Good morning. First, some things are bigger than football. Last we heard, Damar Hamlin "has shown remarkable improvement over the past 24 hours". We are keeping him in our thoughts and prayers.

We wanted to highlight Damar Hamlin, the player and person.

In his excellent article from 2021, Why Damar Hamlin is exactly what the Buffalo Bills need, @TyDunne covers Hamlin's life. Hamlin grew up in a borough of Pittsburgh — McKees Rocks, where “You face uncomfortable situations early,” Hamlin said, “which push you into that sink-or-swim mentality. Whenever you’re faced with competition in football, it’s just another bump in the road.”

Hamlin estimates more than half of the kids he grew up with are dead. “It makes you numb to it,” Hamlin says, “which is not good. I take reality for what it is and that’s a product of me having to grow up so early. It’s part of life, losing people.” McKees Rocks (pop. 5,919) has one of the highest crime rates in America — one in 16 people there are the victim of a crime.

His mom was 16 and dad was 17 when they had Damar. Recently, his parents had a second child, giving Hamlin a 6 year-old younger brother who loves football. Without question, his little brother is the reason Hamlin chose hometown Pitt for college.

The chance to affect his brother's life overrode the prestige of more storied programs.

“I wanted to give him that image growing up,” Hamlin says, “that he can look back on and be able to model himself after. That’s something I never had. I had a bunch of examples of what not to do. I want to give him a different example."

Let's help him. If you enjoyed the newsletter this season, there is a go-fund-me organized by Damar Hamlin to raise money to buy toys for kids at Christmas. It's past the timeline, but still open for donations. We'd love to support him and this amazing initiative however we can, so please send any donations here:

END GAME

How to handle this fantasy football championship

Adam Schefter believes the NFL will not look to resume the Bengals vs. Bill game and that league is working towards either a potential neutral site AFC Championship game or 1 seed choosing between getting having a bye or home field, with 2 seed getting whatever is not picked.

As it's looking less and less likely that the Bills and Bengals game is played, here are a few options to handle the conclusion of your season:

1. Wait. Let things develop. There should be more clarity soon. If there isn’t then, there are options to figure it out. Including...

2. Score it as is. Whatever the score says, that's the league winner. If your finals weren't close, this is probably the easiest option. Have the unfavored team concede.

3. Split the pot. Teams in the finals take home the money, 50/50 split. They could also negotiate what they think is fair.

4. Fight. Set up air mattresses in someone's backyard. Hell in a cell. Cage match. Your creativity is your limit here. Title belt on the line.

5. Use next week's points. Teams agree to use WK18 scores for BUF/CIN players & insert those scores into WK17 matchups retroactively to determine a winner. The risk is that Buffalo may let their players sit out if they want. Also possible Higgins sits.

6. Play week 18. My least-favourite option, as this requires teams to start players who might have nothing to play for, and don't care whether The Mixon Administration beats CeeDeez Nuts in the RedZone league finals...

7. Ask someone. I’ve weighed in on several for leagues I know nothing about. If you need an unbiased second opinion, ask us. Ask another commish you trust. Folks will offer opinions.

However, could the game be played in Week 19?

QUICK SLANTS

• Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury said Kyler Murray (knee) "probably" won't be ready for the start of the 2023 season.

• Davante Adams said he wants input on who the Raiders bring in at quarterback in 2023, adding that he plans to play for the team next season.

• Derek Carr appears to be on the outs with the Raiders after being benched in Week 17 and subsequently declared inactive for the final two weeks of the season.

• The 2023 Free-Agent class is loaded, headlined by Lamar Jackson and Saquon Barkley. Here's a list of the top-50 players set to hit free agency.

• Could Jim Harbaugh leave Michigan for the Carolina Panthers?

• 5 coordinators who could become head coaches in 2023 (Fansided)

• NFL Hot Seat: Coach, GM, QB Changes and more (OutKick)

Another important list: 15 Pro Football Hall of Fame finalists for the Class of 2023

• *Darrelle Revis

• *Joe Thomas

• *Devin Hester

• *Torry Holt

• *Reggie Wayne

• *Andre Johnson

• *Dwight Freeney

• *Jared Allen

• *Patrick Willis

• *DeMarcus Ware

• *Zach Thomas

• *Darren Woodson

• *Ronde Barber

• *Albert Lewis

• *Willie Anderson

We'll be back next week with the final newsletter of the year, recapping the 2022 fantasy football season that was, along with a thank you giveaway. So far, we've given away George Kittle, Derrick Henry, Justin Simmons and Tom Brady jerseys. Keep your eyes out.

Jake, Eddie & Matt

Tweet of the Week

From our friends at Savage Sports, if you're looking for more sports newsletters during the NFL offseason, check them out: