According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Buffalo Bills associate athletic trainer Denny Kellington has moved on from the team. He was hired by the Carolina Panthers this week to serve as the team’s vice president of player health and performance.
A promotion was well deserved for Kellington, who was credited with saving the life of safety Damar Hamlin by performing CPR after the Bills safety collapsed on the field in January of 2023.
Kellington was on the Bills’ athletic training staff from 2017, starting as an assistant trainer and moving up to associate head trainer in 2023. Before that, he was on Syracuse University’s athletic training staff for almost 12 years, serving as head athletic trainer of football for the final six years.
Kellington graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2000, where he returned in 2023 to make a commencement speech just four months after saving the life of Hamlin on national TV for the world to see.
“All the attention I’ve received for simply doing my job has been overwhelming,” Kellington said in his speech. “I’ve said repeatedly that I am not a hero, but I will tell you what I was that day, I was ready.”
Because Kellington was ready on that particular night, Hamlin not only survived but he put together the best season of his career in 2024, starting 14 games and recording his first two career interceptions.
The remarkable story of Hamlin doesn’t exist without Kellington. In 2023 Kellington received a vote for NFL MVP from the Associated Press, and he was among a crew of Bills training staff who were presented the Pat Tillman Award at the 2023 ESPYs from an emotional Hamlin.
The Panthers hired not only a well-experienced professional in his field, but also a life-saver who proved his worth on the world’s biggest stage under the most possible pressure.
“When unexpected doors open, or life changes course, trust that your experiences have led you there and you will be ready,” Kellington said in his commencement speech at OSU. “Understand this: small things done with passion and intention have the potential to make a lasting impact with ripple effects that you may never understand.”
