Dolphins, Bucs cancel season opener as Irma barrels down on Florida
NHL prospects tournaments also called off as a precaution
The Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will open the season with a hurricane-imposed bye.
Their opener scheduled for Sunday was postponed by the NFL until Nov. 19 because of Hurricane Irma.
"This is bigger than football," Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston said. "I just want everyone to be safe. Football is not important right now."
Switching the game to Week 11 was possible because that had been a bye week for both teams. NFL officials earlier announced the game would not be played in Miami this week.
The league also decided against playing this weekend at a neutral site, perhaps in Pennsylvania.
"I just don't think that's feasible, whether I would have liked that or not," Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said. "I don't think you could ask all the people who would have had to travel on both teams to say: 'Hey, leave your families in the hurricane and let's go play a game in Pittsburgh.' I just don't think that's feasible."
Irma is forecast to threaten much of Florida beginning this weekend.
"The No. 1 thing any of us should be thinking about is the safety of everyone involved," Koetter said. "It's a natural disaster. Football takes a back seat to all of that."
Schedule changes
The Dolphins will now open Sept. 17 at the Los Angeles Chargers, and their first home game won't be until Oct. 8 against the Tennessee Titans. Their game at London on Oct. 1 against New Orleans is designated a home game for Miami.
Tampa Bay will open Sept. 17 at home against the Chicago Bears.
The Buccaneers practiced Wednesday, but the Dolphins cancelled practice and gave players the rest of the week off to prepare for the hurricane.
"A lot these guys have a lot on their plate: moving their families, and you've got people coming in, and your house and your cars," said Cutler, who joined the team a month ago.
"I'm one of the few lucky ones. I've got a car here and a bag full of clothes, and that's kind of it. But you've got a lot of guys in that locker room that are going through a lot of things in their head, and we've got to be mindful of that and help them any way possible."
The menace of Irma and the postponement of the opener are the latest setbacks for the Dolphins. They endured an injury-filled training camp that included the loss of quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who required season-ending knee surgery.
NHL also affected
The Florida Panthers chartered a plane to take about 90 people — players, staff, coaches and families — and 20 pets to Boston and out of Irma's path on Friday. Panthers CEO Matthew Caldwell said the team originally chartered a smaller plane, then upgraded when more seats were needed. The team is planning to stay in the Boston area through at least the weekend, depending on what Irma does.
A four-team tournament for NHL prospects in Estero, Florida (on the southwest corner of the state) was called off. The tournament was to include Florida, the Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators. Later Wednesday, Tampa Bay and Nashville decided to have their rookie teams play in a three-game series that will start Sunday in Nashville.