Why is the 2016 NFL Hall of Fame Game canceled?
By John Buhler
The 2016 NFL Hall of Fame Game scheduled for Sunday evening has been cancelled. Here is the logic behind the exhibition game in Canton, Ohio’s cancellation.
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Hours before kickoff on Sunday in Canton, Ohio, the NFL has decided to cancel the 2016 NFL Hall of Fame Game scheduled to be played between the NFC North’s Green Bay Packers and the AFC South’s Indianapolis Colts.
This was going to be the first NFL preseason game of 2016, but NFL fans yearning for any preseason action will now have to wait four days. The main reason behind the NFL’s decision to cancel the game was due to what the Packers and the Colts believed was an unplayable field surface.
The main area of concern was that the paint used by the field crew congealed, making it especially slippery for players’ footing. It was the worst at the 50-yard line, with the Pro Football Hall of Fame emblem.
Playing on a slippery surface like that would have been equivalent to playing on tar, not a good thing for players that don’t have guaranteed contracts. A handful of players on either team noticed that some areas of the field were as hard as concrete. Who would want to get tackled on concrete in a glorified exhibition anyway?
This is an embarrassing moment for the NFL, coming off what was otherwise a terrific weekend in Canton, Ohio for the induction of the 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame class that included the likes of Brett Favre, Orlando Pace, Kevin Greene, and Tony Dungy.
While players that are essentially guaranteed roster spots on both the Packers and Colts are in great shape, having not to play a fourth preseason game, this is bad news for any guy struggling to not get cut during NFL training camp. For some fringe players, these preseason games are their time to shine. It’s a shame that the Canton, Ohio field crew couldn’t get it together today.