Pitt's Damar Hamlin describes 'stressful' night after ejection
When his Heinz Field nightmare was over and Pitt’s overtime victory against North Carolina was assured, Damar Hamlin saw athletic director Heather Lyke before any of his teammates.
Hamlin, Pitt’s senior safety, had been ejected for targeting in the second quarter last Thursday and spent the rest of the night in the locker room, watching on TV. For the most part, he was with someone, but he said he was alone for “a little bit.”
“Stressful,” Hamlin said of watching the overtime period. “It’s the worst feeling in the world.”
He said his postgame interaction with Lyke was brief. Asked what she said to him, Hamlin responded, “Something about the call, specifically. But that’s all.”
When it was suggested to Hamlin that Lyke probably didn’t like the call, he said, “No one did.”
That especially includes coach Pat Narduzzi, who suggested the game would not have gone into overtime if Hamlin played the second half. He also said, “We had a couple victories out there, one against UNC, and we’ll leave it at that.”
Narduzzi said he did not speak to anyone in the ACC office about Hamlin’s ejection. Yet, it’s a matter of concern in the coach’s mind because it was Pitt’s third for targeting this season, following Paris Ford and Phil Campbell III in the Duke and Georgia Tech games.
“Well, that’s two more than we’ve had in (my) four previous seasons (at Pitt),” he said. “I’m not happy with it. I watched games on Saturday, and I saw some things get turned over by the SEC and the Big Ten or whatever conference you’re watching.
“I’m going to have to go to school and find out what targeting is. But that’s as far as I’ll go.”
Perhaps the targeting rule will be a matter of discussion for coaches in the offseason, but Narduzzi doesn’t think that will help.
“We can talk all we want,” Narduzzi said. “It doesn’t matter what we talk about. We’re playing football the way it needs to be played, and again, aggressive penalties are going to happen.
“We had one by (Pitt defensive end) Patrick Jones at Virginia, I guess, a year ago, and that was the only one that I can think of in all my years. And to have three in one year and to have guys sitting in the locker room is not why we coach football. I want to have a safe game. I want to protect our kids. I want to protect the other team. But there are some things that are uncontrollable, too, so I don’t understand.”
Hamlin said, in his opinion, he couldn’t have done anything differently when he collided, helmet-to-helmet, with Tar Heels wide receiver Dazz Newsome.
“The quarterback (Sam Howell) threw the ball, he placed a good ball and I just tried to make a play on the ball,” said Hamlin, speaking with reporters Wednesday for the first time since the incident.
“The receiver and I both tried to make a play on the ball. How much of a right does he have to the ball? How much of a right do I have to the ball, as well? I think that’s a just question for people higher up than me.”
After the collision with Newsome, Hamlin came away with the ball.
“On contact, I tried to grab it. I didn’t realize it hit the ground, though. At first, I’m thinking I made a good play on the ball. I thought I had me an interception, celebrating with my teammates and I turn around and I see flags.”
He said watching the game on TV was not easy.
“Just because I had a big role in that game, covering the slot and he kind of took off a little bit once I was out of the game,” Hamlin said.
The ejection occurred in the first half, so Hamlin is not required to sit out the first half of the Virginia Tech game Saturday. When Ford was ejected in the second half of the Duke game Oct. 5, he wasn’t allowed in the next game at Syracuse until after halftime.
“It’s a weird feeling when you want to be out there,” Hamlin said. “You see plays you can be making, all type of stuff happening on the field while you’re in the locker room not being able to do anything.”
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Pitt DB Damar Hamlin has been ejected for Targeting pic.twitter.com/C4IQ54Bq1d
— NCAAF Nation (@NCAAFNation247) November 15, 2019
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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