Steelers make it official and cancel their annual Friday Night Lights practice in Latrobe

The 2020 NFL off-season has been a roller coaster of changes. Organized Team Activities had to be held digitally. Then the NFL mandated the Steelers hold training camp at their own facilities, away from St. Vincent college. Now the Steelers have announced the popular Friday Night Lights practice at Latrobe Memorial Stadium will not occur.

This shouldn’t be too much of a shock to anyone, as the NFL already refused to grant the Steelers an exemption to hold camp at Latrobe, it was not likely the Steelers would get approval to hold even a single practice away from team owned facilities.

But it is another blow to the usual build up to the season for Steelers fans, and a bigger blow to fans that don’t have the resources to attend the regular games. The Steelers training camp, and especially the Friday Night Lights practice, were always very kid friendly with activities for young fans and cheap tickets to see the practice. It was a great way for fans to get closer to the Steelers, and help new members of the team connect with the fanbase.

The wording Burt Lautner used rules out such a practice in Latrobe, but it does not rule out fans being able to attend some kind of practice event at Heinz Field, and there are more fan-friendly events that could still occur. Steeler Fan Fest is typically held at Heinz field right before the start of the preseason, the Hall of Fame game is still on the schedule, and the possibility of a Friday Night Lights style practice open to the public at Heinz Field has not been ruled out at this time.

Stay tuned to Behind the Steel Curtain to keep up with all the changes to the Steelers 2020 offseason schedule, and all your Pittsburgh Steelers breaking news.