Sports personality Skip Bayless received major backlash after questioning how the NFL could postpone the remainder of Monday night's game following the on-field cardiac arrest of a player.
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, 24, was in critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest during the first quarter of a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The game was stopped as medical staff quickly attended to Hamlin while players from both teams took a knee. Hamlin was given CPR before leaving the field in an ambulance.
The league later announced the game had been postponed, something Bayless questioned pre-announcement.
"No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game -- but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome ... which suddenly seems so irrelevant," said Bayless, the co-host of Fox Sports's "Undisputed" tweeted.
Bayless' comment might have been due partly to the Bills (12-3) and Bengals (11-4) being two of the three best teams in the American Football Conference with one week remaining in the regular season.
Reaction to Bayless' comment quickly appeared on social media.
"Wow. You're gonna regret this tweet. Big," Newsmax host Eric Bolling tweeted.
"WTF is wrong with you. A man is fighting for his life. Football doesn't f***in matter right now," one person tweeted.
"I want to say so much about this tweet but instead, I'm gonna go ahead and pray for you too. You need it," tweeted Ryan Williams, a partner at agency Athletes First.
"I hope they fire you bro!!! For you to even THINK of the game is very sad," former NBA star Isaiah Thomas tweeted.
Bayless later tweeted an apology.
"Nothing is more important than that young man's health," Bayless wrote. "That was the point of my last tweet. I'm sorry if that was misunderstood but his health is all that matters. Again, everything else is irrelevant. I prayed for him & will continue to."
Not everyone was buying the apology.
"Misunderstood?? IF that's all you really cared about then you NEVER would've even thought to mention "the games magnitude." But you CLEARLY exposed that you couldn't help but think about the game while this young man is fighting for his LIFE," one user tweeted.
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