“Due to safety concerns with the condition of the playing surface in Canton, tonight’s game between theIndianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers has been cancelled”. Adam Schefter tweeted less than two hours before the planned 8 p.m. kickoff saying that the paint on the center of the field and both end zones had “congealed” and the game would have been like “playing on tar”.
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Hours before the game, head coaches Mike McCarthy and Chuck Pagano were watching with a anxious eye as workers attempted to clear Tom Benson Hall of Fame Field of an accumulation of rubber pellets just hours before the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts were about to kick things off in the annual Hall of Fame game. “I can tell you, I had a son that played in this league [former Atlanta Falcons offensive tackle Sam Baker], and if [this] had happened with him on the field, I would have wanted somebody to make the same decision”.
Colts owner Jim Irsay appeared on ESPN and said he wasn’t happy the game had to be cancelled.
Now things have devolved so much that there won’t be a Hall of Fame Game at all. Sunday’s game wasn’t going to be much of a regular season preview, although it provides a chance for end-of-the-roster plays to impress coaches and make the team.
The NFL and the players’ union released a joint statement announcing the game had been canceled in the interest of player safety. Baker said fans will be refunded their money for the tickets. Fans traveled across the country to come see this game.
“You know where we are as a league with player safety”.
The turf at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton will be replaced for next year’s Hall of Fame game, according to Wyche per a Hall source.
Both were granted an extra week of training camp, but now they don’t have to risk player injuries with an extra exhibition game. “In some respects a hard decision because of the impact it has”. The Packers and Colts would be the only team using the field in Canton for it was planned to be replaced immediately because of more stadium renovation work in the coming year.
ESPN reported that Hall of Fame people used the wrong kind of paint on the field. Now we’re going to have to go a few more.
Then we saw Packer equipment crews rolling carts, back into the locker room and General Manager Ted Thompson took one last look at a lost opportunity to evaluate his players on opening night.
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In 2001, a new artificial surface at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium was deemed too risky for the Eagles to play the Ravens.
