Bills coach who performed CPR on Damar Hamlin receives 5th place vote for NFL MVP

Patrick Mahomes received his second career MVP on Thursday, but the real surprise came when the vote totals for the award were released.

The rankings feature the expected mix of quarterbacks, talent and defensive stars, with one exception. This person, who received a fifth-place vote, was not an offensive lineman, kicker, or coach.

It was Buffalo Bills assistant coach Denny Kellington, the man credited with performing life-saving CPR on Damar Hamlin after the Bills safety suffered a cardiac arrest on the field last month.

According Rob Maaddi of The Associated Press, the voter who got Kellington to link up with the likes of Justin Herbert and Tyreek Hill was ESPN’s Suzy Kolber, who called her vote a “symbolic gesture representing ‘everyone’ who bears the weight of this work, every week. . They rarely get the recognition they deserve.

Maddii called the gesture “beautiful” and noted that the vote did not affect the top five in the award.

Nowhere in the official AP voting guidelines does it say that only active NFL players can receive votes, although the spirit of the award is obviously to identify the best players in the league. Voting for AP All-Pro teams is actually much stricter, as this year’s results featured four voters who chose ineligible players as second-team linebackers.

Damar Hamlin’s medical team recognized with NFL honors

Hamlin’s nationally televised meltdown on “Monday Night Football” would have been all the more horrific had it not been for the efforts of Kellington and his peers on the Bills and the hospitals in Cincinnati and Buffalo where Hamlin recovered.

This group had already been recognized at Thursday’s NFL Honors, where they were brought on stage for Hamlin, who has recovered enough that the NFLPA’s top doctor thinks he will play football again, to personally thank them for their help.

“Every day I was amazed that my experience could encourage so many others, across the country and even around the world,” Hamlin said. “Encouraged to pray, encouraged to spread love and encouraged to keep fighting no matter what.

“Sudden cardiac arrest was nothing I would ever choose to be part of my story. It’s because sometimes our own visions are too small, even when we think we have the big picture. My vision was to play in the NFL and be the best player I could be. God’s plan was to have a purpose bigger than any game in this world.”