By: G.Stryker, Follow on Twitter @SNStryker & Instagram @SNStryker
SteelerNation.com
What a difference six days makes. Just last week, our very own Matt Papiernik reported that the Hall of Fame Game was on schedule and it would have fans. Now it appears as the Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has changed course.
According to WKYC-TV, the first preseason game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys may go on as scheduled, but the Ohio Governor has pulled back on allowing a crowd at this event.
"As much as I hate to say this, because we've all been looking forward to that and I know how much it means to the Canton area and the Stark County area and really across the country, it's a great great event that we've been looking forward to, [but ] having a crowd that size is highly unlikely," DeWine stated. "Certainly, it could not occur today. It would be very dangerous to do it today."
"Again, we have to see where we are at that point, but that's a large crowd, a lot of people together. These are the things that we've talked about all the way through this as we open Ohio up and we get back to work and we get back to doing the things that we like, probably the last things that are going to be able to be open are the big crowds, particularly when you have big crowds that are close together. So we have to continue to look at it and make decisions as we move forward, but if the question was, 'could that even occur today?' the answer would be, 'no'."
So with crowd attendance in doubt, this throws up concerns for the return of fans to NFL games in general. Will the NFL push the season back a few weeks? Will it cancel two preseason games? Both are options, but we will have to wait until July to get a clearer picture for how the NFL and the state of Ohio chooses to treat the safety of their residents during this Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak.
Do you think the Hall of Fame game will go on as scheduled? Will fans be allowed to attend? Should they be allowed to attend? Sound off below to let us know how you feel about it.
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