Super Bowl Monday: Tennessee lawmakers are proposing a vacation to recover from game-day celebrations

When the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII on Sunday in Arizona, the teams will leave nothing on the field in an epic battle that will surely require a long post-game recovery period. It turns out that so are many of the 100+ million fans expected to watch the game on TV.

Instead of sore muscles and bruises, they may have other ailments: overindulging in pizza, perhaps, or drinking too much beer and alcohol. Or just stay up too late.

The result?

About one in five working Americans — an estimated 26 million people — will miss at least some work Monday, according to the Work Force Institute’s annual Super Bowl survey.

Nearly 19 million of these workers — those who don’t work from home — plan to skip work altogether or take the day off. Another 8 million plan to sleep in and show up late.

And for the die-hards who still make it to work on time? 33 percent say they are likely to be less productive because of the Super Bowl celebrations the night before.

According to the folks at Workforce, it’s an economically costly problem that’s unlikely to improve anytime soon — unless you happen to live in Tennessee. Earlier this week, Rep. Joe Towns Jr. of Tennessee co-sponsored a bill that would make the Monday after the Super Bowl an official state holiday.

Tennessee Rep. Joe Towns proposes Super Bowl Monday. TN General Assembly website

Towns said the inspiration for “Super Bowl Monday” came from some not wanting to go to work on Monday after the excitement of attending Super Bowl events.

“‘Man, I wish I didn’t have to go to work!'” Towns said. “You know, it’s kind of like that.”

In fact, this workforce survey found that more than 2 in 5 US employees – or 42% – agree and say the day after the Super Bowl should be a holiday.

The bill was drafted, so perhaps in time for next year’s Super Bowl, which Towns said will hopefully include the Tennessee Titans.

But, Jacobson asked, will lawmakers themselves become a gameday victim?

“I have about three places I’m going to stop by,” Towns said. “And the last one will be the one that will make me have a day off.”

But, Towns added, he’s likely to be released if the bill goes through.

“I think since I’m the initiator of this kind of legislation, everyone will know that if I called in sick, I’d be in a contortion, okay? So I have to be here. I’ll be right at work.”

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