Pro Football Hall of Fame Game 2017: Cardinals vs. Cowboys Date, Time, TV Info

The long wait will finally be over for football fans when the Arizona Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys kick off the Pro Football Hall of Fame weekend Thursday night in Canton, Ohio.

The city is the birthplace of professional football, and fans will fill Canton throughout the weekend to see its return along with the enshrinement of this year's Hall of Fame class, which includes placekicker Morten Andersen, running back Terrell Davis, safety Kenny Easley, owner Jerry Jones, defensive end Jason Taylor, running back LaDainian Tomlinson and quarterback Kurt Warner.

The Cowboys and Cardinals will get the 2017 preseason started at 7 p.m. ET in a game that will be televised by NBC.

Neither the Cardinals nor Cowboys are expected to play their starters more than a series or two, and many of those players may not compete at all.

Coaches often use the early preseason games to give non-starters an opportunity to earn a position on the team. Starters are not likely to see significant playing time until the third preseason match because coaches don't want to risk injuries to their key players

The Hall of Fame game is an extra preseason one for both the Cardinals and the Cowboys, and fans should not expect either team to go off the script.

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Arizona head coach Bruce Arians has already said that neither quarterback Carson Palmer nor wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald will play in the opener, and linebacker Karlos Dansby could also sit out.

"I doubt Karlos plays," Arians said, per The Sports Xchange (h/t UPI). "We'll see."

It would not be a shock if Palmer and Fitzgerald retire after the 2017 season.

Palmer, 37, threw for 4,233 yards last year with 26 touchdowns. Fitzgerald, 33, has been with the Cardinals throughout his 13-year career and is coming off a season in which he caught 107 passes for 1,023 yards.

Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott is coming off a brilliant rookie year, and he is one of the main reasons that the team is expected to make a legitimate run at the NFC title this year. 

Prescott threw for 3,667 yards with a 23-4 touchdown/interception ratio last year. He knows he can improve in several areas in his second year.

"I'm only one year in, so there's a lot that I can get better at," Prescott said, per The Sports Xchange. "There's more reps that I'll encounter. There's a lot more defensive looks that will come my way. So it's a lot that I can get better at knowledge-wise."

Prescott may have more work to do, but don't look for head coach Jason Garrett to ask much of him in the season opener.

While the first preseason game of the year is just the first step of a long marathon of a season, it can be quite important to undrafted players who are hoping to make the team or the practice squad. Those players must take advantage of every opportunity, and the first opportunity arrives Thursday.