The Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions open the festivities Thursday night in Canton, Ohio, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.  An offseason of preparation and roster manipulation has led to this point.

What we have Thursday night is the Hall of Fame Game, which might just be the most wasteful use of a cool name in pro sports. "Hall of Fame Game" gives the impression of something a lot better than the product on the field ever turns out to be. It sounds a lot more important than it actually is.

The NFL kicks off the 2025 exhibition season on Thursday night with the Detroit Lions squaring off against the Los Angeles Chargers in the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame game from Canton, Ohio.