The History of NFL Thanksgiving Games

Thanksgiving for sports fans is as much about soccer as it is about the traditional turkey dinner. Watching on TV before dinner from the morning high school games to the afternoon games is a tradition as old as time.

Well, almost as old.

The Detroit Lions have played at home on Thanksgiving every year since 1934, except when games were interrupted from 1939 to 1944 by World War II and the annual tradition was expanded to include a Dallas Cowboys home game in the 1970s. These franchises, and their fans, only know soccer on this date. In 2006, the NFL added a third game with no specific venue.

Why do the Lions and Cowboys always play at home on Thanksgiving? What is the day like for coaches, players, families and fans who pause their festivities to participate? How many thousands of pounds of food are served in stadiums?

We asked NFL Nation reporters Todd Archer and Eric Woodyard to break down the story.

How the Thanksgiving tradition began

• The Lions were the first to host games each year: In 1934, Lions owner G.A. Richards scheduled a holiday game between the Lions and the Bears. Earlier that year, Richards had purchased the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans and moved them to the Motor City, renaming them the Detroit Lions. The two-time champion Bears defeated the Lions 19-16 in front of 26,000 fans at the University of Detroit Stadium on November 29, 1934. Now, more than eight decades later, Thanksgiving soccer has become a fixture in Detroit and the Lions have a 37-42-2 record in the annual celebration.
• Thirty-two years later, the Cowboys joined them: The Cowboys first played on Thanksgiving in 1966, beating the Cleveland Browns 26-14 in the Cotton Bowl. General manager Tex Schramm wanted more national recognition for the Cowboys, before they became known as America’s team, and thought the game on that date made sense. The NFL got a little concerned and guaranteed them a certain amount of revenue. Some 80,259 fans showed up and a tradition was born. The Cowboys have played on Thanksgiving ever since, except in 1975 and 1977.
• Why didn’t the Cowboys play in those two years? Prior to the 1975 season, then-commissioner Pete Rozelle wanted to see if the St. Louis Cardinals could increase their popularity under coach Don Coryell, whose teams were nicknamed the “Cardiac Kids” for their thrilling finishes. Unfortunately, the Cardinals lost both games soundly and Rozelle again asked Schramm if the Cowboys could make up the Thanksgiving game.

“It was a mistake in St. Louis,” Schramm told the Chicago Tribune in 1988. “Pete asked me if we’d get it back. I told him only if we got it permanently. It’s something to build as a tradition. He replied, ‘It’s yours forever.'”

Thanksgiving records

Considering how long the series has gone on, it’s no surprise that the Lions have the most wins and losses on Thanksgiving, but two other teams that are regulars in the tradition are the Bearse and Packers.

What’s it like to play on Thanksgiving?

Ezekiel Elliott has played on this date every year but one since coming to the Cowboys in 2016. He doesn’t have a favorite memory.

“My favorite thing about playing on Thanksgiving is that we’re the only team playing on Thanksgiving, all eyes are on us,” Elliott said. “Everybody is watching. We have the stage, so we have to go out there and take care of business.”

Elliott had a viral moment when he sent Dak Prescott into the Salvation Army red kettle after a touchdown in the 2018 game against Washington.

“I don’t think it was planned,” Elliott said. “It was an impulse situation.”

Lomas Brown, a former Lions tackle (1985-95) said players see the Thanksgiving game as an indicator of what the season has been like or how it should end.

“The Thanksgiving game kind of marks where you are in the season,” he said. “I mean, you’re getting ready for the last quarter of the season and getting on a roll at home or on a roll if you want to be a playoff team. Or if you want to make noise in the playoffs, you have to start playing better. At that point, everything has to adjust for you, especially if you’re at that point in the season.”