CMS Sportscast -- Question of the Month - December 2024
by Cameron Moore (7th)
Welcome to Sportcast QOTM for December! I hope that you had a good Thanksgiving, because that is what today’s question is about!
Most sports fans probably watched a trio of Thanksgiving football while munching down on turkey and stuffing.
But, why is football on Thanksgiving such a big deal?
That’s what today’s article is about. I will be talking about all of football history and traditions on November’s last Thursday. So, let’s dive in!
When did football on Thanksgiving start, however? Well, it started all the way back in 1934! Detroit Lions owner G.A. Richards (who had moved the team from Portsmouth, Ohio earlier that year) decided to make a bold move: hosting the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving Day. Chicago won 19-16 in front of 26,000 people at Univ. of Detroit Stadium. While it was not the result the home team wanted, it started the first Thanksgiving tradition in the NFL.
The Lions have played on Thanksgiving every year since 1934, with the exception of World War II (1939-1944 seasons).
However, you may know that the Lions aren’t the only team with deep-rooted Thanksgiving traditions. In 1960, The Dallas Cowboys (boo) joined the NFL, and owner Tex Schramm wanted to give the newly-formed team some much needed publicity. So, in 1966, he decided to host the Cleveland Browns on Thanksgiving Day, drawing 80,000 people to Dallas’s Cotton Bowl.
The Cowboys have played on every Turkey Day since, with the exception of 1975 and 1977. Then-commissioner Pete Rozelle wanted to experiment with the St. Louis Cardinals on Thanksgiving. However, the Cardinals were smoked both years, and the Cowboys have played on every Thanksgiving since.
There have been many iconic plays on Thanksgiving, such as the Butt Fumble (that’s its name, I’m not joking), and most sports fans have associated football with the holiday. Especially in Detroit and Dallas, it has become a large part of the culture on Thanksgiving.
However, we still haven’t discussed the best tradition: the Turkey Leg Award. In 1989, while commentating on an Eagles/Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game, John Madden decided that the most valuable player of the game shall receive a turkey leg…as an edible trophy. This year’s turkey leg winners were Jared Goff of the Lions, Micah Parsons of the Cowboys, and Jordan Love of the Packers.
The leg has traditionally been taken off of Madden’s famous “turducken”. It is a traditional Louisianan dish, which is basically a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey.
Turducken
After Madden’s death in 2021, the NFL has honored him by putting patches on players’ jerseys, for example. At least the turducken survived.
All in all, Thanksgiving football is a big part of American Thanksgiving culture and will continue to be for years to come. Whether it be instant classic games, remembering a Thanksgiving legend, or…turducken, it will continue to be a big part of Thanksgiving.
Thank goodness.