The Pittsburgh Steelers are now into the offseason, following a year in which they had high hopes for Super Bowl success, but ultimately fell short of even reaching the postseason at 8-8. It was a tumultuous season, both on the field and within the roster, and the months to follow figure to have some drama as well, especially in light of the team’s failure to improve upon the year before.
The team made some bold moves over the course of the past year, and some areas of the roster look quite a bit different than they did a year ago, or even at the start of the regular season. Whether due to injuries or otherwise, a lot has transpired, and we’re left to wonder how much more will change prior to September.
How will Ben Roethlisberger’s rehab progress as he winds toward recovery from an elbow injury that cost him almost the entire season? What about some of the key young players, some of whom have already impressed, others still needing quite a bit of growth? Will there be changes to the coaching staff? The front office? Who will they not retain in free agency, and whom might they bring in?
These are the sorts of questions among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked, though there is rarely a concrete answer, as I’ve learned in my years of doing this.
Question: Will the Hall of Fame game actually take place?
According to a report yesterday, the NFL is mulling over the possibility of shortening the preseason down to two games, rather than four, which would also presumably mean that the Steelers and Cowboys, set to play in the Hall of Fame game…would not be doing so.
A different report said that teams would be given a uniform start date for training camp, and yet another, separate report, said that the Steelers and Cowboys would be expected to report earlier, on July 22, because they are scheduled to play in the Hall of Fame game.
These are just working plans, though, and presumably the plan to consider shortening the preseason takes precedence over the others if it becomes necessary to do so later on in the year as we get closer to the start time of training camp.
The Hall of Fame itself is now reopening, and has announced that induction weekend, as it currently stands, is still scheduled to take place as expected, but don’t be surprised if we eventually see that game, and other preseason games, dropped, depending upon what the state of the pandemic looks like by that point in time.
Truthfully, I’m not sure how many people there will be missing the Hall of Fame game…especially the players, who have to play on a field with a history of poor maintenance.
