As the sick calls rang in -- and in, and in -- Monday morning, many asked the question, should the day after the Super Bowl become a holiday?
The question is one asked every year following the big football matchup that has millions across the country watching. And football isn't the draw for the big night. There's the halftime performance, the commercials and more that keep even those who may not be interested in the game itself drawn in.
A study from The Harris Poll for The Workforce Institute at UKG, found that an estimated 16.1 million U.S. employees planned to miss work the Monday after Super Bowl LVIII. Of those, 6 million employees will risk a workplace penalty for faking sick or not showing up at all, the research found.
The move has become so common, it is now referred to as the "Super Bowl flu."
According to UKG, roughly 14.5 million people admit they've called in sick to work even when they weren't actually sick the day after the highly anticipated annual game.
While there have been cases where schools or workplaces in cities with teams in the big matchup cancel work or activities the day after the Super Bowl, talks of a nationwide day off remain, well, just talks.
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Year after year petitions surface urging lawmakers to consider the proposal. This year was no different.
The company Drumstick started a new petition in January sought more than 7,000 signatures to making the day after the super Bowl a "nationwide day off"
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"Our vision for the future after every Big Game is a Monday where the whole country hits pause on the grind. But if we don't speak up, the day after Big Game is just another morning alarm, another day lost to the same ol' routine," the petition reads.
A search of Change.org reveals more than 100 similar petitions looking to secure a nationwide day off.
In Illinois, this year's post-Super Bowl Monday was already a state holiday.
Feb. 12 also marks Abraham Lincoln's birthday, which continues to be a state-celebrated holiday, meaning several offices in Illinois were already closed.
But the day doesn't always fall on the Monday after the Super Bowl.
So, let's hear it in the comments: do you think the Monday after the Super Bowl should be national holiday?
