The Giants are stuck in Kansas City overnight Saturday, and plan to fly to Minneapolis in the morning for Sunday’s game. Despite that, the NFL says Vikings-Giants “could” still begin at noon CT.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello released a statement via Twitter Saturday evening.
“UPDATE: We continue to closely monitor the weather in Minneapolis and remain in regular contact with both clubs and local public safety authorities. We will continue to do so and are prepared to make adjustments in the schedule as necessary,” Aiello wrote.
“The Giants are spending the night in Kansas City and plan to fly to Minneapolis tomorrow morning at 8 am. Because the flight is less than one hour, the game could begin as scheduled at noon CT. If conditions in Minneapolis dictate otherwise, we will move the kickoff to later in the day and announce it soon as we have the information.”
There are a number of reasons why the NFL would want to keep the start time the same if at all possible. (And money would be at the root of most of those reasons.) For the Giants, it would be a long day.
“The sound you heard with that announcement? It was Tom Coughlin’s head exploding,” Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News wrote. “He can’t be happy with that possibility.”
Giants P.R. maven Pat Hanlon notes the team would have a 6 am wakeup call, with a 8am flight getting to Minnesota an hour later. The team would ideally arrive at the stadium two and a half hours before gametime. It could be a bigger challenge for the team’s support staff than the players.
Still, it sounds like a noon kickoff remains the goal if possible.
“If all goes as we hope, the NYG will be lined up for kickoff at noon central time, which is exactly what we want to do,” Hanlon writes.