Scott Van Pelt from ESPN says we didn’t want to bring in a Medical Expert/Physician to evaluate Damar Hamlin’s condition:Did not want to speculate/Current Update on Hamlin’s condition

ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt explains decision for Damar Hamlin coverage
from Zac Wassink, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com

ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt explained why he didn’t interview a medical expert shortly after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest on Monday night.

“My personal preference was that I didn’t want to bring in a physician to speculate,” Van Pelt told CNN’s Oliver Darcy. “I totally see the other side, where a well-trained eye of a physician might recognize something that might totally make sense. But I just didn’t want to be speculating.”

Monday’s game between the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium was eventually postponed after Hamlin experienced his medical emergency in the contest’s first quarter. ESPN ultimately elected against airing taped programming and instead went to a live edition of “SportsCenter” hosted by Van Pelt. He has since received widespread praise for his work covering a delicate situation.

Specifically, Deadspin’s Eric Blum, Mark Schofield of SB Nation, Chad Finn of the Boston Globe and Jason Clinkscales of Awful Announcing are among those who have presented written flowers to both Van Pelt and Ryan Clark for the way they openly discussed what they and millions watching at home witnessed in Cincinnati. As the Barrett Sports Media website pointed out, though, some observers initially questioned why Van Pelt didn’t welcome a medical analyst or doctor for an on-air segment to inform viewers about Hamlin’s possible condition.

News networks such as CNN and MSNBC featured medical experts during their breaking news coverage late Monday night.

Per ESPN, a friend and business partner said Wednesday morning that Hamlin showed signs of progress overnight. The 24-year-old was still in the intensive care unit at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center as of early Wednesday afternoon:


(Hamlin awake today/Thursday and able to hold his friends’ hands.)

“This is supposed to be a fun show,” Van Pelt continued. “We are the diversion. There is a lot of serious bull—- in the world, but we are here for the fun. That’s what we do. But we are also capable of covering something serious.”