He was the most Googled person of 2023 after a typical football play nearly took his life. When many questioned whether he’d ever step foot on a field again, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin returned to make 89 tackles and two interceptions in 2024.

Beyond the field, Hamlin has used the outpouring of support that came after that January 2, 2023 cardiac arrest during a game in Cincinnati to create a global platform for good.

He has raised more than $10 million through his Chasing M’s Foundation and has been a catalyst for making defibrillators more accessible and affordable for schools and youth sports programs across the country.

Hamlin has been partnering with the heart health technology company Abbott since 2023 to create Heartmates, a community that provides resources and emotional support for those recovering from cardiac events.

Now, as Thanksgiving draws near, the superstar is partnering with an American holiday staple to inspire on the big screen.

Hamlin and a group of kids in the HeartMates community are featured in a new Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas movie, “The More, The Merrier,” which premieres Friday at 8 p.m.

“I’ve made so many friends through the Heartmates program and been able to impact so many lives,” Hamlin said in an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports. “Dealing with cardiac recovery can be so isolating. It’s been a privilege to be there and share stories and support with so many. They’ve helped me more than they’ll ever know. So getting to this movie with a few of my friends, it was just such a blessing.”

The University of Pittsburgh alum is rehabbing from a pectoral injury that has sidelined him for much of the 2025 season and recently took time to talk with me about his rehab, his message to Bills Mafia about the 2025 playoff push and being a mentor to his secondary teammates the way a former All-Pro teammate was there for him.

So how’s the rehab going?

It’s going beautifully, man. It’s going as planned. I’m trusting in my trainers. I got some amazing people taking care of me, from my surgeon to my everyday trainers, who everyone knows, are awesome people. They’ve done much more for me than the adversity I’m facing right now. So glad to have them behind me, and they’re pushing me every day to get better.

This pectoral muscle injury you’ve been rehabbing is painful. But this has got to feel easy compared to what you went through with the cardiac event.

Every process, every event, you kind of gotta re-engineer the mind, the body, you kind of gotta reinvent who you are as a person. So, you know, that’s just my focus right there, just trying to use the adversity to reinvent myself into a better version of myself.

Tell me a little bit about “The More The Merrier” and your experience with Abbott and Heartmates.

I’m an ambassador for the program and the relationship there has truly just been so important. The journey of navigating a heart health injury or situation can be a lonely journey. 

So to be able to have this community where people can feel understood, people can share their stories, it’s truly special. I’ve had so many huddles with cardiac patients, one where we had a 17-year-old and a 70-year-old who had the same heart condition. So it just shows the spectrum of who deals with these life challenges.

What was it like to connect with the Heartmates kids, have them on set with you, and be part of this Hallmark Channel experience?

It was a beautiful moment to share. You know, I had unprecedented support having my heart health situation being nationally televised. I had worldwide support, so many people reached out to offer support.

There are young kids in the Heartmates community who have gone through even more traumatic situations than I have and didn’t get the same support, so I’m trying to be the face and use my platform to uplift others’ stories.  

But to be able to connect with Hallmark and have these same kids who I know what they’ve been through, the situation they’ve gone through at a young age, to be able to be featured in a Hallmark movie because of it. To share the big screen with these kids was super amazing.

We’re celebrating Thanksgiving this week. And you have so much to be thankful for. What is it like being on the other side of this cardiac event and being able to play football again?

You have to navigate it in a different way, for sure. It has been something truly God called me to that was even bigger than winning Super Bowls, being captains of teams, winning championships, that throughout my entire life that I felt like was my life mission. 

To be at the forefront, partnering with this heart-based community, is truly something beyond the game. It’s a life purpose. 

I still love football. But what we’ve been able to do with Heartmates, it’s a life mission, and it makes me feel like I’m part of something way bigger than myself. Not only do I show up and help these amazing people, they show up for me and help me. 

These rehabs can be isolating as well. You’re away from the team, working to get back. I have to imagine it’s a time where having these friends help all the more.

I talk to all the friends I’ve made in this community and everyone knows what I’m going through, as far as my recovery, trying to get back on the field. They’re sending me support. Just me getting to hear the things that they’re overcoming in their day-to-day right now, it’s just giving me the motivation to show up. 

And it makes me get there earlier, put that extra work in, try to double down on the rehab and stay in the mode that I need to be in to have my success. So as much as I’m probably helping them get a shining light in their day, they’re they’re helping me just as well. So we’re learning off of each other and I love the trajectory we’ve built with this program.

How are you able to influence the team right now, even not being on the field?

You know, I’ve seen how my presence alone impacts other. I think I’m in a blessed place to where just my presence itself stands for so much, just continuing to see me keep going forward. 

I think that’s a big part of life’s journey. You know, we all go through our adversity. We all have different situations. But just for people to see and know what I’ve been through, and to still see me working hard, it’s an honor to be that inspiration for my teammates.

What mentors have inspired you most during this journey?

I’ve watched the best of the best coming here to Buffalo as vets and feed into the young guys. There is a culture here, it’s hard to describe but it’s just a belief in each other and a shared goal like nowhere I’ve ever experienced.

For me, Micah Hyde was amazing for me all throughout my rookie season. To start 2022-23, Micah was coming off an All-Pro season, and he got injured the second game of the year. I played that year, and he was a big part of me having the success that I had in that season. He was a coach, an inspiration, a support.

I was on pace to have 100 tackles before I actually had my cardiac arrest in Cincinnati. So, yeah, I’m just playing my role, how I saw the vets before me. 

And now you find yourself in a role similar to what Micah did with you. Do you find yourself doing that with a younger guy making his mark, like Cole Bishop?

Yeah man, I love Cole, he is actually hilarious. Cole is like a comedian, if you ask me. So I’ve always enjoyed spending moments with him and just working with him and seeing the way he’s risen in year two here. 

I think he trusts me as a vet to know that he can lean on me, that he can communicate with me. I know how to meet him where he’s at, because he’s a special player. I’m excited to continue to see his trajectory.

I know that one of your favorite quotes is the more grateful you are, the more present you become. How are you able to keep that attitude through all the adversity?

Any chance I got to give my parents credit, I’m going to take that opportunity. They made me the man I am, gave me an incredible foundation. But man, I think it truly comes from just growing up in an environment where having that perspective was the only option if you wanted to see better days, if you wanted to see brighter moments. 

Having a perspective of that positive energy, humbleness, you know, putting the work in, going hard, that ‘you never know who’s watching’ kind of mindset. That’s the mentality that I was raised upon. And I think it was having so many examples of what not to do. And coming from an environment where it’s gray skies more than it’s sunny, shiny days. 

I had to develop that perspective within myself to accomplish what I wanted, because my environment didn’t always have that spelled out for me.

Bills fans are dealing with some gray skies right now in terms of the Texans game. What message do you have for Bills Mafia right now?

I would say this to Bills Mafia: Just trust the guys. One thing I’ve learned about the NFL within itself is that you can’t ride the rollercoaster of the results. You have to truly be process-based. And you have to believe in your process. 

You can’t just switch up your whole philosophy mid-season, and just think that you’ll continue to just try to figure it out week to week as the weeks come on.

You know, you gotta truly stick to your process, even when you’re not getting the results that you want. We know what’s in front of us and we know that the work and the belief in each other can and will lead to the results.

Who’s the one teammate that inspires you the most right now, in terms of just wanting to get back on the field with them?

I want to play with Bishop. I feel like Cole’s playing amazingly, and he’s playing his heart out out there. I mean, No. 17, of course [Josh Allen]. He just gives everything he has to his teammates. 

I love playing with Christian Benford. I remember the days when we weren’t at the front of the line, we were at the back of the line, working hard, and knew that our day would come. So, you know, I share that with him. 

It’s hard to single out guys. I really love my teammates. I really love going out there competing with my teammates and just trying to win. I love the feeling it brings. 

I’m all about my team, like I’m the ultimate teammate to have and I say that humbly, but whatever I can do to benefit my teammates, whether it’s the Bills, whether it’s the Heartmates community, I’ll do whatever I have to do for my teammates.

In terms of this movie, what’s the one thing you’re excited for your teammates to see in this movie?

I think allowing my teammates to see, you know, some unique things that I have going on off the field. I really appreciate Abbott, and I really appreciate Hallmark for highlighting the Heartmates community on a global stage like this. 

The work that we truly do is unique, and it’s so needed. The people truly feel like they have a home within the Heartmates community. And I just can’t wait until you know, the community continues to grow so that, so that you know, the people that are part of it, the people that become part of it, can see what we’ve been building.