Ah, Thanksgiving. An enjoyable holiday for everyone, thanks in large part to football. When you think of thanksgiving, football is often what comes to mind. Football isn’t just simply played on Thanksgiving, however. It is tradition, and a long one indeed. In 1876, the Intercollegiate Football Association began to play their championship game on Thanksgiving. For the next 14 years, football on Thanksgiving grew on Americans, until in 1893 the New York Herald called Thanksgiving the “official holiday for watching football.” The NFL played the first game on Thanksgiving in 1920, which featured the Akron Pros defeating the Canton Bulldogs by a score of 7-0.

Since then, the NFL has played games on thanksgiving every year with the exception of World War II years. The Detroit Lions, who were founded in 1930, played their first game on Thanksgiving in 1934, as they would play on Thanksgiving every year since then. The Dallas Cowboys have played on Thanksgiving every year since 1966, with an exception of only three years. The traditional layout usually featured the Lions and Cowboys hosting 2 randomly selected teams, until 2006 when a 3rd game was added, where 2 teams were randomly selected. For example, this year the Cowboys host the Washington Commanders, and the Green Bay Packers come to Detroit to play the Lions. Then the Seattle Seahawks will host the San Francisco 49ers in the night game. 

Thanksgiving football always seems to bring out the best in players, and teams. Some legendary games and performances have been enjoyed by many around the world on Turkey Day. In 2010, the Dallas Cowboys went up 27-23 late against the New Orleans Saints, but 2024 Hall of Fame Inductee QB Drew Brees led his team on a game winning 89-yard touchdown drive to win it. And in 1993, Dallas hosted the Miami Dolphins, and while it rarely snows much in Dallas, on this Thanksgiving, the snow would come down throughout the game in an instant classic, that resulted in Miami kicking a game-winning field goal, to edge out Dallas 16-14. Some of the great performances include OJ Simpson’s then-single-game record 273 rushing yards in 1976. In 1998, Randy Moss put up 163 yards and three touchdowns…on three catches! Barry Sanders ran for 167 yards and three touchdowns in 1977, and most recently, in 2022 Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson had 9 catches for 139 yards, a touchdown, and 10 passing yards! 

Thanksgiving football, in all honesty, is simply one of the most amazing traditions we have. Enjoyable for everyone, having football in the house is a necessity on Turkey Day. Last year in 2022, to honor the late great John Madden, the NFL cemented the tradition by officially naming the games on Thanksgiving, the John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration. Truly heartwarming, Thanksgiving will always be a holiday for family, feast, and football. To summarize this amazing tradition, I’ll end it off with a simple quote from Madden himself. “Thanksgiving and football. Some things just go together greatly.”