FOR USE AS DESIRED
NFL-42             8/30/00

 

NFL TO PLAY LAST LABOR DAY OPENERS

People want to stretch those last, lazy days of summer.

That’s why the NFL has decided that this Sunday and Monday (September 3-4) will be the last time that it opens its season on Labor Day weekend.

Beginning with Labor Day, 2001, NFL fans will be able to enjoy the unofficial "end of summer" at the beach, in the country or at the barbecue, and then kick off fall with the opening of the NFL season on the weekend after Labor Day.

The first NFL Labor Day "weekend" came in 1937 when the host Pittsburgh Pirates opened the season by defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 27-14 in front of 8,588 fans on September 5 – Labor Day Sunday. That was the lone NFL game played that weekend. It was also the only NFL Labor Day weekend that did not actually include a game played on Labor Day Monday. Following is an NFL Labor Day weekend (Saturday through Monday) history:

NFL LABOR DAY WEEKENDS

Weekend

Total Games

Total Points Scored

Attendance

September 4-6, 1937 *

1

41

8,588

September 2-4, 1978

14

506

822,141

September 1-3, 1979

14

525

840,430

September 5-7, 1981

14

551

866,788

September 3-5, 1983

14

560

809.975

September 1-3, 1984

14

658

831,288

September 3-5, 1988

14

545

792,876

August 31-September 2, 1991

14

547

905,247

September 5-7, 1992

** 13

472

810,532

September 4-6, 1993

14

587

862,271

September 3-5, 1994

14

652

868,429

September 2-4, 1995

15

556

929,407

August 31-September 2, 1996

15

529

908,911

August 30-September 1, 1997

15

646

933,587

September 5-7, 1998

15

646

974,403

* No game on Monday. Only game played on weekend was on Sunday; ** Thirteen games played due to necessity of switching Miami Dolphins’ Sunday game vs. New England (9/6) in aftermath of Hurricane Andrew to 10/18 (bye weeks).

LABOR DAY GAMES

LABOR DAY RECORDS

(Home club in capitals)

 

Date

Score Team

W

L

Pct.

9/4/78

DALLAS 38, Baltimore 0 Denver

1

0

1.000

9/3/79

Pittsburgh 16, NEW ENGLAND 13 Green Bay

1

0

1.000

9/7/81

San Diego 44, CLEVELAND 14 Pittsburgh

1

0

1.000

9/5/83

Dallas 31, WASHINGTON 30 San Diego

1

0

1.000

** 9/3/84

SEATTLE 33, Cleveland 0 Seattle

1

0

1.000

Dallas 20, LA RAMS 13 Dallas

5

2

.714

9/5/88

NY GIANTS 27, Washington 20 NY Giants

2

1

.667

9/2/91

NY GIANTS 16, San Francisco 14 Chicago

1

1

.500

9/7/92

DALLAS 23, Washington 10 San Francisco

1

1

.500

9/6/93

WASHINGTON 35, Dallas 16 Washington

1

3

.250

9/5/94

SAN FRANCISCO 44, LA Raiders 14 Baltimore

0

1

.000

9/4/95

Dallas 35, NY GIANTS 0 LA Raiders

0

1

.000

9/2/96

CHICAGO 22, Dallas 6 LA Rams

0

1

.000

9/1/97

GREEN BAY 37, Chicago 24 Cleveland

0

2

.000

9/7/98

DENVER 27, New England 21 New England

0

2

.000

** Two NFL games were played on the 1984 Labor Day Monday – the regularly-scheduled Monday-night game in Los Angeles, and – due to a stadium conflict with baseball -- an afternoon game in Seattle.

TOP LABOR DAY WEEKEND PERFORMANCES

MOST YARDS RUSHING Yds. Att. LG TD
Eddie George, Tennessee vs. Oakland, 8/31/97 216 35 29t 1
George Rogers, New Orleans vs. St. Louis, 9/4/83 206 24 76t 2
Gerald Riggs, Atlanta vs. New Orleans, 9/2/84 202 35 57 2

 

MOST YARDS PASSING Yds. Att. Comp. TD INT
Dan Marino, Miami vs. New England, 9/4/94 473 42 23 5 1
Drew Bledsoe, New England vs. Miami, 9/4/94 421 51 32 4 2
Glenn Foley, N.Y. Jets vs. San Francisco, 9/6/98 415 30 58 3 1

 

MOST YARDS RECEIVING Yds. No. LG TD
Irving Fryar, Miami vs. New England, 9/4/94 211 5 54t 3
Wes Chandler, New Orleans vs. Atlanta, 9/2/79 205 6 42 1
Tim Smith, Houston vs. Green Bay, 9/4/83 197 8 47 1