Most NFL teams cancelled their media availability today in regards to Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who remains hospitalized in critical condition after collapsing on the field on Monday night. But Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin took the opportunity to speak eloquently about his personal relationship with Hamlin that began long before Hamlin's NFL career.

Tomlin spent the first ten minutes of the session debriefing the team's win over the Baltimore Ravens and previewing the team's Week 18 matchup, per ESPN's Brooke Pryor. Following that, he spoke about his personal connection with Hamlin:

“I’ll say this about Damar Hamlin: It’s a really personal thing to me, being a Pittsburgher and that young man being a Pittsburgher, I’ve known that guy probably since he was about 12,” Tomlin said. “I’ve just got a lot of respect and love for him as a human being, his commitment to the pursuit of his goals and dreams of doing what he is right now, which is playing in the NFL. To watch him make personal decisions, and make that a realization, it’s just an honor to get to know young people like that.”

The 24-year-old Hamlin was born and raised in the Pittsburgh area and played his college football there before he was drafted by the Bills in 2021.

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“I’ve had an opportunity to express that to him whenever I see him,” Tomlin continued. “We’ve played Buffalo each of the last two seasons and he and I had a moment because it’s just cool to not only appreciate these guys in terms of where they are now but to know them since they were younger people and to watch their maturation, their development, to watch them earn what they’ve been chasing, it’s really a cool thing, and he’s an example of that. I’ve got a lot of love for that young man. I’ve lifted him and that organization up in prayer. I’ve reached out to Sean McDermott to lend whatever assistance I could. But I don’t have a lot to add other than that. I just respect the fact that you guys appreciate how personal it is for me, not only for me, but for all of us.”

There might not be a more sincere or classier response regarding Damar Hamlin than the one Mike Tomlin gave on Tuesday.