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Annual Hall of Fame Game to kick off NFL Preseason is canceled

The Aug. 6 game in Canton, Ohio, between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers is the first on-field event the league has canceled during the pandemic.
Credit: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
The NFL logo is displayed on the turf as the Denver Broncos defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 24-17 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on September 14, 2014 in Denver, Colorado.

The NFL has canceled the Hall of Fame game that traditionally opens the preseason and is delaying the 2020 induction ceremonies for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Aug. 6 exhibition game in Canton, Ohio, between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers is the first on-field event the league has canceled during the pandemic. It will now be played on Aug. 5, 2021. Enshrinements for 20 men scheduled for this year now will occur on Aug. 7, 2021. The 2021 inductees will go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame the next day.

NFL owners are conducting a virtual meeting Thursday in which the preseason schedule will be discussed. It’s possible the league will reduce the number of exhibition games to two per team from the usual four. Dallas and Pittsburgh would have played five, including the game in Canton.

In other developments related to the coronavirus pandemic:

- Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott says he is feeling “normal” after testing positive for the coronavirus earlier this month. Speaking on a Twitch chat this week, Elliott said he had shortness of breath and a cough for a couple of days. He said he now feels good but hasn’t resumed working out yet. He said he could have been re-tested this week, but decided that it wouldn’t hurt to wait and get more rest first. Elliott’s mother has said the running back had been around someone who had no symptoms, but then tested positive for the coronavirus three days later. 

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