Damar Hamlin interview fuels COVID-19 vaccine conspiracies. Here’s what he had to say

Damar Hamlin’s appearance in the build to last week’s Super Bowl culminating with his presence at the big game was an awesome sight for most fans.

Most. Not all.

Because since the 24-year-old Buffalo Bills safety had a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field against the Cincinnati Bengals last month the conspiracy theorists have been busy working around the fringe of his amazing story.

So, while many prayed for his recovery and then celebrated him when he went and did just that, others have been cooking up conspiracy theories and giving him unnecessary grief at a time when he certainly doesn’t need that in his life.

Former World Series champ Aubrey Huff helped perpetuate the wild theory that Hamlin actually died on the field and was replaced by a clone or body double. That was pushed, too, when conspiracy theorists who have never heard of photoshop tried to point to photos of Hamlin — appearing to show no neck tattoo — as evidence that this Hamlin is in fact not the Hamlin.

Crazy stuff, right?

And then Adrian Peterson went after him for the jacket he wore at the Super Bowl, calling it “blasphemous.”

And if that would have been it, that would have been enough crazy for the week, but … nope.

Because the COVID vaccine conspiracy theorists are always out there looking for anything. And, in Hamlin’s interview on “Good Morning America” with Michael Strahan they found what they were looking for.

“(I was feeling) super normal,” Hamlin told Strahan during the interview. “Feeling great. I’m thinking, finish the regular season strong. Try and get ready for that playoff push.”

Strahan then asked Hamlin if he remembered standing up after he tackled Bengals receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin sprung up after making that play but quickly collapsed back down to the turf.

The McKees Rock native took a long pause before answering that.

“Um … that is something I don’t really want to get deep into the details of,” he responded.

Hamlin thanked Buffalo trainer Denny Kellington with saving his life. He said he watched the play once since it happened. He talked about how doctors told him things could have gone differently for him. He thanked God for giving him a second chance. It was a deep interview.

Then Strahan pointed out Hamlin’s age and excellent physical condition and asked if doctors told him how this happened.

Again, Hamlin paused before answering.

“Um … that is something I want to stay away from,” he said.

There could be a million reasons why Hamlin would choose not to discuss what happened to him. He said last week that he hopes to return to the field and play again one day. But, to the vaccine conspiracy theorists, there could be only one reason for that answer.

So social media has been abuzz about this since.

Spend a few minutes on Twitter and you will see folks who still believe that Hamlin died because of the COVID vaccine. But those folks are far outnumbered by the ones putting words in his mouth and claiming that he “exposed” the vaccine.

“#DamarHamlin’s refusal to answer a simple question dealing with his #HeartCondition speaks volumes,” one person tweeted. “Thus it is fair to assume that he’s COVID-19 vaccinated.”

There’s plenty more out there trying to connect dots that aren’t there.

Luckily, there is some sanity on social media still.

“95% of NFL players are vaccinated,” someone tweeted. “100% of NFL non-playing personnel are vaccinated. Given this, why are so many people trying to claim #DamarHamlin collapse was caused by a Covid vaccine? If it were true, wouldn’t there be a lot more players collapsing?”