Snowstorm Wreaks Havoc For Bears' Travel

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Dec 19, 2009 10:00PM

If you've found yourself stuck in airports over the last 24 hours, you're not the only one. And if you're stranded at O'Hare this evening, don't be surprised if you see Jay Cutler or Johnny Knox wandering around. The snowstorm that's socking the East Coast right now has already played a bit of havoc with the Bears-Ravens game by pushing the kickoff back from noon to 3:15 p.m. Now there are questions about when the team will even arrive in Baltimore. As of right now, the Tribune reports the Bears are scheduled to take off around 8 p.m. from O'Hare with an arrival in Baltimore two hours later. As long as the weather clears enough for the flight.

The Bears were not scheduled to leave O'Hare Friday night on their United Airlines charter flight until 10:30 p.m. The team sat on the plane for two hours before the flight was cancelled. According to a passenger, an announcement was made that there was a mechanical issue, and the team would need to change planes. Before that could happen, the window of opportunity to leave closed and the Bears arrived back at Halas Hall on buses at about 1:15 a.m.

Typically, the Bears leave for road games early on Saturday afternoons. Why the team didn't try to leave earlier on Friday is unknown. It did not begin snowing until after 9 p.m. and there wasn't any accumulation on roads until around midnight Eastern.

Workers at M&T Bank Stadium will also be slogging away to clear the snow from the field in time for tomorrow's game but are, so far, reportedly on schedule. Maryland governor Martin O'Malley has declared a state of emergency as areas like Baltimore could easily top two feet of snow by the time the storm moves on. The storm has also affected the Philadelphia Eagles-San Francisco 49ers game which has seen its kickoff moved to 3:15 p.m. as well.