Arizona Cardinals Chosen To Participate In Hall Of Fame Game, Will Play The New Orleans Saints

After Ken Whisenhunt announced last week at the NFL Combine that he would be interested in having his team play at the Hall of Fame Game this year, it became so. On Wednesday, Darren Urban, writer for Azcardinals.com (the team's official website), announced via Twitter that the Cardinals will be playing the Saints on August 5.

Cardinals chosen to play Hall of Fame game Aug. 5 in Canton against the Saints

— Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) February 29, 2012

So how will this game affect dates and how many games the team will now have to play? Let's take a look after the jump.

Typically, teams begin training camp about 15 days prior to their first preseason game. But according to Coach Whisenhunt, the team will be heading up to Flagstaff about 10 or 11 days before they fly to Canton, Ohio.

One of the main reasons that the Cardinals decided to accept the invitation is because they will now get more live game practice on the field. The team obviously suffered in 2011 from having a reduced offseason due to the NFL Lockout. Both quarterbacks Kevin Kolb and John Skelton could use the extra practice going into 2012, as well as some of the younger players.

The Cardinals have not participated in the Hall of Fame Game since 1986, when they still called St. Louis their home. Before that, they played in Canton during the 1962 and 1974 seasons as well. After a 25+ year absence, it should be nice to see Arizona back in such a big preseason game with so much historical significance. Hopefully this game is the first of many primetime spotlights the Cards will be under next season.

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