HOF Game 2009 - NFL Preseason

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game is an annual National Football League pre-season exhibition game that is held the weekend of the Pro Football Hall of Fames induction ceremonies. The game is played at Fawcett Stadium, which is located next door to the Hall of Fame building in Canton, Ohio.

The two teams that play in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game are selected by the league. Since 1971, this has been one AFC team vs. one NFC team; but in 2009, starting with the Hall of Fame Game, Professional Football will recognize the 50th anniversary of the American Football Leagues first season. In 2009, the game will be between two of the original eight franchises of the AFL, the Tennessee Titans (formerly the Houston Oilers) and the Buffalo Bills. Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. will be inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2009. Wilson and Titans owner Bud Adams are the only surviving members of the Foolish Club, the eight original owners of AFL franchises. For the game, each team will wear a throwback uniform from the AFL years (1960 - 1969), with the Titans wearing Oilers uniforms.

Because this game and the Hall of Fames induction ceremonies are scheduled on the weekend before the leagues regular four-week pre-season begins, both teams end up playing five pre-season games instead of the normal four and (unlike the Canadian Football League) the league does not take away another preseason game in another week.

Since 1995, expansion teams usually played the Hall of Fame Game as their first ever NFL contest; the teams that have done so thus far are Jacksonville Jaguars and the Carolina Panthers matchup in 1995, and the Houston Texans in 2002. The only exception to an expansion franchise not playing at this venue is the Baltimore Ravens. It is assumed that this is because the team was considered a moved franchise, as its roster was based on the Cleveland Browns from the year before and no expansion draft was held for the team (nor was a dispersal draft held for the Browns after its suspension in 1995; however, the Ravens are officially recognized as an expansion franchise founded in 1996 as a result of an agreement between the NFL and the city of Cleveland), with another reason being possible fan backlash because of Cantons proximity to Cleveland. However, the Cleveland Browns (who were restocked with an expansion draft) were featured in the Hall of Fame Game upon their return to the league in 1999.