CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Pro Football Hall of Fame reopened its doors Wednesday and they are planning for the Hall of Fame enshrinement festivities to be held as planned.
They’re also putting back up plans in place, just in case.
“The NFL tells us that they’re planning on a full season and starting on time,” Hall of Fame president David Baker said in an interview with Bull and Fox Wednesday afternoon on The Fan. “We’re planning on that, but frankly, obviously we have contingency plans if needed to call an audible and handle things differently and that might be that the preseason is delayed some and we move it back. It might be that we combine it to the centennial and we even have a contingency that goes to postponing it all the way into next year.
“Our phrase is, ‘We’d have twice the fun in 21.’ We’re prepared to adapt in whatever way we need to but right now we’re prepared to go on Aug. 5th, 6th and 7th.”
Tickets for the Hall of Fame Game went on sale 36 hours after the sports world shut down completely in March which made Baker nervous.
“The game sold out in 22 minutes,” Baker said. “We’ve actually have had very few people ask for any refunds. The enshrinement itself is almost sold out.
“So we’ve got the opportunity to kind of not be rushed into this and see what happens because clearly today it is different than it was 30 days ago and 30 days from now it may be a lot different.”
The Hall of Fame is abiding by the guidelines put in place by the state for fans to safely explore and experience the history of the game.
Baker is hopeful they will be allowed to have Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium filled to capacity for the enshrinement as well as game.
“The plan is to move forward as if it’s a full stadium,” Baker said.
There are talks between the league and NFL Players Association about the preseason and possibly cutting it to two games this year which could affect the Hall of Fame Game between the Steelers and Cowboys. It could be delayed or pushed to next year altogether as a result.
“It’s a possibility and we don’t know,” Baker said. “I’m in contact with the NFL every week and they have been very deliberate, and the commissioner has been very deliberate.”
One thing is certain: nothing is certain.
“It could be possible that if they cancel the first two games, we might play two weeks later, but there’s a lot that goes into this,” Baker said. “And then for us, if we played for instance, if we went next year, what about the game? We want to make sure it’s still the Cowboys and the Steelers that are here for that game as well and there may be a second game.”
