Tennessee introduces bill to dump Columbus Day in favor of Super Bowl Monday

Rejoice, Tennessee Titans fans, you might not have to "call in sick" the next time your favorite team takes part in the Super Bowl. Tennessee introduced a bill Wednesday that would make Super Bowl Monday a real holiday.

The bill was filed for introduction Wednesday by Senator London Lamar and Representative Joe Towns Jr., both of who are Democrats. It proposed axing Columbus Day as a legal holiday in the state and replacing it with the first Monday after the Super Bowl.

Debates over making the Monday after a Super Bowl a national holiday have occurred for years now, and for good reason. There's research out there suggesting it's already one of the most unproductive days in the United States.

That checks out. The game is such a massive event in the country. Thousands upon thousands of parties are held so people can overindulge themselves on chicken wings and chili-cheese dips. Kids stay up far later than usual to be a part of the spectacle. Even those who don't care about the game might watch for the commercials or the halftime show ... or just to be a part of the conversation.

If you happen to be one of the many who stayed up way too late, ate one too many wings and don't exactly feel motivated to roll out of bed and sit at your desk the next morning, that's understandable.

The push to make Super Bowl Monday a national holiday, however, hasn't picked up much traction. Sure, it sounds great, but it isn't high on the list of priorities in the country. A 2013 petition asking the White House to declare the day after the Super Bowl a national holiday fell well short of the necessary signatures required for the White House to respond to it. Making it a state issue might be more successful. Cincinnati Bengals fans got a taste of that last year, when school was canceled the day after the Bengals appeared in the Super Bowl.

Columbus Day isn't recognized as an official holiday in many states. A handful of states don't acknowledge Columbus Day at all, and instead refer to it as "Indigenous Peoples' Day," or a variation of that name.