It's been a strange 2020 season, so why not end it on another strange note? The San Francisco 49ers are hosting a "home" game at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, against the Seattle Seahawks. In addition to having "OREGON" and "IOWA STATE" paint visible in the end zones following the Fiesta Bowl, which was played at the venue, San Francisco is wearing its road jerseys.
While Arizona may not be the 49ers' home, they are the "home team" after the team moved to the state due to Santa Clara County restrictions banning contact sports. San Francisco has been displaced for over a month.
Why are the 49ers wearing their typical white road uniforms? Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area explained that uniform colors for the entire season are submitted to the league before the start of each season. The 49ers, thinking they would be playing at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, committed to wearing white jerseys. They had hoped they would be the all-white throwbacks the team wears a couple of times a season.
Being in Arizona and not near its typical home facility, the team opted to wear its traditional road uniforms since it didn't have the alternates on hand. Seattle is wearing its typical dark home uniforms.
Uniform colors have to be submitted by the home team before the season. The #49ers committed to wearing white — thinking they'd wear their all-whites for this home game.
Instead, they are going with their traditional road whites with Seattle in their dark jerseys.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) January 3, 2021
According to The Gridiron Uniform Database, San Francisco had not worn its traditional white road uniforms during a regular-season home game since 1979.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan is also donning a white version of his traditional game-day hat.