The San Francisco 49ers may be playing their first game in October this Sunday, but the Week 5 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals will feel anything but autumnal, thanks to a heatwave hitting the Santa Clara area. In response to the intense heat, the Niners tried to make a last-minute uniform adjustment.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan shared that the team requested to switch from their standard red home jerseys to white, a color that absorbs less sunlight. However, the NFL denied the request. The Cardinals will still wear white on Sunday.
“We asked on Monday, but we weren’t allowed,” Shanahan explained, via 49ers Webzone. “You have to make the request before the season. We might consider starting the season with white jerseys in the future, just in case of unusual heat like this.”
Although the NFL rejected their request for white jerseys, the 49ers will wear throwback uniforms, swapping their usual gold pants for white, while keeping the red jerseys.
“Yeah, they’ll let us wear our throwbacks, so we’ll try to get as much white as possible,” Shanahan added. “The most we could do is switch to white pants, and hopefully that helps.”
An excessive heat warning is in effect for Levi’s Stadium until Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service.
