Deadline to Save Hall of Fame Game is Looming

ESPN is reporting that the NFL Hall of Fame would still like to play the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio on August 7th.  Well, duh!  Of course they want to play the game.  More importantly, they are still planning to have the game and both the Bears and Rams are still preparing as if the game will be played.

If an agreement between the players and owners can’t be reached quickly, the August 7th game between the Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams will have to be canceled.  It would be a dark cloud cast over a celebration of the enshrinement of the Rams’ Marshall Faulk and the Beloved’s own Richard Dent among others.  Check out what Hall of Fame president Steve Perry told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio after the jump about the game.

"“We’re making all plans to have the game on time. We’ve heard from both parties — the owners and the players — and they’ve expressed their desire to have the game. So, that’s our plan,” Perry told ESPN.“Ticket sales are lagging behind where they were compared to this time last year,” Perry acknowledged. “That’s understandable. There is some uncertainty out there. But we’re planning to have the game. Nobody has told us otherwise. In fact, both sides have told us they want to play the game.”"

As participants of the Hall of Fame Game, the Bears and Rams are slated to report to camp a week earlier than everyone else – July 22nd for the Bears.  In order to get into camp on time to prepare for the game, a deal needs to be reached by July 15th.  Remember back in February and March when July 15th seemed like a lifetime away?   That date is just over a week away and time is running out.