There Is A Good Reason Why 49ers Want To Wear White In Super Bowl LIV

Posted on January 22, 2020, by Travis Pulver

It sounds like the 49ers didn’t wait too long after finishing off the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Conference Championship game to go after a competitive advantage in the Super Bowl.

According to news reports, the team asked for permission to wear their all-white throwback uniforms from 1994 in the big game.

It has nothing to do with being perceived as the good guy, bad guy, or anything like that. Yes, it is just a uniform. How can it be a competitive advantage?

Well, the answer to that question depends entirely on how superstitious you are.

For those that subscribe to trends and other things unrelated to football having an impact on the game (real or imagined), —13 of the last 15 Super Bowl winners wore their white jerseys in the Super Bowl.

Ergo, wear white jerseys, win the game.

That coincidence (which is all it is) is not likely why the 49ers made the request. Whatever reason they did have, only they know. Maybe they just want to look good—and the all-white uniforms are sharp. But it is unlikely an NFL team would treat such a trend as being anything more than the coincidence it is.

However, it is not uncommon for fans to grasp ahold of such things when it comes to choosing a Super Bowl winner. Of course, for fans of the teams playing, it’s easy to decide who to pull for. But for fans of the other 30 teams, not so much.

Without a connection to either, fans can do a complete analytical breakdown of the two teams to make an informed decision on who to support–or they can look for some other kind of sign. If you try hard enough, they aren’t that hard to find:

• In an election year, if the AFC representative wins the Super Bowl, then the Republican candidate wins the election (another reason for liberals to hate the Patriots). Subsequently, if the NFC wins, then the democratic candidate wins.
• AFC teams are 11-6 when the Super Bowl is played in February.
• The AFC is 8-4 since 2001 when a male leads the halftime act. Last year it was Maroon 5; this year, it’s Jennifer Lopez.
• The AFC fares better when the game is on CBS (5-2 ATS in the last seven). It’s on FOX this year.
• When the AFC is favored, the under is 7-4 in the last eleven Super Bowls where the AFC is favored (which the Chiefs are).
• The winner of the coin toss has lost the last five Super Bowls.

There are all sorts of things that people will look towards to try and get an advantage in the biggest game of the year. Does it actually work? Probably not. But for them, perception is reality.

If they (fans, players, team executives, gamblers, etc.) believe something works and their team wins—it’s real.