The Hall of Fame Game between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers has been canceled.
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The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced Thursday that the preseason opener, scheduled for Aug. 6, has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the HOF game no longer taking place, the Cowboys and Steelers are expected to report to training camp when the rest of the teams begin workouts in late July. The current training camp start date is July 28, but the beginning of training camp is one topic NFL owners are expected to discuss in Thursday’s video conference meeting, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported.
Contingencies were in place if postponement was necessary. In the end, the league felt it safest to cancel the game amid the pandemic. The Cowboys and Steelers have agreed to postpone their preseason matchup until Aug. 5, 2021, which will kick off next year’s Enshrinement Week.
It’s the first major event the NFL has had to completely cancel due to COVID-19. The live NFL draft in Las Vegas was wiped out, but the league still held the event virtually.
The NFL has said multiple times it plans to push forward with the 2020 regular season starting on time. The cancellation of the HOF game could be the first stage in curtailing the preseason, however, as the league deals with the difficulties of playing games during a pandemic.
