Bo Jackson, Joe Theismann, Gale Sayers and Kevin Everett, a familiar name to Buffalo Bills fans. All athletes sidelined in their prime due to serious injury in the NFL.

Although we don’t know what the future holds for Damar Hamlin, his injury opens a larger conversation about the evolution of recovery, rehabilitation and resources in the NFL.

“Watching Monday night’s incident brought me all the way back to my injury,” Everett said. “I mean, quite naturally, it would. It put me back in the moment almost.”

That moment was more than 15 years ago, September 9, 2007, during the Bills season opener against the Denver Broncos. During the game, the then 25-year-old Everett saw his career end with a cervical spine fracture.

It was an eerily similar situation to what fans saw unfold with Damar Hamlin on Monday Night Football. Everett says things looked different this time compared to his injury 15 years ago.

“I was very pleased to see that the way that the league handled it that night, but postponing the game because the league displayed that, you know, it's not just about the game, it's about the players that make the game,” Everett said. “Without the players, it's no game from, you know, how I feel to keep the first and just try to focus on being as positive as you possibly can because the situation is what it is right now.”

That momentum is what carried Everett from a possible quadriplegic diagnosis to walking on his own two months later.

“People across the country [are] doing a magnificent job in their support of Damar Hamlin right now,” Everett said. “This is good for the family to know they’re not in this alone. Everybody is behind them. We’re all praying. We’re all supporting them. We’re all expecting the best out of this. In my experience, sometimes that’s all it takes.”

For Hamlin, the battle is just beginning.

“You have to approach it with a different type of passion because you are facing something totally different that you’ve probably never, ever faced before. You have a fight in front of you,” Everett said.

And Bills Mafia will fight right alongside him. That’s nothing new for Buffalo.