National Football League fields have come a long way from the days of risky artificial surfaces, but the head of the players’ union says there’s much more room for improvement.
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The game was canceled Sunday due to unsafe playing conditions, but a story from NFL.com details how a series of blunders doomed the matchup between the Colts and Packers in Canton.
Vincent, the league’s executive vice president of football operations, sent a memo to all 32 teams saying the league will use the field fiasco at Tom Benson Stadium in Canton, Ohio, as a learning experience to ensure it never happens again.
The change in turf was previously planned by the Hall of Fame and was not a reaction to Sunday’s game problems. The cancellation stemmed from the paint that was used on the logos at midfield and in the end zone congealing, putting the players’ safety at risk. The contest was canceled about 30 minutes later. “We did the right thing in line with player safety”. The cancelation is expected to cost the Hall of Fame about $4-million in lost revenue. You’ve heard me many, many times talk about our values of commitment, integrity, courage, respect, and excellence. At first, it appeared workers were trying to clear the field of the rubber pellets, which were piling up in a half circle around the logo.
“A very, very hard decision for us today”, Baker told ESPN. Pace hails from Sandusky, OH, so making it into the Hall was especially meaningful to him and his family, but also to St. Louis Rams fans, whose team moved back to Los Angeles this year. “It was just incredible to see thegreen and gold”.
Irsay added that he wanted to know “why there was incompetence”. The field was covered during Saturday’s festivities.
Last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers had complaints about the quality of the field, and it may have contributed to them losing kicker Shaun Suisham for the year.
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“We are spending time with the Hall, and turf suppliers to determine what happened to make sure what happened in Canton doesn’t occur in other games”, McCarthy said. He tore the ACL in his left knee in the Hall of Fame game against the Minnesota Vikings, and his career could be over. They invested in the weekend trip, to watch the Hall of Fame Induction, followed by the game.
