This is exactly what happened after field conditions forced a Hall of Fame game between the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. However, a source said that the end zones were a problem also, although what the problem there was isn’t known.
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Just before the scheduled kickoff time of 8:00 PM EDT, David Baker, the President of the Pro Football Hall of Fame was on the field to announced the game would be called because of safety concerns for the players.
This is a brutal look for the National Football League to cancel the Hall of Fame Game, their first outing of the year.
The Hall of Fame said tickets purchased through the hall will be refunded, but it is not responsible for tickets bought on the secondary market. That unsafe ground prompted the National Football League to cancel a game that fans had waited more than 6 months for. This was an NFL preseason game to be played by two NFL teams, Irsay’s Colts and the Green Bay Packers, between players employed by the NFL and to be televised via the NFL’s contract with ESPN. You’ve got young players who want to make the team. As was plainly obvious, the heat caused the paint to congeal and harden, and it was clear from the very first time you stepped on it that running on the painted surfaces was risky, at best. Throw in the fact that nearly none of the primary starters from either team see even a series or two of action and it’s becoming hard to justify the existence of this game.
One Packers player described it as “like cement” at midfield, where workers spent more than an hour trying to make it playable. They couldn’t ensure the safety of the players. Frustrated fans didn’t understand why the field was deemed unsuitable for play or whom to blame.
The cancellation of the game didn’t prevent appearances by the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016 and a performance by singer Lee Greenwood for the Sunday crowd.
The field in Canton was highly criticized in last year’s contest as well.
The field was covered during Saturday’s festivities. On Aug. 14, 2001, a preseason game between the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles was cancelled due to an unplayable field at Veterans Stadium.
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The grounds crew at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, which was formerly Fawcett Stadium until Benson, the New Orleans Saints owner, donated $10 million for the renovations, apparently used a paint on the field that was not compatible with the field turf making up the surface. That’s why I was the Hall of Fame Game would begin tonight, but I suppose I can wait a few more days before I finally get my football fix in.
