[ad_1]
WINNIPEG, MB – Because of "holes" in the end areas of IG Field, where goalposts are usually planted for the biggest field of the Canadian Football League, the Raiders of Oakland and the Green Bay Packers played on shorter ground on Thursday night.
Long conversations between NFL officials, Packers and Raiders led to the decision not to place players in such dangerous conditions. The playing field was reduced to 80 meters, each 10-yard line serving as a goal line.
Until about 20 minutes before kick-off, the field workers were trying to pack one square of artificial turf in each goal zone, but to no avail. It would not stay there.
NFL #Packers and the game officials check the "hole" in the end zone before #Raiders Thu. pic.twitter.com/N8JBhBAYx2
– Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) August 22, 2019
An NFL statement was issued shortly after the kickoff:
"Tonight's match is played on reconfigured terrain, which was set up in accordance with the rules in effect at the inspection yesterday, and concerns have been expressed around the world today. the area where the Blue Bombers posts were previously located.The 10 The court line will serve as the goal line for this game. "Instead of kicking, the ball will be placed at the 15-yard line."
The Raiders were technically the original team of the exhibition, which raised the question of why the team would give up a game in Oakland to get to the middle of a foreign country. According to a league source, the Raiders had not yet signed a lease agreement with the Oakland Coliseum when the NFL scheduled its pre-season and offered them a home game against the Raiders of the third week, which in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Reno, Las Vegas or Oakland.
But with the MLB Oakland Athletics team this week, the Raiders had to hit the road to play as a home team. The team had interviews with Canadian cities Regina and Edmonton and even Honolulu, Hawaii, before registering in Winnipeg for the first game of the NFL. played in Western Canada.
And while the Packers, who had planned to play some front-line players, had declared 33 players seated, it was hard to know if the Raiders reacted the same way, because they did not plan to play a lot of starters, the case appropriate, against Green Bay. . Aaron Rodgers, whose back was sore, was one of the 33 players the Packers were sitting on.
There has been at least one other match in the history of the NFL on a court of less than 100 meters. In 1932, the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth Spartans played for the first time a league playoff game inside the Chicago Stadium, on a modified 80-yard pitch, due to poor weather conditions.
[ad_2]
Source link