The drama surrounding Damar Hamlin has brought the Buffalo Bills and their fans even closer together. The franchise could now make extraordinary history under special circumstances, ending a years-long losing streak.

The shock was huge when Christian Eriksen collapsed just before half-time during the Danish national team’s first match at the European Football Championship on 12 June 2021.

The midfielder had to be resuscitated on the pitch and his horrified teammates had to watch it all.

The Danes lost the match in Copenhagen against Finland 0:1, but the terrible events made the Danish players and fans close ranks. Eriksen soon got better, the team played for him in the rest of the tournament and made it to the semi-finals as underdogs, where they were narrowly beaten 2-1 by England.

The parallels to the events surrounding Damar Hamlin with the Buffalo Bills cannot be denied. On January 2, the safety collapsed on the field after a blow to the chest and had to be resuscitated. After days of anxiety and encouragement from all over the world, the 24-year-old has now even been able to leave the hospital.

Now he could give his team an extra push to win the Super Bowl before the start of the Wild Card Round against the Miami Dolphins.

Josh Allen deeply impressed by kickoff return touchdown

The Bills’ belief they could do something special manifested itself on the first play of last week’s emotional win over the New England Patriots. The Bills started the game with a kickoff return touchdown by Nyheim Hines, their first in three years and three months. Damar Hamlin famously wears number three on his jersey.

“That was spiritual. Really. It sent a chill down my spine,” said quarterback Josh Allen, who couldn’t remember another moment on the football field that had touched him similarly. And Hamlin? He watched from the hospital and posted a picture with his parents, forming a heart with his hands. LoveForDamar became a hashtag under which the whole football world united.

GAMETIME!!! @BuffaloBills pic.twitter.com/PQYClonUHb

– (@HamlinIsland) January 8, 2023

“Seeing the world come together around me on Sunday was a truly incredible feeling. The same love you all showed me, I want to give back to the world and more. This is bigger than football,” wrote the deeply touched Hamlin.

Bills stuck in snow twice

In light of the dramatic events surrounding Hamlin, it’s almost forgotten what had happened to the Bills earlier this season. In November, a home game had to be moved to Detroit because of massive snowfall. Fans shoveled and cleared away the masses of snow so the players could go to the airport. Then on Christmas Eve, the team was stuck in Chicago because of a snowstorm and a closed airport.

When the Bills finally arrived back in Rochester, a short hour’s drive from Buffalo, on the morning of Dec. 25, hundreds of “Bills Mafia” fans waited at the airport to greet the team.

Landed in Rochester to a warm Christmas Day welcome from Bills Mafia. ❤️ GoBills pic.twitter.com/vn6arZAjSd

– Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 25, 2022

“It shows how the people in Buffalo stick together. They’re all hard workers and they stick by their Bills, there’s no doubt about it,” four-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski told Reuters in an interview.

For Gronk, who was born near Buffalo, there can therefore only be one champion this year.” “I have to say the Bills are going to win the Super Bowl this year,” Gronk declared.

The Bills lost four Super Bowls in a row

The team around quarterback Josh Allen is one of the favourites to win the Super Bowl anyway, with tremendous quality on both offence and defence. Against the Miami Dolphins they are high favourites on Super Wild Card Weekend.

At the same time, the franchise has been dogged by bad luck for many years. The Bills have never won the Super Bowl, losing the final four times in a row between 1990 and 1993.

Since then, the Bills have been waiting for another chance. Should they make it this year, after all that has happened, this one would be a huge story. Perhaps even the biggest story in the NFL since the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl in 2009 after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city.

Damar Hamlin will certainly be rooting for his teammates on Sunday. What could possibly go wrong?