NFL Embarrasses Itself with HOF Gaffe

The soft opening to the NFL season was not to be on Monday, leaving ravenous fans to wait until the end of the week to finally enjoy some football. Or, at least, something vaguely resembling football.

The NFL’s Hall of Fame Game – the league’s annual limp-wristed handshake in the business meeting that is the NFL season – was cancelled due to the field of suburban Fawcett stadium more closely resembling a freshly tarred parking lot than a freshly mowed turf. Apparently, the wrong application of paint led to the field markings melting, while attempts to recover the paint job led to the surface hardening.

Players knew something was up immediately, having been told not to warm up until the field conditions were deemed safe. The fans were offered no such luxury. Forced to wait outside the stadium, they were likely stupefied as to what event might have undone six months of what was surely careful and meticulous planning by the HoF groundskeepers.

The players, meanwhile, would have been feeling a mix of emotions depending on their depth chart spot. Established starters would’ve been relieved to have a night off, even if their services were scarcely required in the game anyway. But fringe players, rookies and practice squadders would’ve spent all week psyching themselves up for a golden opportunity to prove they belong on the final roster.

Fawcett stadium hosts exactly one game a year. And not even an important one; the exhibition always plays second fiddle to the Hall of Fame enshrinement and speech ceremony the night prior.

Upholding the “integrity to respect players and their safety,” as HoF executive director David Baker put it, is all well and good when acts of God are involved. When a game is cancelled because of the ineptitude of your grounds crew, your right to talk about vigilance with player safety is pretty much void.

Despite cries that the field was in poor condition last year, the NFL rolled the dice and let the show go on. Three hours later, Steelers kicker Shaun Suisham was ruled out for the season with a torn ACL after landing hard on the turf.

The NFL powers that be, likely shaking in their suits at the possibility of another starter suffering the same fate, decided to hedge their bets, sparking a proverbial “Ha, see!” by Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams on Twitter.

It seems the cure is better than prevention. It’s high time the league “Old Yeller’d” this game for good. A fifth preseason game has no place in the modern NFL. Better to remove it entirely than tell us we’ll have it before yanking it away.