False Start: HOF Game canceled as paint job renders field unplayable
CANTON, Ohio – The 97th NFL season was supposed to begin Sunday night at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
But a bad paint job got in the way. Soft and sticky spots near the Hall of Fame logo at midfield caused concern during pregame warm-ups, and the paint in the end zone later congealed into a hard unplayable surface.
The NFL and the players’ union released a joint statement announcing the game had been canceled in the interest of player safety.
“It’s a very unusual situation,” Colts owner Jim Irsay said. “It’s something that shouldn’t have occurred. We’re disappointed, but at the same time being in the league for almost a half a century, I’ve seen some of these things occur before. It’s unusual obviously, and we’re going to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Indianapolis GM Ryan Grigson, Green Bay GM Ted Thompson and medical and training personnel from both teams began talking with Pro Football Hall of Fame Game officials more than two hours before the scheduled 8 p.m. kickoff.
They seemed to be most concerned about a spot on the field near the 45-yard line, and the longer the conversation wore on, the larger the group grew.
David Baker, the executive director of the Hall of Fame, eventually joined the group, and the smattering of special teams players warming up were told to leave the field at 6:30 p.m.
About 15 minutes later, word began to leak that the contest would be canceled. But there was no in-stadium announcement made until Baker addressed the crowd at 8 p.m.
By then the stands had filled with a crowd estimated at 22,375 fans, and Baker was loudly booed as he broke the news and promised a full refund policy would be implemented.
The ensuing on-field action was barely controlled chaos hastily thrown together in part to help fill time for broadcast partner ESPN.
Both teams were announced to lighter boos, and they joined the six living Hall of Famers from last night’s enshrinement ceremony at midfield. NFL Network’s Steve Wyche interviewed Colts head coach Chuck Pagano and Packers head coach Mike McCarthy as well as the Hall of Famers and selected players from both teams.
The Indianapolis cheerleaders performed, and scheduled halftime entertainer Lee Greenwood sang the set he likely would have performed.
The whole production fell flat, and the disappointment was palpable. But the overwhelming sentiment was that the cancellation was unavoidable.
This is the first time a preseason game was canceled because of field conditions since Baltimore’s scheduled contest at Philadelphia was called off in 2001.
The cancellation Hall of Fame Game is a much bigger black eye for the league, however, with the season expected to kick off in a swarm of fanfare on national television.