Damar Hamlin’s return to Cincinnati nearly one year after he suffered an on-field cardiac arrest was best left unmentioned, according to sports media personality Bomani Jones.

The former ESPN and HBO host took issue with the celebration surrounding Hamlin’s presence at Sunday’s Bills-Bengals game in Cincinnati, where the Buffalo safety remained inactive, as he’s been all season.

The 25-year-old was active on January 2, when he was left motionless on the Paycor Stadium turf in Cincinnati following a tackle on Bengals receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin has since revealed that he suffered commotio cordis, a rare condition in which cardiac rhythm is disrupted when the chest becomes impacted. He was resuscitated on the field and was rushed to the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center, where his life was ultimately saved. Commotio cordis typically has a 97-percent fatality rate if not treated within three minutes.

Hamlin, dressed in Bills sweats, led his teammates onto the field in Cincinnati, but Jones felt as though the ceremony served to distract from the harsh realities of football and the reality that someone nearly died.

‘The belief in this game and the way that people look at it is so powerful that they’ve got to believe they can make it into something good,’ Jones said on his podcast. ‘I’ll be honest, it’s been almost a year since all of this happened and I haven’t really reconciled where I am on it and how I feel about it.

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin (3) warms up on the field Sunday before being ruled inactive

Jones didn’t appreciate the NFL treating Damar Hamlin’s return to Cincinatti as inspirational

‘And you just keep showing me this … we’d all be better off acting like it didn’t happen.’

Sunday’s return was portrayed by the team, league and media as an emotional one for Hamlin, who had dinner with 10 UC medical staffers, who helped save his life at the beginning of 2023.

Read Related Also: After Maui's wildfires, thousands brace for long process of restoring safe water service

He was cheered by fans in Cincinnati, many of whom had watched in horror as his lifeless body was loaded onto an ambulance back in January.

But while some see Hamlin’s return to the NFL as inspirational, Jones sees it as sending the wrong message.

‘I do recognize that the role of sport in society is value promotion and all of these things. But now that everything has to be made into a television show, the NFL has to stand in every way for all that’s good,’ Jones said. 

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin (3) hugs Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs on Sunday

‘And what they’re trying to do is turn what happened with Damar Hamlin into a story of inspiration.

‘There is nothing inspiring about what happened.’

‘If there’s an inspiration it is, yeah, the first responders and their ability to save somebody’s life under those circumstances,’ Jones said. ‘Hearing about Damar Hamlin, all that does is make me sit there and question, ”Why exactly am I doing this again? What am I watching this for?”

‘It was one of the most awkward and honestly terrifying and unsettling moments that I can ever think of in watching a sporting event,’ Jones added. ‘And you know it was terrifying and unsettling because they actually canceled the end of the game.’