CANTON, Ohio -- The NFL sent a memo obtained by ESPN Tuesday that answered the burning (or melting) question we've had since Sunday night: Who was responsible for the debacle that canceled the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio that was supposed to have been between the Indianapolis Colts and the Green Bay Packers?
The answer: NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent. Sort of.
Vincent accepted responsibility in the memo sent to all 32 teams, but shed some light on the missteps that led to the last-minute cancellation.
"While the HOF field situation underscored the challenges in working with third parties, ultimately I am accountable for ensuring the field is of the highest standard," Vincent said in the memo.
Vincent went on to say the league's football operations department "must demand and expect an extra level of detail in adhering to NFL standards" for non-club fields.
The game, which was supposed to have been hosted at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, was canceled after issues with the clumping of paint on the field at mid-field and in the endzones created player safety concerns.
Refunds will be issued for the price of admission, but that's where the generosity stopped. The game was supposed to have aired on RTV6 (Yes, we're all a little sour about it).
READ MORE | Canceled Hall of Fame Game details explained with the sarcasm they deserve
Obviously Vincent was not on-site painting the field, so who was it really that messed up and how did this actually happen?
Initially the paint was described as having melted into parts of the field as a result of the heat and the covered decking used during the Hall of Fame induction speeches that featured Colts greats Tony Dungy and Marvin Harrison the night prior, but the memo to the NFL only referred to the paint as having "clumped" together.
The decking that covered the field was not fully removed until 2:45 p.m. Sunday, despite league personnel being told it would be completed by 8 a.m., according to the memo. Reading between the lines there, it appears the decking and its prolonged exposure to the field had something to do with the issues.
The independent field tester, who was not identified by anything other than "a third party," noted in his report that "painting was fairly heavy with some crusting on the surface."
The tester also stated the crusted paint would "break up once the players ran over it several times."
So, was it the field crew's fault?
Vincent said in the memo that the league did not give the paint supervisor specific instructions, but they were given "the confidence that he knew the procedure on flushing and rinsing down the paint."
Apparently not.
Attempts to break up the paint eventually led to other issues on the field, specifically with the small black beads that make up the girth of the artificial turf, and ultimately the game was called.
"Going forward, the NFL-NFLPA Field Surface Safety and Performance Committee will study and advise on: injury prevention, improved field surface testing methods, the adoption of tools and techniques to evaluate and improve field surface performance/playability, and other areas that arise, such as those surrounding this incident," Vincent said in the memo.
Vincent took the fall, but responsibility for this one lies on a combination of people.
Let's just blame Tom Brady anyway and add a few more games to his suspension.
Looking on the bright side, while you might be out a few hundred dollars for an empty trip to what was an extra pre-season game to begin with, at least we're not talking about this as the cause of Andrew Luck's latest injury or blaming it for the loss of T.Y. Hilton for the year.
The injury report would have read "Torn ACL as a result of sticky field logo, lack of direction and ignorance to how paint dries."
I feel an Ace Hardware commercial jingle coming on...
"Ace is the place where you buy the right kind of paint for your football field.
And get advice on how long it takes to dry.
So you don't waste your trip to Canton."
CLOSER LOOK | Up-close photos of the field issues at the canceled Hall of Fame Game
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