Hall of Fame Game cancelled because of unsafe field conditions

Well, that’s one way to shorten the preseason.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame game between the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts has been cancelled because of unsafe field conditions.

 

Saturday night’s Pro Football hall of Fame induction ceremony caused field problems, leading to cancel Sunday’s Hall of Fame Game (getty Images).

The teams arrived at the stadium to find that the field was in terrible shape after Saturday night’s induction ceremony. Field workers worked furiously to try to get the field into playable condition, but both teams’ coaches feared that it was a major injury risk.

The NFL and NFLPA issued a joint statement after the decision to cancel the game was made official:

“Due to safety concerns with the condition of the playing surface in Canton, tonight’s game between the Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers has been cancelled. We are very disappointed for our fans, but player safety is our primary concern, and as a result, we could not play an NFL game on this field tonight.”

 

The surface of Tom Benson Field, named after the New Orleans Saints owner, was extremely hard (“like concrete,” per an ESPN report) because the paint applied to the surface had gummed up into a tar-like surface. ESPN’s Lisa Salters reported that that wrong paint was used on the surface before the game.

Still, the cancellation came as a surprise to many. It’s not often that any NFL game, even one that doesn’t count, is called off.

	Pat McAfee @PatMcAfeeShow
Had no idea a cancellation was possible.. When it 1st got mentioned our entire locker room had the same reaction.. pic.twitter.com/920e2bXBOR 4:10 PM - 7 Aug 2016

Realizing the bad look of the whole situation, the NFL and the Pro Football Hall of Fame decided to have both teams stay at the stadium and turn the event into a fan experience. Fans will be refunded their ticket costs. Still, it’s a major embarrassment for the game that annually kicks off the exhibition season.

The Hall of Fame Game was canceled in 2011 because of the ongoing lockout. The game also twice was cut short because of lightning concerns.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was not expected to play anyway, and both teams’ starters likely wouldn’t have had much more than a series in the 2016 preseason debut. Packers head coach Mike McCarthy and Colts head coach Chuck Pagano both expressed concerns about the state of the field, brought it up to game officials and monitored as the field crew tried to work on the surface before the game ultimately was canceled.

This was also scheduled to be the debut of Monday Night Football play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough, who replaced Mike Tirico in the offseason, for ESPN. Now the game goes down as a major waste of money for the network, plus that for the travel expenses of thousands of fans who came to Canton — including scores from Wisconsin — yes, mostly to watch the induction speeches of Brett Favre and Tony Dungy and others, but also watch a little NFL football for the first time in seven months.

People might not love the preseason in general, but this still is a bad look for the NFL.