{"id":8709574,"date":"2023-01-08T17:59:24","date_gmt":"2023-01-09T01:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/?p=8709574&preview=true&preview_id=8709574"},"modified":"2023-01-09T04:53:44","modified_gmt":"2023-01-09T12:53:44","slug":"kurtenbach-for-the-49ers-the-first-game-back-since-damar-hamlins-cardiac-arrest-was-business-as-usual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2023\/01\/08\/kurtenbach-for-the-49ers-the-first-game-back-since-damar-hamlins-cardiac-arrest-was-business-as-usual\/","title":{"rendered":"Kurtenbach: For the 49ers, the first game back since Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest was business as usual"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA CLARA \u2014\u00a0Like so many football fans across the country, Damar Hamlin spent his Sunday\u00a0posting to social media<\/a>, rooting on his NFL team<\/a> as it played the final game of the regular season.<\/p>\n

The Buffalo Bills player’s recovery from cardiac arrest lightened the mood around the NFL as play resumed this weekend. Still, the scare from his near-death experience on Monday kept Hamlin top-of-mind, even 2,000 miles away from his hospital bed in Ohio.<\/p>\n

The theme of Sunday’s 49ers-Cardinals game was “Love For Damar.” Players and coaches from both teams wore t-shirts emblazoned with the phrase. We also saw the slogan on the Levi’s Stadium screens and on handmade signs in the stands. The Niners honored Hamlin before the game began, and the “3” in the 30-yard-line markings were outlined with red, an homage to the player’s jersey number.<\/p>\n

As the 49ers and Cardinals players suited up to take the field for the first time since Hamlin’s horrifying collapse, there were dozens of reminders of one of the scariest moments in NFL history.<\/p>\n

How do you play a game under those circumstances?<\/p>\n

You compartmentalize.<\/p>\n

NFL players are masters of that.<\/p>\n

In asking several of them about that ability after the Niners’ 38-13 win, I heard the same thing again and again:<\/p>\n

“We play football.”<\/p>\n

Translation: The players know the risks of the game.\u00a0They play anyway.<\/p>\n

\"The
The San Francisco 49ers cheer squad performs on the field as the scoreboard displays support for Buffalo Bills Damar Hamlin before their NFL game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (Jose Carlos Fajardo\/Bay Area News Group) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n