'I Believe in Prayer': ESPN Analyst and Former NFL Star Bows His Head and Prays On-Air for Damar Hamlin

Former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky took a bold and public faith stance Tuesday, bowing his head and openly praying on the air for ailing Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin.

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“Maybe this is not the right thing to do,” Orlovsky said before praying. “It’s just on my heart that I want to pray for Damar Hamlin right now.”

He continued, “I’m going to do it out loud, I’m going to close my eyes, I’m going to bow my head, and I’m just going to pray for him.”

ANALYSIS  'Team Damar': God, Faith, and Prayer Become the Focus After Hamlin's Heart Attack on the Field

And with that, Orlovsky offered a powerful invocation for Hamlin, who remains hospitalized in critical condition after the 24-year-old collapsed and cardiac arrested Monday night during a football showdown between the Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Here’s the full text of Orlovsky’s prayer:

“God we come to you in these moments that we don’t understand, that are hard, because we believe that You’re God and coming to You and praying to You has impact. We’re sad, we’re angry, we want answers, but some things are unanswerable. We just want to pray, truly come to You and pray for strength for Damar, for healing for Damar, for comfort for Damar, to be with his family, to give them peace. If we didn’t believe that prayer … worked, we wouldn’t ask this of You, God. I believe in prayer, we believe in prayer, and we lift up Damar Hamlin’s name in Your name, Amen.”

Watch the powerful moment:

Football fans and Americans more broadly continue to pray for Hamlin’s recovery. Meanwhile, those who know the young player have been speaking out about his life and character.

Terry Totten, a former football coach who worked with Hamlin when he attended Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told CBN’s Faithwire Tuesday Hamlin is an “incredible person” both on and off the field.

“He is a tremendous player, but that belies the fact of what an incredible person he is,” Totten said. “He was just always willing to reach across any line of communication to another fellow student, a fellow teammate, a coach, and anybody. He just he absorbed it all. He was very, very steady kid.”

Read more about Hamlin here.

Just chatted with Damar Hamlin’s family friend @jordonr.

Per Jordon and Damar’s family, doctors overnight got promising readings that they had been hoping to see by this morning. Jordon couldn’t go into specifics, but progress appears to be made.

— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) January 4, 2023

ESPN national reporter Coley Harvey reported Wednesday that Hamlin’s family friend told him the player is showing “positive readings” to doctors and that “progress appears to be made,” though he remains in critical condition.

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