On Thanksgiving 1934, the Detroit Lions began the tradition of games being played on the holiday with their first annual game against the Chicago Bears. The Bears defeated the Lions 19-16 that day, but Detroit began a trend we all enjoy to this day, having the NFL on Thanksgiving.
That was also a significant day in history as it was also the first ever nationally broadcasted football game. That day, the tradition of football began being played on the holiday, and the Lions have played every Thanksgiving since.
The Dallas Cowboys joined in on Thanksgiving 1966 and have also played every year since.
This year, the Lions will play the Green Bay Packers in their 77th consecutive Thanksgiving-Day game. The Cowboys will play the Miami Dolphins.
The popularity of the games played has increased through the years, and the ratings have grown with the rising popularity.
The popularity has reached so high that the NFL even added another game to the schedule for the NFL Network to hold as part of their Thursday Night Football lineup.
The teams that play on Thanksgiving night alternate every year, and it isn’t a constant home team, like the Lions or Cowboys.
The NFL has just started scheduling other games on the holiday, however. This year’s Thanksgiving night game involves Jim Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49ers traveling to Baltimore to face his brother John’s Ravens.
The tradition of games on Thanksgiving almost never happened. The games played on Thanksgiving were originally high school and college games, and NFL franchises were approached with the thought that they could play an annual Thanksgiving Day game. Every team turned down the offer except the Detroit Lions.
The Cowboys were not an NFL franchise until 1960 and took an invitation to also have an annual game to get recognized on a national scale. The NFL, of course, had no idea the popularity of the games would be as high as it is today. Some would even argue the tradition of Thanksgiving football is as popular as the Super Bowl.
There has been criticism from the fans toward the NFL to change up the games every year because of how much the Lions have struggled the last 10 years. The NFL has not budged in the thought of the Lions playing on Thanksgiving, which has been the tradition since before the NFL became a popular league. Also the longevity of the Lions gives them the right to stay on the schedule.
There have been many memorable moments on Thanksgiving for both teams. The missed call on the coin toss in overtime for the Lions-Steelers game a few years ago that gave the Lions the ball to drive for the win. Another was when Lawrence Taylor of the Giants intercepted a pass against the Lions and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown. And the most memorable blunder was
with Leon Lett of the Cowboys trying to recover a dead ball against the Dolphins when a field goal was blocked, allowing the
Dolphins to recover and attempt another field goal to win the game.
No matter the memory, the NFL on Thanksgiving will always make memories and continue to make football synonymous with Thanksgiving.
