For the past several years, its been an unwritten rule that the reigning SB champion kicks off the following regular season opener, lately occurring on the first Thursday following Labor Day. But scheduling complications and a desire to get into the Labor Day weekend of which they ditched over 20 years ago, may cause that tradition to change, at least for this season.
The Rams are hosting the 49'ers in Melbourne, Australia in the first ever game down under, and they've already announced that it will be in Week 1, so they won't be getting a bye in the following week.
With a 16-hour fight from L.A. and San Francisco (14.5 hours back) and a 19-hour time difference, playing the game on the Sunday of Week 1 would put both teams in a bind, when it comes to preparing for their Week 2 games.
Unless both teams will be getting a very early bye, it makes far more sense to start Week 1 on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. That would give both teams ample time to travel home and get ready for Week 2, which for them would be two weeks later.
Currently, only one college game is scheduled for the Sunday of Labor Day weekend: Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. If that's a night game, Sunday afternoon will be wide open for 49ers-Rams.
It would also become a useful trial balloon for the NFL, in the event that the inevitable 18-game season comes with two byes per team. Under that formula, the NFL would have to shift Week 1 back to Labor Day weekend in order to land the Super Bowl plane on President's Day weekend.
The league ditched Labor Day weekend in 2001. The concern was that fewer people watch games those days, since they're out and about for one last dose of summer. Now that everyone is carrying a TV in their pockets, that should no longer be a concern.
Frankly, I don't care if we're not kicking off the new season, but I'm sure that someone will take offense to it and take it as a sign of disrespect.
The Rams are hosting the 49'ers in Melbourne, Australia in the first ever game down under, and they've already announced that it will be in Week 1, so they won't be getting a bye in the following week.
With a 16-hour fight from L.A. and San Francisco (14.5 hours back) and a 19-hour time difference, playing the game on the Sunday of Week 1 would put both teams in a bind, when it comes to preparing for their Week 2 games.
Unless both teams will be getting a very early bye, it makes far more sense to start Week 1 on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. That would give both teams ample time to travel home and get ready for Week 2, which for them would be two weeks later.
Currently, only one college game is scheduled for the Sunday of Labor Day weekend: Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. If that's a night game, Sunday afternoon will be wide open for 49ers-Rams.
It would also become a useful trial balloon for the NFL, in the event that the inevitable 18-game season comes with two byes per team. Under that formula, the NFL would have to shift Week 1 back to Labor Day weekend in order to land the Super Bowl plane on President's Day weekend.
The league ditched Labor Day weekend in 2001. The concern was that fewer people watch games those days, since they're out and about for one last dose of summer. Now that everyone is carrying a TV in their pockets, that should no longer be a concern.
Frankly, I don't care if we're not kicking off the new season, but I'm sure that someone will take offense to it and take it as a sign of disrespect.
