone for the Bills safety as he continues his recovery from an on-field cardiac arrest during a January game in Cincinnati.

'Turning 25 @ midnight,' Hamlin tweeted Thursday night before posting a picture of his birthday cake on Twitter. 'So much to be thankful for.'

That's certainly an understatement.

Hamlin needed to be resuscitated on the field in Cincinnati before being rushed to a local hospital for emergency surgery on January 2, and has since undergone months of rehabilitation as his NFL future remains up in the air.

He has since made numerous appearances around the country, including during the Super Bowl festivities in Arizona, where he received the NFLPA's Alan Page Community Award. He also took part in a pregame ceremony in which the NFL honored the Bills and Bengals training and medical staffs and first responders who treated the Pittsburgh native.

In February, it was reported that Hamlin had a few more visits to doctors before determining whether he can pursue his goal of returning to the league.

Bills general manager Brandon Beane made the announcement about Hamlin on Tuesday

Hamlin tweeted that he has 'so much to be thankful for' after his near-death experience 

In providing the update at the NFL combine in Indianapolis on February 28, Beane said Hamlin's 'end game' is to resume playing so long as he receives the necessary medical clearance.

'If we're able to get full clearance and he feels he's ready to do it, that's another big smile of a story,' Beane said at the time. 'Not only that he's just got his life back, but that he'd have his football career back. I would love to give the storybook ending that he's definitely going to play, but we just don't know that yet. But if he does, we'll be very happy for him.'

In February, Beane said 'all is well' with Hamlin's test results after visiting numerous specialists around the country. 

Hamlin has enjoyed what doctors are calling a remarkable recovery since collapsing on the field after making what appeared to be a routine tackle in the first quarter of a game against the Bengals which was suspended and eventually canceled.

The second-year player from Pittsburgh's exurb of McKee's Rock spent nearly 10 days recovering in hospitals in both Cincinnati and Buffalo before being released. He eventually began visiting the Bills facility and attended the team's season-ending 27-10 loss to Cincinnati in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Hamlin posted a pic of his birthday cake, which contained a reference to his jersey number