How to Get Out of Work on Monday After Super Bowl 2026

Let's be real: no one wants to go to work on the Monday after the Super Bowl, it should be a national holiday for at least the USA and Canada (of note, our bosses don't necessarily agree this with, but I digress). 

You're fresh off yelling at the screen, ripping up bet slips (or celebrating wins a little too hard). You've probably eaten your body weight in wings, buffalo chicken dip (which for Bills fans is the closest anything "Buffalo" related seems to be able to get to the Big Game these days), maybe even run up a bar tab that you're none too happy about. Productivity setting: 0%. 

So, before the big game and bad decisions start, let's look at how to get out of work on Monday. "Professionalism" is an option, but it's not one we're entertaining today.

🏈 Best excuses to duck out of work after Super Bowl 2026

Here are our best ways to get out of work on Monday following the Super Bowl. See our Super Bowl party games to make sure you earn the right to call in "sick":

💸 The prop bet that went wrong

This might be your go-to move - your boss might find it the most humorous, and it gives you a fallback, as you see, you're a man or woman of your word, you can't go back on the bet. It was a sure thing, until it wasn't, and now you're up against it.

You promised you'd paint your living room the rival teams' colors, so not only did you lose the wager, but now you have to sit in those awful colors. You promised you'd be a butler for a day, like that Seinfeld gag. 

Either way, look, you're tied up today. You've given your word. 

🎤 The halftime show has changed you

The costumes, the vibes, the party. You're no longer quite so sure that you're ready to return to your office job as a junior intern. It's not that you're skipping work today; you need to go on a journey to discover "who you really are." 

Just reassure your boss that you'll be back, almost for sure. You just need a day to get back on track, and when you find your zen again (which feels like something that should happen by late Monday afternoon), you'll be back and more focused than ever. 

Speaking of the halftime show, you might want to center your Super Bowl party foods around the halftime act, Bad Bunny, who comes from a Puerto Rican background.

🔇 You've lost your voice 

If your job requires a lot of talking, in-person meetings, phone calls, and the like, then this might actually be the best pick of the list. You send an email early, but not suspiciously so, stating that you've lost your voice from cheering your team excessively or yelling at the coaches or referees for being idiots. Sometimes, if the Super Bowl party foul of over-serving strong drinks occurs, it can be yelling at both at different times.

You bring all that spirit to work, you're a team player and you root for everyone's success. This time, you just went a step too far, but a day of lemon tea and honey and you'll be back tomorrow. No phone calls, please. 

🔌 Technical difficulties

This one is the move for those of us who work remote jobs. You have technical difficulties and can't make it today because your (pick the option that suits you best here) has given out. A laptop had a beer spilled on it, dead. The router stopped working suddenly. You don't know why, but this monitor just won't turn on; the screen is black. Troubleshoot with the IT team at work, as long as they don't do that fancy business where they can log into your system from a distance to see that it's all a fib. 

It's not super serious, you should be able to get this all sorted by tomorrow morning conveniently, and probably you'll have it ready to go for 8 a.m.

🧹 Host's remorse

This one might work if you have a compassionate boss, but it's my last line of defense (not sure what they says about my boss).

You set this one up early. "Really looking forward to having a few friends over this weekend," and on Monday *bam* my friends invited their friends who invited their friends, and now I'm in this mess - literally. You nailed all the best from our Super Bowl food index, but your guests have managed to get them all over the floor, electronics, walls, etc.

I'm going to need at least half the day to get this cleaned up, maybe the whole day. I think someone spilled beer on my laptop. I'm not even sure where that smell is coming from. There are still three strangers sleeping in my living room. There are lots of things that hosts might be full of work-missing-levels of remorse. 

🔋 Getting back on track 

Okay, you've booked off and your boss totally and fully believed your excuse and didn't even care. Or, more likely, none of these worked and you're at the office and plugging away. Either way, let's get back on track to make sure you're the first one in the office on Tuesday. 

• Hydration station: however much beer you drank, drink more water. Much, much more. And coffee, lots and lots of coffee.
• Destroy the evidence: a quick flick through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, I dunno what the kids are using - no evidence of where you were and what you were doing last night 
• No wardrobe slips: Salsa stain on your shirt? Change it up. Spinach between your teeth? Give the pearly whites a scrub. Look how you want to feel. 
• Siesta: you learned some Spanish words last night from Bad Buddy, so it's time to put it work. Sneak away to your bed or under your desk if needs be, set your Slack status to "deep work," and get 15 minutes in.