As time distances from the shocking and scary Damar Hamlin incident on Monday Night Football, more information has been uncovered on the behind-the-scenes process of what went on while the crisis played out. Including a tidbit that supports a claim made by venerable commentator, Joe Buck.
A fascinating, thorough piece on ESPN senior writer Don Van Natta Jr. published on Monday detailed practically everything. Included in the article was the Monday Night Football commentator. Buck recently provided a stern defense of his and his network’s coverage of the Hamlin incident.
That was consistent with the piece from Van Natta Jr. Of note, Buck responded to claims from Troy Vincent, the EVP of Football Operations for the NFL, that the NFL wanted the game to resume.
Buck told ESPN that what he conveyed to a national audience came from Parry, who was in constant communications with the league office.
In an interview, Buck said he was “surprised” to hear Vincent had said that the information about the intended resumption of the game did not come from the league office.
“If what I said on national TV with the eyes of the world watching was wrong in the view of the league, I would have been corrected — immediately,” Buck said. “And I was not.”
Buck went on to tell about how long they had to wait for word as well.
No one from the league ever asked for a retraction. “We were on the air for another 40 minutes and no one corrected the idea that the game would resume,” Buck said. “No one.”
Buck’s adamance suggests he won’t be backing down from his position either, and perhaps neither will his network. So whatever happens after this is yet to be seen, but Joe Buck has his story and he’s sticking to it.
[ESPN]
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Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022