The Arizona Cardinals have opened up their stadium to the San Francisco 49ers for the time being.
According to The Sacramento Bee, the 49ers will play their next two home games at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., due to COVID-19 restrictions put in place in Santa Clara County. The California county has temporarily banned all contact sports, including NFL games, as COVID-19 cases spike in the area and across the country.
“The San Francisco 49ers have come to an agreement with the National Football League and Arizona Cardinals which allows the 49ers to host their Weeks 13 and 14 home games against the Buffalo Bills and Washington Football Team at State Farm Stadium in Arizona,” the 49ers, who were boarding a flight to Los Angeles on Saturday when they find out about Santa Clara County’s restrictions, said in a statement. “The Cardinals organization, State Farm Stadium and League officials have been supportive and accommodating as we work through the many logistical issues involved in relocating NFL games.
“Information regarding the 49ers future practice arrangements will be shared at the appropriate time.”
The 49ers and Santa Clara had worked together earlier this season, when the team was allowed to hold training camp while the county limited all other non-essential public gatherings. All members of the 49ers’ organization have been tested daily for COVID-19 and been tracked to make contact tracing easier.
“All we’ve done for our entire season is wake up in the morning, go get tested, wear our masks, trackers throughout the whole day, finish, go straight home, don’t travel, don’t go outside in public,” San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan said after Sunday’s 23-20 road win over the Los Angeles Rams. “Everyone’s been so committed to this. The biggest thing for me is us all leaving our families. We’re all humans just like everyone else. It’s a big deal to leave your family for the month of December.
“Are we going to be gone for the entire month of December? Are we going to be quarantined for 14 days when we come back? That’s all we could talk about for the last 18 hours. Because we got no answers from (county officials). Just very disappointed.”
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