Monday night Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin collapsed after making a tackle on Cincinnati Bengals player Tee Higgins.

CPR was administered on the field, an AED was used and then Hamlin was taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where, as of this writing, he was in critical condition.

A lot of thoughts have been rambling through my head since I heard what happened.

On news shows and across social media there were remarks that things like this transcend the game and unites us all. Well it transcended the game to a degree. There was still plenty of discussion of when will the game resume with playoff implications riding on the outcome.

There were the cliché remarks that it is “just a game” and what Hamlin is going through is so much more important.

Yes, his health and what he went through is the most important, but let’s step back and think about the first statement “It’s just a game.”

Football is just a game at the high school level, at the middle school level, at the Pop Warner/recreation district level.

It’s not a game anymore at the NFL level. These young men are getting paid handsomely for their chosen career. It’s not a game for them. It is their profession, it is their work. It is how they make their living.

How many of us can say when we go to work it is dangerous and we could be injured or even die? Some of us, but definitely not all of us.

It is not a game if you can be seriously injured at your work place.

NFL players should know the risks. They choose to play in the NFL because it is something they love to do. It is the same reason I work at the Northern Wyoming News, because I love what I do. I love my chosen profession. (I am thankful that most days the most dangerous thing I have to worry about is a paper cut.)

I am in no way making light of what happened to Mr. Hamlin and as with everyone else, my thoughts and prayers are with him, his family and his teammates. I saw the anguish on his teammates faces.

What I am saying is that football, at the NFL level, is not a game, it is a career. The NFL is a business and the players are not the only employees dependent on the success of the business; and while what happened to Hamlin is unfortunate and sad, at the appropriate time, the business needs to move forward and decisions on the Bills-Bengals game will have to be made.

The other main thought running through my head since Hamlin’s collapse is the talk of unity, which would be laughable if it was not so sad.

Don’t get me wrong, the fans and players on the field and in Paycor Stadium were united and showed a lot of class, Cincinnati businesses lit up in Bills colors in support of Hamlin, Bills and Bengals fans arrived at the hospital to show their support. On Twitter, all NFL teams changed profiles to the same logo in support of Hamlin.

Many were united on social media, however, as is the case in the society we now live in, there is discourse.

There are those who talk about the violence of the game of football, there are those blaming the COVID-19 vaccines. Those wanting to talk about the game and what would happen with the playoffs are at odds with those wanting only to think of Hamlin and his family.

There were those arguing over tweets, and some calling for the firing of Skip Bayless over his tweet shortly after Hamlin’s collapse. “No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game – but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome .. which suddenly seems so irrelevant.”

Later, he tweeted, “Nothing is more important than that young man’s health. That was the point of my last tweet. (I understood that as did many commenters on Twitter). I’m sorry if that was misunderstood but his health is all that matters. Again, everything else is irrelevant. I prayed for him and will continue to.”

There was no unity even on Skip’s tweet, some in support and some opposed.

So for the person who commented on one post, that they hoped Hamlin would know how he united everyone, I wish I had their rose-colored glasses but I do not believe we will ever be united like we were on Sept. 12, 2001.

Maybe our country and the world will surprise me one day.

In the meantime, for some of us, we can be united in having our thoughts and prayers extended to Hamlin and his family and friends; get well thoughts, not thoughts of blame or conspiracies or business, just on one young man getting better.