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Lions fan that attended game 1971 Chuck Hughes game worried for Bills' Damar Hamlin
When Keith Starr watched the Bills-Bengals game on Monday night - and saw 24-year-old Damar Hamlin go down - a rush of memories came back.
ROMULUS, Mich. (FOX 2) - When Keith Starr watched the Bills-Bengals game on Monday night - and saw 24-year-old Damar Hamlin go down - a rush of memories came back.
"It brought me back to 1971 with my father going to Tiger Stadium to watch the Lions play the Bears and Chuck Hughes, let him rest in peace, died (from a tackle on the) field," said Starr, of Oak Park.
In 1971, Lions wide receiver Chuck Hughes and to date, he is the only football player that died as a result of a tackle.
The game against the Chicago Bears only had about a minute to go when Hughes caught a pass, was hit and stayed down. Ironically it was Hall of Fame linebacker, Dick Butkus, who played a role.
"Dick Butkus was a mean, tough football player but he could tell this was not your normal tackle," Keith said. "He was waving to the Lions trainers to please get on the field immediately. He knew something was wrong.
"And everybody has a sick feeling in their stomach. I remember my father having to pull over on the Lodge Freeway so we let his ambulance go by. They were probably on their way to Henry Ford Hospital."
Hughes was removed from the field and then taken to the hospital where he died.
"Later that night I remember hearing that he passed," said Starr. "I was thinking about that. And I am really hoping that in Hamlin's case that he is going to survive.
"Forget about football. I just want him to survive and lead a normal life."
A YouTube account, "Dave Volsky's Back Door" has footage of the Chuck Hughes Lions game, which can be seen below. It may be upsetting to some viewers.