ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky stunned audiences when he said a prayer for hospitalized Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin during Tuesday’s edition of “NFL Live.”
“I heard the Buffalo Bills organization say that we believe in prayer, and maybe this is not the right thing to do, but it’s just on my heart and I want to pray for Damar Hamlin right now. I’m going to do it out loud, I’m going to close my eyes and bow my head, and I’m just going to pray for him,” Orlovsky said, in a moment that went viral on social media.
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin (3) warms up prior to the game against the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2, 2023, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, OH.
(Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The former football player then led a group prayer.
“God, we come to you in these moments that we don’t understand, that are hard, because we believe that you’re God, and coming to you and praying to you has impact,” Orlovsky said.
“We’re sad, we’re angry, and we want answers, but some things are unanswerable. We just want to pray, truly come to you and pray for strength for Damar, for healing for Damar, for comfort for Damar, to be with his family, to give them peace. If we didn’t believe that prayer didn’t work, we wouldn’t ask this of you, God. I believe in prayer, we believe in prayer. We lift up Damar Hamlin’s name in your name. Amen.”
Buffalo Bills players and staff kneel together in solidarity after Damar Hamlin sustained an injury during the first quarter of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2, 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
(Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
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Christian leaders and groups said they were encouraged by the televised prayer and found deeper significance to the cultural moment.
“It is interesting to me as a person of faith that we tend to go to that core place, [at moments of tragedy], that we start talking to God and talking about talking to God,” Focus on the Family President Jim Daly told Fox News Digital.
Daly said Orlovsky’s prayer was “really cool” and a “refreshing” moment in a culture that often puts faith on the backburner.
“I just find that rather refreshing in an affluent culture that has so much that we tend to ignore God that something like this happens and it reminds us of our own mortality and we begin to talk about praying and talking about God… It speaks to the yearning deep inside of us,” he said.
CINCINNATI, OHIO – JANUARY 02: Joe Burrow #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals and Jordan Poyer #21 of the Buffalo Bills react following the injury of Damar Hamlin #3 during the first quarter at Paycor Stadium on January 02, 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
(Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
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Pastors also praised Orlovsky for having the courage to exercise his faith in the public square.
Rev. Franklin Graham was encouraged by the analyst not being afraid to “pray for [Hamlin] right there on national television” and encouraged others to follow his lead.
“This warms my heart! Dan Orlovsky, ESPN analyst and former football player, cared enough for Damar Hamlin to pray for him right there on national television. He wasn’t afraid to say ‘I believe in prayer!’ I do too Dan—thanks for setting an example for others to follow. The Bible tells us to ‘pray without ceasing’ (1 Thessalonians 5:17),” he shared on social media.
Carter Conlon, outgoing senior pastor of Times Square Church in New York City, said the shocking moment of Hamlin’s collapse led millions of Americans to see the value of human life and turn to God.
Rockvale High School Football Coach Rick Rice leads a team prayer, a practice that came under fire from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
(Burton Staggs/Tennessee River Valley News)
“On Monday, ten million people unexpectedly found themselves in a prayer meeting. The focus was on one football player, who’s life was in peril. For a moment, we saw a life as God does…of incredible value and worth giving up everything for. That’s what the cross is about. Pray,” he tweeted.
Shane Williamson, president and CEO of Fellowship of Christian Athletes said they “applaud those praying for Damar Hamlin and willing to take a stand for their faith.”
“We value and join those who believe prayer is vital to our relationship to God through Jesus and a powerful tool to unite a nation toward a common goal. The millions of Americans who are gathering together to pray for Damar Hamlin is tangible proof of the unifying power of sports and belief that faith is fundamental to our journey together as people,” he wrote in comments in Fox News Digital.
See You at the Pole, a national day of student prayer every September, also hailed Orlovsky’s “moving” prayer as a positive example in the culture.
“As a youth leader, many of my friends have been encouraged that Orlovsky had the courage and faith to do on air what so many were asking the public to do: pray for him, his recovery to health and his family and teammates,” Doug Clark, the group’s promotion coordinator, wrote to Fox News Digital.
“Dan Orlovsky has modeled positive, constructive action for our young people. What a beautiful example of how to express faith appropriately in the public square,” he shared.
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Several of Hamlin’s teammates have called for prayers for Hamlin, who is said to be improving but is still hospitalized.
The image of the team kneeling and praying on the field after Hamlin’s collapse was widely shared on social media.
Fox Sports’ Ryan Morik and Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
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