Seattle Seahawks players walk off the field as a lightning delay takes effect during the first half of an NFL preseason game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)
Summertime in Denver frequently means inclement weather, and Thursday night was no exception.
League officials called the Denver Broncos-Seattle Seahawks preseason game with 1:30 left in the first quarter because of severe weather within the 8-mile limit of Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos and Seahawks cleared the field and were expected to return at 8:20 p.m., with a mandatory 10-minute warm-up period required after players take the field. The game is scheduled to start again at 8:30 p.m. — but the press box announcer has said the game is delayed “indefinitely.”
The last lightning delay here was in the regular-season opener last year against the Baltimore Ravens.
Here’s how it works, logistically: The NFL’s Game Day Operations Center in New York is constantly in touch with the game’s referee, the officiating supervisor, and other NFL representatives to keep them up to date on forecasts and severe weather warnings. The NFL actually hires an outside service to monitor bad waether that could affect an NFL game.
Once a game is postponed, officials inside the operations center ask the meteorologist for an estimated duration of a game delay based on the forecasts, which is then sent to officials at the field, including the referee.
Only NFL commissioner Roger Goodell — or someone whom he designates — has the authority to actually “cancel, postpone, alter the normal timing of, or terminate games, including games affected by inclement weather,” according to NFL rules. If weather actually is bad enough, and the referee hasn’t called the game (usually because officials in skyboxes can see developing weather easier than on-field officials), then Game Day Operations Center has the authority to intervene and postpone a game.
Fans haven’t been asked to leave or seek shelter, but are encouraged to if they feel it’s necessary. Many people in the highest places at Sports Authority Field at Mile High — I’m looking at Section 535 and 536 — seem perfectly content to wait this out.
