For the second time in four seasons, the Cowboys are headed back to Canton, Ohio for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game.
This year, they will get an up close look at the inductions of both Larry Allen and Bill Parcells on Aug. 3. The Cowboys will play the Dolphins in the annual game on Aug. 4.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will present Allen, a first-ballot selection in this year’s class. The Cowboys and Dolphins are the last two of five teams Parcells was associated with in his career. He was also head coach of the Giants, Patriots and Jets.
This will mark the third time the Cowboys will play in the Hall of Fame Game. The first occurred in 1999 when the team opened the preseason against Cleveland. The Cowboys last played in the game to open the 2010 season against the Bengals. That year, Emmitt Smith was among the honorees along with Jerry Rice.
It's also the second time Dolphins coach Joe Philbin will take part in the game, after doing so his first year in the league with the Packers' coaching staff in 2003.
"We don’t have a very old roster to start with, and we’re adding 11 draft picks," Philbin said at the AFC Coaches Breakfast at the NFL Owners Meetings on Tuesday. "We can find out a little more about them. It’s an honor for us to be a part of this, the 50thanniversary of the Hall of Fame and to be part of the festivities that surround that event.
“We’re playing a team with a great history and tradition like ours in the Dallas Cowboys. It should be fun.”
The additional game means the Cowboys will likely have five preseason games this year. That could be advantageous from the standpoint of a team trying to adjust to a 4-3 scheme. Then again, the Cowboys are coming off a season in which they experienced an inordinate amount of injuries. And a fifth preseason game would be yet another obstacle to overcome before the start of the season.
The preseason schedule nor the regular season schedule have been announced by the NFL.
The Cowboys are once again expected to hold training camp in Oxnard, Calif. Last year, they spent nearly a full month in Oxnard and the fifth game on the preseason schedule could mean the Cowboys will stay at least that long once again, if not five full weeks.
For more information on the game, including ticket availability click here.
