The Dallas Cowboys-Pittsburgh Steelers preseason opener at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on August 6 is canceled and the August 8 Hall of Fame consecration ceremony is postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, league sources told ESPN.
This is the first time that the NFL has had to cancel an event on its schedule due to the pandemic, with the Hall of Fame Game starting the preseason annually. The NFL had been able to carry out free agency, albeit in different ways, as well as a virtual draft of the NFL.
The Cowboys and Steelers are now expected to play in the 2021 Hall of Fame Game, sources said, and the consecration ceremony is also expected to take place next year.
The game cancellation is expected to change when the Cowboys and Steelers show up at training camp. The Cowboys and Steelers were preparing to be the first two teams to report to camp in about a month, but now they are likely to do so with the rest of the teams in the league.
Most teams are slated to appear at training camp on July 28, but the NFL has received no definitive word on whether that will happen. This is an issue expected to be addressed in Thursday’s conference call with NFL owners, the sources said.
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