The father of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has pleaded with fans to stop the criticism of Cincinnati Bengals WR Tee Higgins after his tackle left led to Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest.

Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field and entered cardiac arrest after a tackle from Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, with the 24-year-old requiring CPR for approximately ten minutes.

Hamlin was resuscitated at the stadium and transported to a local hospital in Cincinnati where he remains in critical condition as doctors work around the clock to help him breathe independently and without a ventilator.

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Damar Hamlin's father is asking for criticism of Tee Higgins to stop, per @ColeyHarvey

Higgins collided with Hamlin before he collapsed during Monday's game pic.twitter.com/GFhcoDLDMb

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 4, 2023

A spokesperson for the family said: “Damar’s parents are frustrated that Tee [Higgins] is receiving any sort of negative backlash, this was a regular football play. Tee has reached out, he’s been supportive of Damar and his family.”

American sports analyst and former New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott appeared on ESPN’s show First Take alongside Stephen A. Smith on Tuesday and claimed Higgins was at fault for the incident.

“The NFL has tried to take the head out of the game. We almost don’t think of the violent hits — we always associate that with the defensive players in targeting and lowering their head.

“But they did put in the rule maybe five years ago, that offensive players can’t use the crown of their head, helmet as a weapon, which is kind of what Tee Higgins did and I’m not trying to put the blame on Tee Higgins, but that’s something that they tried to take out.”

The mother of Higgins tweeted her response to Scott’s claims, appearing frustrated at the allegations against her son.

— TEEHIGGINSMOM #85 #INFINITYx5 (@adizlady) January 4, 2023

Higgins was spotted with his mother shortly after the game was postponed on Monday night, walking through the stadium with his arm wrapped around her.

Just stood with Tee Higgins’ mom who is now walking out with Tee who has his arm wrapped around her. Tee was the one who collided with Damar Hamlin before he collapsed pic.twitter.com/C1kzWI2hp5

— Kelsey Conway (@KelseyLConway) January 3, 2023

Skip Bayless came under fire for a tweet posted shortly after the incident on Monday Night Football, leading to former NFL star Shannon Sharpe’s absence on their show Undisputed on Tuesday.

The Cincinnati Bengals are +750 fifth favorites to lift the Super Bowl this February behind the Kansas City Chiefs (+380), Buffalo Bills (+400), Philadelphia Eagles (+550) and San Francisco 49ers (+550).

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