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Finally! The long, long, loooonggg off-season is over and football is back! Granted, it’s a meaningless exhibition game, but it’s still far better than any other sports offering on TV since last February. The Hall of Fame Game, pitting the Indianapolis Colts against the Green Bay Packers, airs tonight. Here's what you need to know:
WHAT: 2016 NFL Hall of Fame Game.
WHERE: Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium (Canton, Ohio).
WHEN: 7:00 p.m. CDT.
TV: ESPN (Sean McDonough and Jon Gruden).
RADIO: Sports Radio 610; XM 88 (Westwood One); XM 225 (Packers broadcast); XM 226 (Colts broadcast).
ONLINE STREAMING: WatchESPN or NFL Game Pass .
While the Texans aren’t playing tonight, this game still has meaning as the division rival Indianapolis Colts are taking the field, and hopefully getting mopped all over it.
Now, if the Green Bay Packers are going to win tonight, they’ll have to do it without last night’s Hall of Fame inductee Brett Favre, or future inductee Aaron Rodgers. In fact, Rodgers’ backup ,Brett Hundley, is also out of the question to play as well with a broken ankle. That leaves the pride of Green Bay in the hands of a signal -aller that 32 teams passed on through all seven rounds of this year’s draft.
The new savior of Green Bay, Joe Callahan, was born when Brett Favre was just coming off his rookie season. Callahan grew up idolizing the legendary gunslinger and now, the night after all football eyes were on #4 once more as he accepted his induction into the Hall, Callahan can start his own legacy at the expense of the Colts.
For those who missed it last night, Favre did his best "put me in coach, I’m ready to play" impersonation to the Packers’ brass during his induction speech. Thankfully for Callahan, even Packers fans are probably tired of that cliché.
Meanwhile, Colts coach Chuck Pagano, fearing a loss to an undrafted rookie from a school most fans have never even heard of, has said face (beard?) of the franchise Andrew Luck will play tonight.
Will we see T.Y. Hilton, Robert Mathis and Frank Gore? Probably not.
For Texans fans, the opportunity to see a rehabbed Luck on the field against live fire is worth the channel change away from the Rio Olympics or the next Astros meltdown. Let’s face it--even without Luck, it’s worth the watch just because it’s actual NFL football.
So what’s your prediction? Who’s going to win? What’s the final score? Who will be the game’s MVP? Which Colt will make the biggest blunder Texans fans can make fun of up until game time on October 16th? Let us know in the comments below.