Cowboys-Steelers Hall of Fame game reportedly canceled, consecration ceremony postponed


The NFL has its first coronavirus-related cancellation. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, this year’s Hall of Fame Game between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers, originally scheduled for August 6, is canceled and the Hall of Fame consecration ceremony is postponed. Both changes have reportedly been made due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Schefter reported that the Cowboys and Steelers will play in the 2021 Hall of Fame Game. The hallmark of the 2020 Hall of Fame class will take place in 2021, but a new date has not been announced.

Rich Desrosiers, vice president of communications for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was optimistic that fans could be in the stands as recently as mid-June.

“One of the things we hope and are willing to do is almost be the test case for the NFL,” Desrosiers told CBSSports.com. “Give us the green light and we will show people how it can be done safely for the fans, for the participants and for the employees here. We feel very positive about the prospects of this happening in early August.”

The Class of 2020 will have to wait a little longer to be inducted into the Professional Soccer Hall of Fame. (Photo by Rich Graessle / PPI / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine poured cold water on that optimism just days later.

“As much as I hate to say this, because we’ve all been waiting for that and I know what it means for the Canton area and the Stark County area and really across the country, it’s a great, great event that we’ve been waiting for [but ] having a crowd that size is highly unlikely, “DeWine said.

According to CBSSports.com, the Hall of Fame sold more than 20,000 game tickets in just half an hour after going on sale.

Since the Hall of Fame game generally begins the preseason, the Cowboys and Steelers were supposed to appear at training camp on July 22, six days before all other teams. According to Schefter, his reporting date is likely to be pushed back to July 28, when all the other teams are reporting.

Almost four months after the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL has managed to keep its schedule relatively free of cancellations. Free agency, off-season trainings, meetings and conference calls have been done virtually, as has the entire NFL draft. But with each passing day, it brings us closer to preseason games and real real games. With COVID-19 cases emerging in numerous states, this is probably not the last cancellation we will see.

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