ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Nyheim Hines hasn’t had an easy year. The midseason trade that sent him from Indianapolis, the only NFL home he’s known, to Buffalo came with challenges. He knew the Bills were a loaded roster ready to contend for the Super Bowl, but Hines had to figure out where he fit into the team’s championship puzzle.
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One of the first Bills to introduce himself to Hines was Damar Hamlin, a bubbly second-year safety who came with a smile and welcoming words. Since then, Hines and Hamlin have talked frequently. Hamlin has been talking in meetings about how it’s time to “Free Hines.” When Hamlin collapsed on the field in Cincinnati and ended up in the intensive care unit at UC Medical, Hines could sense how that was going to impact his teammates. He’s only known Hamlin for a short time, but he saw the way teammates rallied around him. Hines thought this could be his reason for being in Buffalo.
“I haven’t been here long,” Hines said. “And I know that. But I was there to comfort my guys and try to be there for guys. That’s what I’ve been trying to do this whole week, just obviously, I’m not as close with him as other people, but I know that for my one-eleventh, for my job, I can support my brothers who know him, who are hurting a lot more than I am. And just, what I would say is I think that every person deals with grieving differently, and I felt like my job was just make sure I could support my brothers.”
Hines did more than that. The Bills knew the scene in Orchard Park would be unlike any they’d ever been a part of. But for a while, it felt normal. Fans arrived early to tailgate and seemed to bask in the normalcy of a 1 p.m. kickoff in Orchard Park. A line of fans gathered at the corner of Abbott Road and Bills Drive to write well wishes on a sign of Hamlin with a quote of an old tweet of his.
“If you get a chance to show some love today, do it,” it read. “It won’t cost you nothing”
GO DEEPER
Bills' Nyheim Hines scores 2 kickoff return TDs vs. Patriots
Out front of the stadium, a statue of late Bills founder Ralph Wilson was covered in messages for Hamlin. White block letters in front of the team store read “Love For Damar.” Days earlier, more than 100 Bills fans gathered on a rainy afternoon in that same spot to pray while Hamlin lay in a hospital bed on a ventilator. The unknown of the situation felt hopeless.
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By the time Sunday rolled around, Hamlin’s condition had improved dramatically. He woke up early Thursday and asked who won Monday’s game. He was FaceTiming into the team meeting by Friday. On Saturday, he was up walking again. At 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Hamlin sent a text to Tre’Davious White and other teammates apologizing for what he had put them through.
So, after such an emotional week, the Bills were craving the comfort of normalcy. For them, that meant a game-day afternoon in the raw cold weather in Orchard Park.
“Being at home today was like we were coming together as a family in that stadium, and they supported us and hopefully we gave them a couple things to cheer about also,” McDermott said.
Added Josh Allen: “Sitting there, national anthem, I know some guys had some tears rolling down and just a feeling of uncertainty of what it was gonna feel like.”
When Nick Folk finally booted the ball downfield for the opening kickoff, the tension in the stadium needed a release. It was Hines who provided it. The running back who entered the game with negative rushing yards in a Bills uniform and only five catches since the trade finally got his chance to impact his team. He saw a crease and cut to the right sideline. He ripped through an arm tackle and had a free lane to break upfield. He ran through the rest of the Patriots defenders and a free run to the end zone. He raised his arms as Jim Nantz shouted on the broadcast, “This is storybook!” When Hines crossed the goal line, Hamlin tweeted, “OMFG!”
CHILLS.
📺: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/9uXnx91reb
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 8, 2023
It was the first Bills’ kick return touchdown since Micah Hyde did so three years and three months ago. On a day when the number 3, Hamlin’s jersey number, was all over the stadium in honor of Hamlin, that fact brought Allen to tears.
“You want the truth? Bills quarterback Allen said. “It was spiritual, it really was. Bone-chilling. It was special.”
Hines’ 96-yard kick return put the Bills up 7-0 before the offense or defense could touch the field. Later in the game, with the Bills trailing 17-14 in the third quarter, Hines added another special moment. With the Bills needing another lift, Hines broke a 101-yard kick return for a touchdown. He became just the 11th player in NFL history to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in a single game. It was the second time in Hines’ career that he’s had two return touchdowns in a game. He returned two punts for touchdowns against the Panthers in 2019. Hines is the first player to have scored multiple kickoff return touchdowns and multiple punt return touchdowns in separate games.
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But these kick returns will stand out. He said this day is his favorite football memory, and it’s one his teammates won’t soon forget.
“You go out and then you have this kind of shock to the system like that,” Mitch Morse said. “It was such a tone-setter. You could feel how palpable it was in the stadium. It did feel almost like a … it was so surreal. Really the trajectory of that was paramount for us and the crowd was into it, the team — it really interjected a lot of energy.”
Added Dion Dawkins: “Things like that don’t just happen.”
The Bills ended up winning the game 35-23 with Hines’ return touchdowns proving to be the difference. In doing so, Buffalo locked up the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs and ensured a potential AFC Championship Game against the Chiefs will be played at a neutral site. They also ended the season of a long-despised rival. Hines didn’t just lift his own team’s spirits, he crushed those of the opposition.
“A little bit shellshocked,” Patriots captain and special teams ace Matthew Slater said. “I’m trying to process that. … It’s hard to process. I’ve been playing this game a long time and never been part of anything like that. … We cost the team the game.”
Folk was dejected at his locker after the game and said of Hines, “He ran right through us.”
Patriots punter Michael Palardy, who was the Panthers’ punter when Hines had two punt return touchdowns against Carolina in 2019, said the Patriots knew going into the game Hines was willing to take chances. Yet there they were in the third quarter chasing Hines as he did a Deion Sanders high-step to the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.
“I’m so thankful it was me to, you know, bring that juice, but it’s way bigger than me and that’s what I always thought about and that’s what I felt all day,” Hines said.
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After the game, Hamlin and the team’s training staff got game balls. Hamlin was able to FaceTime the team and break down the huddle and tell the team he loved them. It was a surreal end to an unimaginable week. As the Bills kneeled out the clock, the players each raised three fingers in the air, and the fans in attendance joined.
This dub was for you, @HamlinIsland!!#ForDamar | #LoveForDamar pic.twitter.com/6WqEBGHp02
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 9, 2023
Who knows where the Bills go from here? They didn’t know how they would feel walking on the field Sunday or playing a game after enduring what they did Monday night and throughout the week. They don’t know how they’ll feel when they wake up Monday morning and have to immediately turn their attention to a home playoff game against the Dolphins next week.
But on Sunday afternoon, they got to bask in what Hines did to alter a game that easily could have gone in another direction.
“I can’t remember a play that touched me like that, I don’t think in my life,” Allen said.
(Photo: Mark Konezny / USA Today)
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