Jake Smith

Joe Rogan just had on the top cardiologist in the world Dr. Peter McCullough who exposed that Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s near fatal collapse during an NFL game on Monday Night Football was from vaccine myocarditis and not from an injury from the tackle: MCCULLOUGH: “When you have a football helmet and there's a breastplate, there's no way that can precipitate a cardiac arrest. It's never happened in the history of pro football ever. So I knew it wasn't the tackle.” CONTEXT: McCullough insists the January 2, 2023 incident was a case of vaccine-related inflammation of the heart muscle. But there's a MAJOR problem with that explanation. On April 18, 2023, Hamlin publicly announced that his doctors had diagnosed him with COMMOTIO CORDIS. That's an extremely rare but well-documented condition in which a sudden blow to the chest strikes at PRECISELY THE WRONG MOMENT in the heartbeat's electrical cycle. The impact can trigger ventricular fibrillation, a potentially fatal abnormal heart rhythm that causes the heart to stop pumping blood effectively. And here's where the medical evidence becomes especially interesting. McCullough argues that Hamlin's football equipment should have made such an event impossible. But according to a 2024 expert consensus statement from the HEART RHYTHM SOCIETY, chest protectors were present in approximately ONE-THIRD of documented commotio cordis cases occurring during competitive sports. Researchers have even documented cases in which an impact passed THROUGH protective equipment positioned over the heart. In other words, chest protection can reduce the danger, but it does NOT eliminate the possibility of commotio cordis. And this isn't merely a diagnosis that Hamlin mentioned once in 2023. IMPORTANT NOTES: In a 2026 interview with TIME, Hamlin continued discussing his remarkable recovery from the condition, which nearly killed him on national television. There's another important distinction. The CDC acknowledges that myocarditis is a RARE but documented adverse effect of certain COVID vaccines, particularly among adolescent and young adult males. But that DOES NOT establish that vaccine-related myocarditis caused Hamlin's cardiac arrest. His vaccination status has not been publicly confirmed in the evidence reviewed, and McCullough provides no verified medical evidence that Hamlin suffered vaccine-induced myocarditis. McCullough also speculates that Hamlin may have received a treatment protocol he promotes, despite providing no evidence that Hamlin ever underwent that treatment. Meanwhile, Hamlin's survival has helped bring national attention to something with an established record of saving lives: IMMEDIATE CPR AND DEFIBRILLATION. Doctors and emergency personnel performed CPR and used a defibrillator after Hamlin collapsed, helping save his life. The Buffalo Bills safety eventually made an extraordinary return to professional football. So the controversy comes down to TWO competing explanations: McCullough says the chest impact couldn't have caused the arrest and insists vaccine myocarditis was responsible. Hamlin says his own doctors diagnosed a rare cardiac event CAUSED BY A BLOW TO THE CHEST.