sport news Damar Hamlin: Bart Scott U-turns to insist Tee Higgins was NOT at fault for ... trends now
ESPN analyst Bart Scott has insisted he was not blaming Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins for Damar Hamlin's collapse.
Hamlin, 24, collapsed after landing a tackle on Higgins in the first quarter playing for the Bills against the Cincinnati Bengals. He had to be resuscitated on the field and was taken to hospital, where he remains in critical condition but has made positive progress and is now breathing on his own.
Scott was branded 'despicable' earlier this week after claiming Higgins had lowered his helmet on the play, causing Hamlin to be hit on the chest.
Bart Scott controversially suggested Tee Higgins (second left) lowered his helmet before the tackle with Damar Hamlin moments before he had a cardiac arrest
The ESPN analyst has since doubled back and insisted the wide receiver is not at fault
However, the former linebacker appeared to double back on his comments and insisted Higgin was not at fault on ESPN New York's 'Bart & Hahn' on Wednesday when asked by co-host Alan Hahn.
'Not at all,' Scott said. 'This is a football play, like I said before, that you see this type of tackle 100 times in a football game. It's just one of those unfortunate things — wrong place, 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.'
Scott also claimed that his comments were misconstrued and that the clip that went viral excluded a segment from earlier in the program, in which he said he expressed concern for the receiver.
'In the first segment, if they would've paid attention to it, they would have heard that the first thing I did was express my concern for Tee Higgins, because there were reports that he was walking out with his head down on his mother's shoulder,' he said on his radio show.
'So I was expressing concern. I was so happy that his mother was there to console him because it's important to check on him as well because he may feel responsible.
'I expressed that concern and I said that this was just a freak accident that happened [on a routine play] that happens 1,000 times on a football field. In no way am I blaming anybody. We play a violent sport and freaky, fluky stuff happens. That was what I was trying to express, but I had expressed that already in the beginning.
