On Sunday in San Francisco (Santa Clara), record heat for early October is expected. With a projected high of 95, the 49ers wanted to switch from their standard red home jerseys to white.
The league declined the request.
“We asked on Monday, and we weren’t allowed to do it,” coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Friday, via 49ersWebZone.com. “You had to [request] it before the season started. So in order for us to do it, we’ve kind of got to make like a conscious decision or a commitment before the year that we wear all whites until like the middle of October or whatever, and then go to normal. But it’s not usually this hot, so we’ll probably do that now just in case.”
That’s the lesson. Wear white for day games at home until the end of October. Or risk being stuck in jerseys that absorb the sun’s rays on an unseasonably hot day.
Although the 49ers couldn’t change their jerseys, they were permitted to swap out their gold pants for white.
“Yeah, they’ll let us do our throwbacks, just alternate it with other ones, so we’ll get as much white on as possible,” Shanahan said. “And the most we possibly can do is white pants, so hopefully, it helps a little.”
The Cardinals will get the benefit of white jerseys.
Nearly sixty years ago to the day, the Lions and Vikings both wore white jerseys for a half of a game at Minnesota, after the Vikings elected to wear white at home and the Lions claimed they didn’t get the message. The Vikings changed to purple at halftime.
