Two Democratic lawmakers are trying to do the unthinkable.
A bill introduced by State Senator London Lamar and Rep. Joe Towns Jr. this week would replace the Columbus Day holiday with “Super Bowl Monday” to become an official holiday in Tennessee. The bill would delete the language in the current Tennessee Code Annotated that designates “the second Monday in October, known as ‘Columbus Day,’” as a holiday while inserting “the first Monday after the Super Bowl,” as a new holiday, known as “Super Bowl Monday” in the bill text.
“In the upcoming final version of the bill, we won’t be replacing any other holidays,” Rep. Towns said in a statement to Yahoo Sports. “But with more than 16 million Americans expected to skip work the day after the Super Bowl and about 8 million expected to ask for the day off in advance, we’re talking about a major hit to the workforce.
“My bill simply wants to examine giving the rest of us the day off. Let’s face it, it doesn’t get much more American than the Super Bowl and it’s becoming more and more the norm to miss work the next day. So maybe we should just codify it…or at least just talk about it.”
If passed, the change would take effect immediately, per the bill.
NFL fans have been trying for years to make the Monday after the Super Bowl a national holiday, but nothing has come about. If this bill can go through, it can pave the way for more states to do the same.
Despite it not being a holiday, most people take that Monday off anyway. Research has shown that the day after the Super Bowl is one of the least productive days of the year.
It makes sense that people partying like crazy for the Super Bowl would need an extra day to get themselves together before returning back to their 9 to 5.
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More than 110 million people watched last year’s Super Bowl between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals. That number is expected to get even bigger as the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are set to square off in Super Bowl 2023 in Arizona on Feb. 11.
