Why Peyton Hillis’s heroism has been overshadowed

It’s no one’s fault, but the heroism of former Chiefs running back Peyton Hillis has been overshadowed by other news around the NFL.

It’s been a helluva two-week span in the life of Peyton Hillis. It’s too bad so few know what has happened.

It’s no one’s fault, to be clear. If we’re all honest, there’s only so much bandwidth in our collective attention spans. In the digital age, everything is accessible but that doesn’t make us available. Our brains can only handle so much.

Back to Hillis. Over the last couple of weeks, Hillis has lived through quite an ordeal that would have normally dominated headlines around the NFL. While details are fuzzy, the facts as reported so far are that the former running back nearly drowned and died after saving his children from drowning while in Pensacola, Florida.

Hillis was lifelined via helicopter to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola where he was placed in intensive care with kidney and lung issues. He was also placed on a ventilator. Two weeks later, he has been discharged and is headed home after such a harrowing incident.

This sort of story filled with heroism would have generated serious headlines at any other time of year—or even at this point in any other season. It’s a tragedy turned hopeful filled with heartening posts on social media that should be shared and applauded. Instead it’s been largely forgotten and that has nothing to do with Hillis, nor should it take away from what he’s done.

Hillis’s incident just so happened to overlap with the tragic injury and subsequent hospitalization of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin that forced the NFL to postpone and ultimately cancel a primetime showdown between the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals. From there, the NFL news cycle has kept tabs on Hamlin while shifting to the start of the postseason.

As we said, there’s only so much attention to go around.

That is, of course, unfair to Hillis who deserves more applause than he’s received. He’s not complaining, to be clear, and we’re pretty sure the health and safety of his children is enough, but it’s a shame that a story like this has been buried at all. It’s not only newsworthy to point out that Hillis was able to help save his children but that he has made such a remarkable recovery.

Hillis is a former seventh-round selection of the Denver Broncos who also spent time with the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, and New York Giants in his seven year career.