NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced last Tuesday that the league will kickoff the 2012 season Wednesday, Sept. 5 to avoid President Obama’s speech scheduled for the next day at the Democratic National Convention.
The New York Giants and an opponent to be named later will play in the NFL’s opening game, which will mark the league’s first Wednesday game in over 60 years. The game will be played on NBC at 8:30 EST, with CBS Sports believing the G-Men’s most likely opponent to be the Green Bay Packers. NBC Sports believes that the New Orleans Saints and the Pittsburgh Steelers are also strong candidates to face the Super Bowl champions. It has been reported that the game will be in New York’s backyard in MetLife Stadium.
While the NFL decided to start their Thursday kick-off in 2002, a scheduling change hasn’t occurred under the current format. According to the league, the last Wednesday contest was played Sept. 22, 1948 between the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions. The Rams blew out their opponent in the LA Memorial Coliseum by a score of 44-7.