Mike Nolan Will Be Stylin' at Home in 2007

The NFL has a less-than-flattering reputation as the No Fun League for a reason, so it's nice to see the league can be flexible from time to time. In a surprising turn of events, Brian McCarthy, the NFL's director of corporate communications, announced Wednesday that San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Nolan will be allowed to wear a suit on the sideline for all eight of his team's home games.

Nolan has been pushing the NFL for the right to wear a suit more often, which is his way of honoring his father, Dick Nolan, who roamed the 49ers sideline in a suit from 1968 to 1975. On the heels of an effort to get fans to wear suits to the 49ers home opener on September 10 as a show of support, Nolan suggested the eight home games as a compromise over the two games he had originally been given permission to don his Sunday best.

Surprisingly, the NFL and corporate sponsor Reebok agreed. The shoe-manufacturing giant generally likes to see coaches pushing their latest line of NFL apparel. I'd like to think the league is doing this out of respect for the elder Nolan, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. But a more likely scenario is someone with some sense saw the potential for a public relations backlash and realized the bad publicity could far outweigh the potential benefits. Regardless of the motivation, kudos to the league and Reebok for backing down on their original decision.

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