Ground-up decision: How Bills, Bengals led the way after Damar Hamlin collapsed

An hour after Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field and about 35 minutes after he was rushed to a Cincinnati hospital, a small knot of people gathered amid a chaotic scene outside the locker rooms beneath Paycor Stadium.

Bills' coach Sean McDermott, Bengals coach Zac Taylor, referee Shawn Smith and a few team executives and staffers stood anxiously in a semicircle with NFL chief football administrator Dawn Aponte. Passing Aponte's cellphone back and forth, they spoke with NFL executives at the league's command center in Manhattan.

It was 9:55 p.m. ET and on the stadium's scoreboard: "THE GAME IS TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED. PLEASE STAND BY FOR FURTHER INFORMATION." League officials still…