Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos named to 2019 Hall of Fame game

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced Tuesday that the Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos will kick off the NFL preseason in the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, on Thursday, August 1 at 7 p.m. Arrowhead Time.

Not to continue to pile on an old story, but this is well, a little awkward, considering former Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez is the only former Atlanta Falcons player of the 2019 class. The Chiefs have Gonzalez, former safety Johnny Robinson and even former cornerback Ty Law in.

AP reader Amber Davis pointed out that since the Broncos have an owner—Pat Bowlen—as part of the class, they had to use the Broncos, thus ruling out the Chiefs. It makes sense that the league wouldn’t want to have a division game as its preseason kickoff.

Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2019

CB CHAMP BAILEY, TE TONY GONZALEZ, CB TY LAW, C KEVIN MAWAE, S ED REED, S JOHNNY ROBINSON, contributor PAT BOWLEN, contributor GIL BRANDT

But there were other choices available. The Dallas Cowboys (Brandt) and the Baltimore Ravens (Reed), for example, come to mind.

Having the Falcons in the game won’t help Gonzalez, who apologized to Kansas City for comments he made at this past Super Bowl, which was held in Atlanta. Gonzalez backtracked after he told local reporters that it “made his career” to play with the Falcons.

In my opinion, the Chiefs not participating in the Hall of Fame, also known as a fifth preseason game, is a good thing. But I don’t think it bodes well for Gonzalez’s hopes that Chiefs fans forget his February comments.