CANTON, Ohio _ The prospect of the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts playing in the Hall of Fame game Sunday night was diminishing with each minute the game got closer to kickoff.
Now it has been canceled.
A source with connections to multiple players involved in the game said that around 6 p.m. he was informed by more than one person that the game had been canceled. Official word was finally given through the NFL's mobile site at about 6:15 p.m.
ESPN, which is broadcasting the game, also began telling viewers the game was being cancelled around that time.
Poor field conditions, reportedly caused by the wrong paint being applied to the Hall of Fame logo at midfield and wording in the end zone, threatened to end this game before it got started. The field was cleared of both teams at about 5:30 p.m. CDT with indications being it would be a long shot for the game to be played.
"We heard their concerns," Hall of Fame president David Baker said in an interview on ESPN. "Though it was a difficult decision, a lot of fans came a long way _ but it was the only decision that could be made. There will be a refund policy. I don't know what it is yet.
Baker said both teams were scheduled to come out at 8 p.m. so they could be there when the eight new Hall of Fame inductees were announced to the crowd. There will be the halftime concert that was scheduled and then the players will be excused.
Hours before the game, head coaches Mike McCarthy and Chuck Pagano were watching with a worried eye as workers attempted to clear Tom Benson Hall of Fame Field of an accumulation of rubber pellets just hours before the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts were about to kick things off in the annual Hall of Fame game.
The artificial turf surface, which was taken from the Superdome in New Orleans and installed earlier this year, features fine rubber pellets that serve as cushion on the artificial surface. But just three hours before the game a motorized brush was being used to sweep the Hall of Fame logo at the middle of the field.
At first it appeared they were trying to clear the field of the pellets as McCarthy, Pagano and medical staffs for both teams looked on. But the issue appears to be the paint, which for some reason caused the rubber pellets to accumulate and make some parts of the field dangerously soft and other parts hard.
General manager Ted Thompson was huddled with team physician Patrick McKenzie for a considerable amount of time just two hours before the start of the game as workers were sweeping the logo and then clearing the pellets that were accumulating in piles. Workers were trying to spread the pellets evenly back in place with shovels as the brush scattered them.
The prospect of everything being cleared away in time for the start of the game was looking spotty and cancellation appears a possibility.
Based on his player safety concerns _ Thompson won't let the Packers practice with another team during training camp because he's worried about injuries _ it wouldn't be surprising if he told the NFL he was not willing to put his players at risk. Both teams could have conceivably told the NFL they refuse to play the game because of safety reasons.
For both teams, it's not the worst thing to happen.
Both were granted an extra week of training camp, but now they don't have to risk players to injury with an extra exhibition game. They will have had three weeks of practice before they ever engage in a live game, which probably pleases the two coaches.
The field outside the 40-yard lines on both sides appeared to be in good condition. Players were jogging sideline to sideline and doing half speed drills on each end. However, a source said that the end zones were a problem also because of a heavy amount of paint being used there to spell out "Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium" on one end and "Pro Football Hall of Fame" on the other.
The issue wasn't directly related to the rubber pellets on the field. Instead, witnesses said the paint on the field appeared to be pulling the pellets to the surface and causing them to create spots where players' cleats could get stuck.
ESPN reported that Hall of Fame people used the wrong kind of paint on the field.
In the middle, the field appeared squishy and the prospect of players catching their cleats in the soft rubber pellets appears to be a big concern. At times workers appeared to be power-washing the logo to try to clear the paint.
The turf was covered with a tarp and possibly planks of an unknown material the past two days for a Tim McGraw concert on Friday and the Hall of Fame induction ceremony Saturday. Workers began removing all the covering immediately after the induction ceremony Saturday night.
It's hard to imagine that someone didn't notice the accumulation of rubber pellets much earlier.
Equipment manager Red Batty and one of his assistants were examining a spot directly in the middle of the field on the 50-yard line. Others were sliding their feet on the turf to check how slippery it was.
In the meantime, piles of rubber pellets were still accumulated between the 40 and 50 yard lines on one end of the field. A large contingent of officials, including the two head coaches, were meeting with one of the field managers who was directing the work on the field.
