Bills, Giants to kick off NFL preseason in Canton

The Bills and Giants will meet in the HOF game for the first time. (Buffalo Bills Twitter feed)

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It might still be February, but the NFL season is never far off. The league offered up a reminder Thursday when it announced that the 2014 Hall of Fame game will feature the Bills and the Giants. Mark your calendars -- 158 days to go.

The game is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 3, at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio.

It will be the Bills' fourth appearance in the game, the last coming in 2009 when they met the Titans. Previous trips were in 1974 and 1989. The Giants, meanwhile, played in the first Hall of Fame game back in 1962 and made subsequent appearances in 1972, 1985 and 2002.

On the Saturday before the game, former Bills wide receiver Andre Reed and former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Other inductees include: linebacker Derrick Brooks, punter Ray Guy, defensive end Claude Humphrey, tackle Walter Jones and defensive back Aeneas Williams.

* Image via @BuffaloBills

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Cardinals RB Rashard Mendenhall hints at retiring. Kind of. Maybe. Perhaps



It's a slow news day, so let's take an trip inside the mind of Cardinals running back Rashard Mendenhall.Mendenhall wrote a blog entry for The Huffington Post on Tuesday in which he describes a vision he had the day after he tore his right ACL during the Steelers' regular-season finale of 2012. Mendenhall writes that his vision consisted on swimming in dark, cold, dangerous waters late at night. As he moved through the waters, Mendenhall, who is not Catholic, writes that he saw the mother of Christ."Through it all, I knew that after much toil ... that undoubtedly I would reach her," Mendenhall wrote. "And that once I had, this particular journey would be over for good. I would finally be at peace. Soon after to embark on a new voyage, hardened from the experience, and no longer alone, but with light by my side"The journey I envisioned is the two years of rebuilding that would follow. And as I write this, today is the day that the journey is over and I am fully at peace. Eagerly looking to a new way, which lies ahead."



Mendenhall frequently writes poetry, and while his latest account is solid writing, some of the wording can obviously be interpreted differently. I think it sounds like a man who feels he is fully healthy for the first time in 14 months and pleased to be at the end of the long "journey" he took to get back to 100 percent.But fragments such as "embark on a new voyage," and "fully at peace" do give off a vibe that the 26-year-old may not be fully committed to continuing his NFL career. However, some interest on the open market and a nice, new contract may change those presumed feelings. As of Tuesday night, Mendenhall hasn't revealed the true meaning of his musings.