CHICAGO, July 12 (UPI) -- A new labor agreement between NFL team owners and players may not come soon enough to save the Aug. 7 Hall of Fame game, a league official says.
Even though it appears the two sides are coming closer to an agreement, the Hall of Fame game, played every year in Canton, Ohio, to kick off the exhibition schedule, may be a casualty, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told the Chicago Tribune Monday.
"We have not identified a date by which we have to have an agreement to save the Hall of Fame game," he said. "Time is admittedly running short, however."
This year's game is to feature the Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams. A former Bears player, defensive lineman Richard Dent, will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during the weekend's festivities.
A report by ESPN Monday indicated a new collective bargaining agreement could be adopted at a July 21 owners' meeting. If so, time would be very short for the Bears and Rams to get in enough practice time to prepare for the Hall of Fame contest, the Tribune reported.
