The preseason-opening Dallas Cowboys-Pittsburgh Steelers game at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 6 is being canceled and the Hall of Fame’s Aug. 8 enshrinement ceremony is being postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
This marks the first time the NFL has had to cancel an event on its calendar, with the Hall of Fame Game annually kicking off the preseason. The NFL had been able to conduct free agency, albeit in a different way, as well as a virtual NFL draft.
The Cowboys and Steelers are now expected to play in the 2021 Hall of Fame Game, sources said, and the enshrinement ceremony also is expected to be held next year.
The game’s cancellation is expected to change when the Cowboys and Steelers report to training camp. The Cowboys and Steelers were preparing to be the first two teams to report to camp in about a month but now are likely to report with the rest of the league’s teams.
The majority of teams are scheduled to report to training camp July 28, but there has been no definitive word from the NFL about whether that will happen. This is a topic that is expected to be addressed in Thursday’s conference call with NFL owners, sources said.