Super Bowl LVII left historic audience figures 0:53
(CNN) --
Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin said he didn't mean "to hurt or disrespect anyone" with the jacket he wore to Super Bowl LVII after it was criticized as "blasphemy."
Hamlin attended the NFL season finale between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona and was honored before kickoff along with medical staff and first responders who helped perform CPR that saved his life when he went into cardiac arrest during a game in January and oversaw his recovery.
Damar Hamlin was criticized for the jacket he wore in the last edition of the Super Bowl.
(Credit: Diggzy/Shutterstock)
The 24-year-old was wearing a jacket with the image of Jesus on the back and the word "Eternal" on it.
On the front, he carried another image of Jesus and the phrase: "Without end and without beginning, there is neither day nor night."
Depictions of Jesus have been criticized, particularly by star NFL running back Adrian Peterson.
In an Instagram post that he later edited, Peterson allegedly called the jacket "blasphemy."
advertising
"You should thank God son!" Peterson allegedly wrote.
"This is blasphemy! We all fall short but come on man! I find it disrespectful."
After editing the post, Peterson said he had spoken with Hamlin and they were able to discuss their "thoughts as men."
"I want to be clear, I am the last person to judge anyone, and that was never my intention. However, I do feel the jacket was disrespectful and something I needed to share," Peterson wrote.
"I realize that everyone makes mistakes and falls short sometimes, so again, my intention was never to judge, just to share my opinion. Damar, I have respect and love for you, and only wish you the best, but I don't like that jacket."
"I feel there are many people, young and old, who look up to you and with power and influence comes great responsibility. I apologize for offending you, I just felt offended at the time as a man who loves and respects our Lord and Savior. , Yeshúa. After speaking with Damar, I understand that it was not with bad intentions, "he added.
Damar Hamlin's explanation
Hamlin addressed the criticism his jacket had received.
"After talking to my parents I understand how my jacket may have offended some people," he wrote on Twitter.
"It was never my intention to hurt or disrespect anyone, the coat is abstract art to me. It says Eternal, which I am Eternally grateful to my Savior!"
Hamlin with Eagles running back Miles Sanders in Super Bowl LVII.
(Credit: Diggzy/Shutterstock)
"My beliefs and my relationship with God are not tied to symbolic images. I will learn from this and continue to walk in Love as I have ALWAYS done. Matthew 7:1-5," he added.
In his first TV appearance since collapsing in the first quarter of a game between the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2, Hamlin said he's "in great shape" physically but "still working" on things at emotional level.
"Every morning and every night I take 10 deep breaths and that puts everything in perspective. I'm doing great," Hamlin said in an interview with Good Morning America.
"I'm still trying to process all the emotions and trauma that comes from dealing with a situation like that and not really having people around—no one in my immediate circle—who have dealt with something like that."
Damar Hamlin Super Bowl