Bart Scott clarified his comments towards Tee Higgins.
The veteran NFL linebacker went viral earlier this week after alleging on ESPN that Higgins lowered his helmet into Damar Hamlin’s chest on the play in which the Bills safety suffered heart arrest and collapsed on the field after making a routine tackle. Since then, Hamlin has awakened and interacted with teammates.
Alan Hahn asked Scott on ESPN New York’s “Bart & Hahn” on Wednesday if Higgins was responsible for Hamlin’s demise.
Not at all, stated Scott. As stated above, this type of tackle occurs one hundred times per game. It’s one of those unlucky occurrences: the wrong place at the wrong time. We’ve seen this happen. It’s no different from anything that happens in any other sport. It’s a freak accident, and nobody’s at fault.”
There were a lot of vociferous dissenters of Scott’s original commentary, notably standout Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons.
“Yoo are we serious?!!?” Parsons tweeted. “Why do we let some people speak on tv?! This was a freak accident, but blaming another player is insane! They ought to make some of these men cross lines or something, or deny them a place at the table!”
Scott maintained on his radio program that his remarks were misrepresented and that the viral footage lacked the context of what he had stated earlier in the broadcast.
“In the first section, if they had listened attentively, they would have heard me voice my concern for Tee Higgins, as there were reports that he was leaving with his head bowed on his mother’s shoulder. I therefore expressed concern. I was really delighted that his mother was there to console him because it’s vital to check on him as well since he may feel responsible.
He states “I’m not trying to blame Tee Higgins” but it’s so brief that it’s missed, and the emphasis seems to indicate the reverse, so at least show the extended version so that people can hear it for Tee’s sake.
https://t.co/7Y4YjoBrUY
— Bell/DJ Reader/Wilson/Pratt, Irwin/Tee/TB/Uno (3 January 2023) (@bengals fandom)
“I voiced my concern and explained that this was merely a random event that occurred [during a normal play] 1,000 times a year on a football field. In no way am I blaming anybody. We engage in a violent sport, and bizarre, random events occur. That was the point I was attempting to make, but I had already made it at the outset. This was the third portion of me attempting to explain things, and perhaps I was not concise. It was a day filled with emotion and difficulty for everyone.”
Scott continued by stating that Higgins was seeking contact with Hamlin as opposed to attempting to evade him, which may have surprised the safety.
»Bart Scott denies blaming Tee Higgins for Damar Hamlin’s crash«