A typical Thanksgiving includes these three things: family, food and football. Since 1934, the NFL has been providing a source of family entertainment, with these primetime games being some of the top-watched of the season.
This year’s matchups include the Green Bay Packers playing the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, the Dallas Cowboys hosting the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals playing the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. The same question always gets asked every year surrounding NFL Thanksgiving games: Why do the Lions and Cowboys play every Thanksgiving?
The Detroit Lions played their first Thanksgiving game in 1934 against the Chicago Bears, losing 19-16. The Cowboys joined the Lions as a Thanksgiving home team in 1966 when they played host to the Cleveland Browns, outplaying them 26-14. General Manager Tex Schramm thought that his Cowboys needed more national publicity, and a holiday game made perfect sense. A crowd of 80,259 people showed up to the Cotton Bowl that Thursday and new traditions flourished.
Former Cowboys guard Zack Martin was familiarized with playing on the holiday, becoming accustomed to the tradition. Martin grew up watching the tradition-starting teams before being selected by the Cowboys in the first round, where he played his entire career.
“I didn’t grow up a Cowboys fan, but I always knew they played on Thanksgiving, so coming down here, being part of that is pretty cool. For me, [the best part of the game] is just being able to have my family and everyone down for Thanksgiving. Normally teams would miss that because they’re practicing during the week, but we get to play and then have some time with family and friends,” Martin explained to Cowboys reporter Todd Archer.
One of the most famous traditions that comes with NFL Thanksgiving games is the postgame turkey, started by Oakland Raiders coach and national football commentator John Madden. The turkey gets eaten by the winning team, and, for its inaugural game, Madden awarded the first turkey leg to the MVP of the game, Philadelphia Eagles Defensive End Reggie White, after blowing out the Cowboys 27-0. This award is given during postgame interviews and it has become a cherished part of the NFL Thanksgiving broadcast.
Since 2023, the NFL has introduced a new Thanksgiving weekend game on Black Friday, which is streamed on Amazon Prime Video. For this year’s Black Friday showdown, the Chicago Bears will travel to Philly to face off against the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. These games bring revenue to the NFL and Amazon, expanding and capitalizing on the biggest shopping day of the year.
These anticipated traditions show that sports can bring people together in such a positive way. The NFL organization has continued to celebrate this holiday of togetherness through tackles and touchdowns. Catch the Thanksgiving Day games on the local CBS and FOX stations and watch the Black Friday game on Amazon Prime Video!
