Damar Hamlin
Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM
Damar Hamlin speaks on SiriusXM at Super Bowl LIX on February 6, 2025 in New Orleans.
Damar Hamlin has been through a lot in his nearly 27-plus years on the planet. Now the whole world may get to know the specifics of his life.
The Buffalo Bills safety recently revealed to ESPN that he is writing a book about overcoming adversity.
Aside from overcoming the adversity of going from sixth-round draft pick to NFL starting safety, Hamlin of course has also returned to the field after a terrifying cardiac episode in Buffalo’s 2022 Week 17 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Hamlin has one-and-a-half sacks and two interceptions and has started 48 games, with 27 starts, in his four seasons with the Bills.
Why Is Damar Hamlin Writing A Book?
Hamlin undoubtedly believes he can help people, which he has done already.
If you could possibly forget, he was hospitalized after suffering cardiac arrest on the field during the first half of the Bills-Bengals game Jan. 2, 2023 — the game was ultimately canceled due to the incident.
Though he missed the remainder of the 2022-23 season, Hamlin returned to play five games in 2023 — finishing second in NFL Comeback Player of the Year voting.
Hamlin revealed the news to Tim McManus of ESPN, who asked the budding fifth-year pro about his summer-reading list. Hamlin also is reading a book by fellow-NFL player James Conner of the Arizona Cardinals called “Fear Is a Choice: Tackling Life’s Challenges with Dignity, Faith, and Determination” and “Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy The Odds” by David Goggins.
“‘Can’t Hurt Me,” Hamlin told ESPN, is “being able to wire your brain to where situations that are going on around you or happening to you, can’t necessarily have that much hold over how you go forward.”
“Can’t Hurt Me” was published in 2018, and Conner’s book came out in June 2020 when he was a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Hamlin, who went to Pittsburgh and played high-school football at Central High in Pittsburgh, surely wants to support his fellow NFL player and a pro athlete related to his hometown while feeling like he is doing something meaningful.
Hamlin told ESPN he reads “to use time I’m wasting on stupid [stuff] productively.”
What Are Other Bills Players Reading?
Though Hamlin was the only player surveyed to admit he was writing a book, McManus spoke with dozens of players about what they are reading this summer.
Taylor Rapp, who like Hamlin is a Bills safety, told McManus he was reading “The Daily Dad: 366 Meditations on Parenting” by Ryan Holiday. Holiday is renowned for his books based on stoicism, including “The Obstacle is The Way” and “The Daily Stoic,” which have been popular reads among pro athletes.
Rapp’s wife Dani gave birth to the couple’s first child in May, which may be why he is digging into a book about parenting.
Though neither Rapp nor Hamlin recommended it, many players polled said the Bible was their book of choice. But according to McManus, the 2018 New York Times best-selling self-help book “Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones” by James Clear was the most popular selection among NFL players.