A visibly agitated Colts owner Jim Irsay expressed frustration today that the Hall of Fame Game had to be canceled due to poor field quality, pointing the finger at the Hall of Fame for failing to get the field painted properly.
“This shouldn’t happen,” Irsay said on ESPN. “It’s not difficult. Obviously, everyone out there says, ‘You’re a $12 billion league. How can you have a field not ready to go?’ Well, the Hall of Fame is sort of separate and gets run a little different from the league. . . . We’ll have to get it right so it never happens again.
Irsay noted that attention to detail is important in football, and should have been important to the preparation for the Hall of Fame Game.
“It comes down to detail,” he said. “We are only as good as our equipment man.”
Irsay said the league owes it to the fans who showed up to make sure nothing like that happens again.
“This shouldn’t happen,” Irsay said. “Yes, we’re upset. . . . We have to make it right to our fans and also get to the bottom of exactly who got this paint job done and why was there incompetence.”