Pro Football Hall of Fame Game


The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game is an annual National Football League exhibition game that is held the weekend of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's induction ceremonies. The game is played at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, which is part of Johnson Controls Hall of Fame Village and is located adjacent to the Hall of Fame building in Canton, Ohio.

Team selection

The two teams that play in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game are typically selected by the league in advance of the remainder of the preseason schedule. The participants are usually announced around the time that the new Hall of Fame members are announced, which coincides with Super Bowl week. Often, if a particularly notable player will be entering the Hall of Fame that year, a team they were strongly associated with may be selected to play in the game to help maximize attendance and publicity of the game itself. From 1971 to 2010, the opponents for each game usually included one AFC team and one NFC team. In 2009, as recognition of the 50th anniversary of the American Football League, the game paired two AFC teams who were part of the "original eight" franchises of the AFL, the Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills, whose owner, Ralph Wilson, was inducted into the Hall that year. An all-NFC matchup was scheduled for 2011, but it was canceled due to the 2011 NFL lockout; the following year, another intra-conference matchup of two NFC teams took its place. From 2011 onward, each team selected to play in the game has had at least one prominent alumnus being inducted into the Hall that year.
Because this game and the Hall of Fame's induction ceremonies are scheduled on the weekend before the league's regular four-week exhibition season begins, both teams end up playing five exhibition games instead of the normal four, and unlike the Canadian Football League, the league does not remove one.
The last four expansion teams to have been added to the league each played in the Hall of Fame Game as their first game. In 1995, expansion clubs Jacksonville and Carolina played each other, and in 2002, Houston was one of the participants. When the Cleveland Browns returned to the league with a rebooted roster in 1999, they too played in the Hall of Fame Game. The Baltimore Ravens, while officially considered as being established in 1996, did not play in the Hall of Fame Game until 2018. With the Ravens' participation in the 2018 game, all 32 current NFL teams have now played in the Hall of Fame game at least once.

Scheduling

Prior to the AFL–NFL merger, the Hall of Fame Game was played in August or September, in some cases at the end of the preseason. In 1970, it was moved to the beginning of the preseason. Prior to 2002, it was not uncommon for the game to be played in July. Since 2002, when the league permanently moved the start of the season to the weekend after Labor Day, the game has always been played in early August.
The 2011 game was originally scheduled between the St. Louis Rams and the Chicago Bears, but the game was canceled due to an ongoing labor dispute that had disrupted nearly all league activity during the 2011 offseason. The two clubs had set a deadline of July 22 to ratify a resolution in enough time to prepare for the game. The league and players did not ratify the agreement until July 25, forcing cancellation of the game.
The 2016 edition, which was scheduled to be played between the Green Bay Packers and the Indianapolis Colts, was canceled at the last minute due to unsafe playing conditions. Mike Silver of NFL.com reported that on the morning of game day, it was discovered the logos at midfield and the end zones had been painted using paint which was not intended for use on the newly installed FieldTurf. Subsequently, the paint had not fully dried, and officials heated the field to speed up the drying process, causing the turf's rubber to melt; the affected areas were described as being slick and "like cement," making it impossible to get decent footing. Stadium officials attempted to address this by applying paint thinner to the turf, but a Packers employee noticed a label warning that this substance could result in burns when exposed to skin, and alerted them to the discovery.
In deciding to cancel the game, the league and the Players Association cited safety concerns. Both teams were told at 6:40 p.m., an hour and 20 minutes before kickoff, that the game was going to be canceled. However, fans in the stadium only learned of the pending cancellation via social media, and no official announcement was made until just before the scheduled 8 p.m. kickoff, which was greeted by boos and jeering.
In 2017, the Hall of Fame Game was moved to Thursday night, making it the first event of the Hall of Fame weekend. This change has been maintained since.
The game in 2020, which was scheduled to be played between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Television and radio

Unlike the majority of NFL preseason games, which air on local TV stations, the Hall of Fame Game airs nationwide. From 1999 to 2005, the game was held on Monday night, televised as part of ABC's Monday Night Football package. It had previously been held typically on Saturday afternoons, except from 1963 to 1965 on Sunday afternoons, televised as part of ABC's Wide World of Sports package. In 1998, the game was put in the MNF package, and played on a Saturday night, which served as a test run for the move to Monday night.
Since 2006, the game has largely aired on NBC as part of the Sunday Night Football package, except in 2007, and in all Summer Olympics years due to NBC's coverage of the Games. In these cases, the game has been passed to one of the NFL's cable partners, such as NFL Network, and more recently ESPN.

Game history

;Notes

Appearances