The NFL season is nearing its start, and one of the most compelling matchups features the San Francisco 49ers against the Los Angeles Rams. However, the game will not take place on the West Coast in California—it will instead happen in Australia, a decision Kyle Shanahan did not agree with.
Even Shanahan himself was expressive and demonstrated some concern about the NFL moving one of the Los Angeles Rams’ home games to Australia, per reporter David Lombardi.
“Shanahan said he was initially disappointed that NFL ‘let the Rams off the hook’ by taking away a 49ers’ ‘home game’ at SoFi Stadium. But after being in Melbourne for a few days, Shanahan feels ‘it won’t be much different here’ — he expects 49ers’ fan dominance in MCG,” Lombardi wrote.
A tough adjustment heading to Australia
When asked about the injury report before the Rams clash, the 49ers head coach made a hilarious yet technically correct reference, making it clear that traveling to Australia involves complicated details.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers.
“Because we are technically in the future, and the Rams are in the present, I don’t have to talk about injuries until tomorrow,” he said, prompting a chuckle from reporters.
Australia is around 12 hours or more ahead of the U.S. Though both countries cover a vast area of land and use multiple time zones, the time difference ranges between 12 and 19 hours. That shift is giving the 49ers’ head coach a hard time keeping track of days and dates across both countries.
“We’re a little confused with when I look at my clock and it says the time, and then I try to see my family’s time, and it says the time, but it says yesterday,” he said via Reuters. “I don’t get how that’s possible. So I feel like I’m in the future. Then also when we play on our Friday, which I think is a Thursday in the U.S., we’re such creatures of habit. So I call today Tuesday. No, wait, sorry, I call today Wednesday, which is the first day we put in the game plan,” Shanahan added.
