Historic flooding in Houston has forced the NFL to take an unprecedented step.
The Houston Texans’ preseason finale against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday has been cancelled, Cowboys.com reporter David Helman confirmed Wednesday. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo were the first to report the cancellation.
The NFL recently announced it had moved the game from Houston’s NRG Stadium to Dallas’ AT&T Stadium, but now, the contest won’t be relocated or rescheduled.
The Houston area has been devastated over the last week by severe flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey. Tens of thousands of residents have been displaced from their homes, and the decision to cancel Thursday’s game was to allow Texans players to return to Houston to be with their families and assist the city.
Calling off Thursday’s game is the right move given the dire circumstances, but it still creates some logistical issues. The teams had planned to donate all ticket sales and proceeds generated from the contest to the United Way of Greater Houston Relief Fund, and it’s unclear what will happen to those tickets that already had been sold. Houston and Dallas won’t have the benefit of a fourth preseason game, which is a minor inconvenience in the perspective of Houston’s hardships but worth noting nonetheless.
Hurricane Harvey also forced Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros out of the city, as they’re playing a scheduled home series against the Texas Rangers at the Tampa Bay Rays’ Tropicana Field.
UPDATE (12:55 p.m. ET):Â The Texans have released a statement confirming they’ve found a safe route to return to Houston on Wednesday. The team also is pledging to make a donation equal to the money that would have been generated from Thursday’s game to relief efforts.
Thumbnail photo via Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports Images
