What happened to the fans at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium over the next 80 minutes was no accident. Fans with tickets to Sunday’s game will be fully refunded.
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Baker said that staff tried to remedy the situation by dropping pellets. But in some respects, it was an easy, ethical decision.
“This is an important game for the people of Canton”, Baker said.
“Our mission says we are to honor the heroes of the game, and not just the Hall of Famers, but the guys playing today”, Baker said. ESPN reports those parts of the field had been painted earlier on Sunday. The issue was the paint used for the logo at midfield and in the end zones.
“There was a lot of conversation but, at the end of the day, you’ve got to make a decision, and the decision was made for player safety”, McCarthy said. And could the Hall of Fame withstand the loss in revenue that would be caused by such an event? 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.
“We thought we might be able to re-mediate it, even if it meant delaying the game for up to an hour”.
Baker told NFL Media, “We think we could make it playable, that it might be playable now, but if there is any concern, anything in the minds of players, we want to err on the side of player safety”. It’s the only thing to do.
Based on Thompson’s player safety concerns – he won’t let the Packers practice with another team during training camp because he’s so anxious about injuries – it wouldn’t be surprising if he told the National Football League he was not willing to put his players at risk.
The outrage, disappointment and frustration from fans was evident as many had traveled from out of state expecting to watch some of their favorite players play in the first preseason game of the year.
“In 2001, a new artificial surface at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium was deemed too unsafe for the Eagles to play the Ravens”.
Both teams walked onto the field at 8 p.m., moments before the game would have kicked off, and the players saluted the crowd.
Colts coach Chuck Pagano said he was disappointed but understood the cancellation. He was looking to “find out about a lot of these young players”. This weekend in Canton proved to be a pilgrimage for Packers fans and now it has been cut short.
While initially it was reported the game could be played, it was eventually cancelled as a measure of caution for the potential risk posed to players.
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Officials with the Hall of Fame originally discussed with team General Managers that pre-game ceremonies would still go on, but the game could become more of a glorified practice because of the issues. They sat watching highlights of Favre’s speech and of Friday night’s concert featuring Tim McGraw before they were told about the game’s cancellation.
