Jason Whitlock: “The weaponization of Damar Hamlin began this weekend. Sunday afternoon as CBS broadcasted Buffalo's playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals the network trumpeted the fact that Damar Hamlin cheered on the Bills from a suite inside Highmark Stadium. On numerous occasions cameras cut to Hamlin allegedly reacting to the action on the field. I use the word ‘allegedly’ because the image of Hamlin was so fuzzy behind the glass and snow that it could have easily been an actor wearing a hoodie and gaiter face mask. Earlier, footage of Hamlin entering the stadium clearly showed his mom and little brother stepping on an elevator but it was impossible to see Hamlin beneath a hoodie, gaiter, sunglasses, and a bowed head. Security guards blocked cameras from getting too close to Hamlin. Why the secrecy? I believe Hamlin attended the game and that he was the guy wearing the hoodie and the gaiter, but I believe his handlers have advised him to follow a carefully crafted script. A reality script that will allow him to charge maximum dollars for his on-camera interviews. Hamlin is the star of the Damar Hamlin reality show. He's the subject of a documentary that he and his team are likely producing in real time. They'll auction the documentary and any interviews to the same global corporations and networks that finance the NFL. Hamlin is most valuable over the next year as a mystery not as a whistleblower or truth teller. The truth about what happened to him on Monday Night Football a month ago is totally irrelevant in comparison to how much money he can earn by telling a story that pleases advertisers. This is the power of television and social media. Separately they harm truth, together they annihilate truth, reducing it to an unrecognizable rubble and a weapon of mass destruction. Television and social media turned Derek Chauvin and George Floyd into a nuclear weapon. Floyd died of a lethal combination of fentanyl, stupidity, non-compliance, and officer involved indifference. TV and social media demolished those truths and put Chauvin and America on trial for white supremacy. I don't make that analogy to accuse Hamlin of doing something wrong, I'm pointing it out so that we can deal with the time we're living in. We're living in an era where truth has no value. We prefer entertaining lies over uncomfortable truths. We canonize actors and performers disguised as influencers and then wonder why we're running dangerously low on leaders, builders, and revenants of truth. CBS played along with the Damar Hamlin mystery on Sunday. Every network is playing along because every network is bidding for Hamlin's first, second, and third interviews. Will he sit down with Oprah Winfrey? Or will Michael Strahan land Hamlin on ‘Good Morning America’? Or maybe Fox Sports backs up a Brinks truck for Tom Brady to interview Hamlin during Super Bowl coverage. No one wants to upset Hamlin, his handlers, or big pharma by pursuing the truth behind his on-field collapse. Maybe it was the routine football hit that did it. Maybe it's a consequence of the vaccine. I'll never trust any explanation because the explanation will come with a purchase price we will never know. We live in a post-truth world where actors and performers acquire wealth, fame, and privilege for the dishonest roles they play that resemble what is real… This dishonesty has overtaken professional sports, turning football and basketball into the WWE… This whole mystery where he’s wearing a gaiter to cover up his face, he’s wearing up a hoodie to cover up his face – I think he’s trying to protect his value by remaining a mystery. My conclusion is it's he and his handlers’ decision. They're trying to protect the value of his interviews and any content that they put out. I'm not even bashing them, I'm just saying this is the world we live in— that he's about to auction himself off, and it's all about the bag, and it will never be about anybody getting to find out what caused this collapse. Was it the hit? Was it something else? Pfizer and big pharma is going to decide what the truth is on that, and the television networks and Damar Hamlin are going to accept the check and keep it moving for selling whatever story fits the advertisers.” (Full Segment Above)
Watch Jason Whitlock of ‘Fearless’ discuss his theory on why Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has effectively remained off-limits to on-camera interviews ever since his on-field collapse earlier this month that almost took his life.
Check out the segment above as Whitlock explains why he thinks Hamlin and his handlers are strategically executing this media blackout as a way to promote his highly anticipated first media appearance.
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