Damar Hamlin was ready to celebrate following the Buffalo Bills’ 27-25 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL Divisional Round on Sunday night.
What he wasn’t in the mood for, however, was a postgame interview plagued by technical difficulties.
Only that’s exactly the situation Hamlin found himself in as he joined SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt for a postgame chat. Standing on the field at Highmark Stadium, the fourth-year safety donned a headset for a remote interview with Van Pelt that quickly went awry.
“Damar, hey, it’s Scott Van Pelt here on SportsCenter. Can you hear me?” Van Pelt began the “interview.”
“Bro, they taking too long,” Hamlin could be both seen and heard telling a Bills staffer.
“Damar, it’s Scott. Can you hear me?” Van Pelt repeated. “Hey Damar, it’s Scott Van Pelt. Can you hear me?”
“I don’t hear nobody, bro,” Hamlin said. “I’m about to dip.”
“Okie doke,” Van Pelt replied, giving a thumbs up as he looked toward the camera. “He’s gonna dip. Good times.”
Van Pelt then pivoted toward narrating the highlights from the Bills’ win over the Ravens — but not before giving his interview with Hamlin one last try.
“Damar, it’s Scott, can you hear me?” a clearly frustrated Van Pelt asked to no avail. “Back to the highlights, why wouldn’t we? One of these days, we’ll get it all figured out.”
Absolute GOLD on espn studio shows tonight: a mere minutes after the championship drive moment, Damar Hamlin and Sportscenter with SVP couldn’t get on same page, leading to some funny quips from Damar… @awfulannouncing pic.twitter.com/jwbOBfLjrM
— Austin Maida (@Maida904) January 20, 2025
As it turns out, “one of these days” proved to be roughly eight minutes later, with Hamlin successfully joining SportsCenter, audio and all.
“Scott, what’s up bro? How you doing?” Hamlin asked.
“I’m better now,” Van Pelt replied. “Because — I was trying to speak to you and there’s nothing more frustrating as somebody’s sitting here when the guy out there can’t hear me.”
Van Pelt proceeded with the interview, which you never would have known had been sabotaged by technical difficulties mere minutes earlier.
While the initial interview attempt could have easily turned into an embarrassing moment for Van Pelt — and Hamlin, who clearly didn’t know his audio was being broadcast on national television — the ESPN host did a masterful job navigating the situation, even if his (understandable) frustration had become apparent. And it’s also a credit to the real unsung hero here, the field producer, who made sure that the initial botched attempt didn’t prevent the interview from ultimately coming to fruition.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.