GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – The preseason game between the Green Bay Packers and Tennessee Titans was delayed for more than 21/2 hours by lightning and a torrential downpour Thursday night.
Packers president Bob Harlan said police estimated about 40 percent of the nearly 70,000 fans waited out the delay. But the crowd appeared much smaller when play resumed at 11:01 p.m. CDT after a delay of 2 hours, 33 minutes.
The crowd had a hearty laugh when the official announced the two-minute warning after just one snap following resumption of play.
But it wasn’t nearly as loud as when the officials announced the normal 12-minute halftime was scrapped and they would go immediately to the third quarter.
The Titans warmed up on the field and the Packers in their locker room after the rain stopped and lightning cleared out of the region.
Both teams left the field when thunder rumbled nearby with 2:05 left in the second quarter and Green Bay trailing 14-0 and facing third-and-10 from midfield.
“We tried to make it to halftime ... but I got a little too concerned about how close it was,” Harlan said of the lightning.
Most fans immediately began clearing out of the aluminum bleacher seats and heading for the parking lots or the concourses that were widened during the recent $295 million renovation of Lambeau Field.
Several thousand fans stayed put and cheered every crack of thunder for 20 minutes before they were ordered to take cover.
Harlan said the NFL wanted to wait out the weather and complete the game.
Jerry Seeman, former NFL director of officials who now serves as the league observer at Lambeau Field, was in contact with Roger Goodell, executive vice president of the NFL, who wanted the game to be completed.
“The main reason the league wanted the game to be completed is because of the integrity of the preseason,” Harlan said. “The fans have paid to see it. The commissioner felt it was important that we make every attempt, as long as we didn’t affect the safety of the fans or the players, to complete the game.”
The Packers’ preseason opener against Kansas City at Canton, Ohio, was called off with 5:55 left in the third quarter because of lightning.
Integrity of the preseason? What the hell is that. Was there a chance they would have had to refund ticket money?
