'Tears of joy' as NFL star's recovery hits milestone

1 year ago 82

By Damien McCartney and AP

The betterment of the young Buffalo Bills NFL prima who suffered a cardiac apprehension successful the mediate of the crippled against the Cincinnati Bengals has deed different milestone - he's joined successful a squad videoconference.

The young information reportedly told teammates "love you, boys" aft having his breathing tubes removed.

Doctors, household and his squad person been near shocked by his occurrence progress.

"You locomotion successful determination and he's responding to commands. It was perfectly not what I thought I was going to hear," Buffalo Bills wide manager Brandon Bean said.

"It was conscionable ... it was decidedly tears of joy."

Meanwhile, NFL owners person approved a solution that could pb to a neutral tract for the AFC title aft the remainder of the crippled was cancelled.

The league held a peculiar gathering Friday to see the proposal of Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league's contention committee.

"We judge this is simply a focused attack that would lone impact 4 teams and straight code the imaginable for competitory inequity resulting from 30 teams playing 17 games and 2 playing 16 games," Goodell said.

"It was captious for the owners to ballot truthful clubs going into this play cognize what they’re playing for."

The league chose to cancel the Bills-Bengals crippled alternatively of resuming it successful the coming weeks to debar disrupting the commencement of the postseason and impacting the remainder of the playoff field.

The Bills-Bengals crippled had large playoff implications for the AFC. Buffalo (12-3) entered the lucifer needing a triumph to support the AFC’s No.1 seed. The Kansas City Chiefs (13-3) present clasp that spot. The Bengals (11-4) had a accidental to gain that apical effect with 2 much wins and a nonaccomplishment by the Chiefs.

The AFC title volition beryllium played astatine a neutral tract if the participating teams played an unequal fig of games and some could person been the No.1 effect and hosted the crippled had each AFC clubs played a afloat 17-game regular season.

The league is considering respective sites, including indoor and outdoor stadiums.

Bengals manager Zac Taylor made it wide the squad isn't blessed with the league changing the rules. The NFL’s 2022 argumentation manual for crippled operations states "a team’s lasting successful its part oregon successful its conference" volition beryllium determined by winning percent if a crippled is canceled.

Due to the bonzer circumstances surrounding the canceled game, the league projected caller rules.

"We conscionable privation the rules to beryllium followed," Taylor said.

"When a crippled is canceled, you crook to winning percent to clarify everything, truthful we don’t person to marque up the rules. There’s respective instances this play erstwhile the nine is fined, oregon radical successful our gathering are fined, and we’re told to travel the rules.

"It’s achromatic and white. It’s successful the regularisation book. So, erstwhile you’re told we’re going to alteration that, I don’t privation to perceive astir just and equitable successful that case."

Rich McKay, the NFL contention committee chairman, said the teams had immoderate input successful the process. Katie Blackburn, the enforcement vice president for the Bengals, told the committee the squad wasn't successful favour of the proposal.

"She made a presentation, beauteous eloquent and made her points," McKay said.

"There was plentifulness (of consideration) fixed to them due to the fact that they are the affected squad truthful you wanted to perceive from them. I deliberation connected the neutral-site situation, fundamentally each 3 teams going successful had to benignant of hold they were OK with that situation.

"Didn’t mean they’re going to ballot for it, but they were OK with it. And truthful that ever evidently helps with making a connection similar that."

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