Report: Hall of Fame Game canceled, enshrinement ceremony postponed

The first NFL game of the 2020 preseason is being canceled, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game was scheduled for August 6th and was going to feature the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys. It has been canceled entirely due to the Covid-19 pandemic, while the August 8th enshrinement ceremony is postponed.

This is the first event the NFL has canceled this offseason due to the pandemic. The NFL Draft was turned into a virtual event, but it still happened. The offseason workout program was entirely virtual so there were no in-person OTAs or minicamp, but teams could still conduct some business with players via Zoom or other meeting platforms.

The NFL has remained publicly optimistic about the season starting on time. The majority of teams are scheduled to report to training camp on July 28th, but that is being negotiated with the players’ union. There has been talk of potentially canceling the early side of the preseason scheduled to help players ramp back up after no in-person workouts this offseason. With July just around the corner, we should start to hear more about that sooner than later.