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Thanksgiving Classic
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- The Canadian Football League also holds a Thanksgiving Day Classic on Canadian Thanksgiving.
The National Football League's Thanksgiving Classic is a series of games played during the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. It has been a regular occurrence since the league's inception in 1920. Since 2006 three games are played every Thanksgiving. The first two are hosted by the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys, with one team from each conference playing either team (the game with an NFC team airs on Fox, as they have the rights to the NFC; CBS airs the games where an AFC team plays the Lions or Cowboys.
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Encyclopedia
- The Canadian Football League also holds a Thanksgiving Day Classic on Canadian Thanksgiving.
The National Football League's Thanksgiving Classic is a series of games played during the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. It has been a regular occurrence since the league's inception in 1920. Since 2006 three games are played every Thanksgiving. The first two are hosted by the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys, with one team from each conference playing either team (the game with an NFC team airs on Fox, as they have the rights to the NFC; CBS airs the games where an AFC team plays the Lions or Cowboys. The third game airs on NFL Network as part of its Thursday Night Football package and pits two different teams against each other each year.
The Lions have hosted a game each year since 1934 (excluding the years 1939-1944), and the Cowboys have hosted a game each year since 1966 (excluding 1975 and 1977 when the St. Louis Cardinals hosted a game instead).
History
Football on Thanksgiving is actually a tradition that predates the league's formation itself. In 1919, one of the NFL's predecessors, the New York Pro Football League, featured a Thanksgiving matchup between the Buffalo Prospects and the Rochester Jeffersons. The game ended in a scoreless tie, leading to a rematch the next Sunday for the league championship.
The first owner of the Lions, G.A. Richards, started the tradition of the Thanksgiving Day game as a gimmick to get people to go to Lions football games, and to continue a tradition begun by the city's previous NFL teams. It is widely rumored that the Cowboys sought a guarantee that they would regularly host Thanksgiving games as a condition of their very first one (since games on days other than Sunday were uncommon at the time and thus high attendance was not a certainty).
Several other NFL teams played regularly on Thanksgiving in the past, including the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cardinals (1922-33; the Bears played the Lions from 1934 to 1939 while the Cardinals switched to the Green Bay Packers for 1934 and 1935), Frankford Yellow Jackets, New York Giants (1929-38, who always played a crosstown rival), and Green Bay Packers (1951-63, always as the away team to the Lions). In 1939 and 1940, during the Franksgiving controversy, the only two teams to play the game were the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles, as both teams were in the same state (Pennsylvania); at the time, then-president Franklin Roosevelt wanted to move the holiday purely for economic reasons and many states were resistant to the move, which would have complicated scheduling for the game; the two teams were, at the time, exploring the possibility of a merger.
The two "traditional" Thanksgiving Day pro football games were in Dallas, Texas and Detroit, Michigan. Because of TV network commitments, to make sure that both the AFC-carrying network and the NFC-carrying network got at least one game each, one of these games was between NFC opponents, and one featured AFC-NFC opponents. Thus, the AFC could showcase only one team on Thanksgiving, and the AFC team was always the visiting team.
AFL, AAFC and AFC Thanksgiving games
The Detroit and Dallas arrangements were made in spite of the fact that the American Football League played Thanksgiving Day games in each of its ten years of existence, 1960-1969, actually beginning the tradition six years before the NFL Dallas Cowboys. From 1960 through 1966, one AFL game was played every Thanksgiving. In 1967, 1968 and 1969, in the buffer period before the AFL-NFL merger, each Turkey Day had two AFL games. The team with the best record in AFL Thanksgiving Day games was the lowly New York Titans, who played in the first three, and were 3-0. The Oakland Raiders were second best, with a 3-1 record. The addition of the NFL Network game on Thanksgiving has AFC fans hoping that their conference will now have equal exposure, perhaps with an NFC-NFC, AFC-NFC, and an AFC-AFC game each Thanksgiving; in fact, the Kansas City Chiefs (after the Thanksgiving 2006 game) attempted to regain "regular" status with the night game (it was Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt who actively pushed for the night game to be established, and the league appeased him with the request).
The Chiefs' claim as Thanksgiving "regulars," however, was dubious, as they had only played an AFL Thanksgiving game once-- in the inaugural AFL season as the Dallas Texans-- prior to when the AFL-NFL merger was finalized in 1967, when the AFL decided to put mostly West Coast and Midwestern teams on Thanksgiving. The Buffalo Bills, on the other hand, played five games on Thanksgiving in the AFL's existence, between 1962 and 1968, more than any other team, although all of those were away games (Western New York's predecessor 1920s NFL franchises also played numerous times on Thanksgiving in their first 5 years, and the Bills of the AAFC, see next paragraph, also played once and won; incidentally, the Buffalo team always was away). The Titans, Chiefs/Texans, Raiders, and Broncos each played four Thanksgiving games. The Chargers played on Thanksgiving thrice in the AFL's time span and the Oilers twice (both of those in the last two years of the league's existence).
From 1946 to 1949, the All-America Football Conference also played on Thanksgiving; the first season, 1946, featured the crosstown rivalry of the Yankees and Dodgers of New York City, much as the NFL did in the 1920s and 1930s. Then, in 1947, the league began scheduling two games on Thanksgiving, with the Los Angeles Dons getting an annual home game and the Cleveland Browns, the league's best team, playing away (and amassing a 3-0 record in these games). The Dodgers hosted a 1947 Thanksgiving game, but ceded hosting to the Chicago franchise in 1948 and 1949. The other away team was rotated. Incidentally, all of the AAFC's Thanksgiving games featured the away team winning. When the AAFC merged with the NFL in 1950, the newly expanded league gave the Chicago Cardinals a second Thanksgiving game (the league, at this time, was only playing one game on Thanksgiving, the Lions game) as recognition of Chicago's AAFC team having done the same. This was not renewed in 1951, when Thanksgiving became exclusively for the game when the Green Bay Packers went to Detroit to play the Lions (in 1952, a second Thanksgiving game was played, but only because the Dallas Texans lost their stadium midseason and had to squeeze a home game in at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio on that day to complete their schedule).
After Hunt's death in December 2006, the NFL effectively turned around, deciding not to give any AFC team (or even the conference in general) the permanent hosting for that night game, as the subsequent Thanksgiving night games have both been hosted by still other NFC teams: the Atlanta Falcons in 2007 and the Philadelphia Eagles in 2008.
Throwback uniforms
From 2001 to 2004, teams playing on Thanksgiving wore throwback uniforms to celebrate the teams' heritage, similar to those adopted in the 1994 season when the league celebrated its 75th anniversary. As the traditional home teams Detroit and Dallas were, naturally, the most notable. Detroit always wore uniforms based on those of their early years. Therefore, they had to remove all decals from their helmets to reflect the absence of helmet logos in that earlier era, and for the 2008 season, revived that tradition against the Tennessee Titans on November 27.
From 2001–2003, Dallas chose to represent the 1990s Cowboys dynasty who won 3 Super Bowls in a 4 year span by wearing the navy "Double-Star" jersey not seen since the 1995 season. In 2004, the team went further back into their history by wearing uniforms not seen since the team's inception in 1960. The 2007 season marked the first time since 2000 that the Cowboys chose to wear their home white uniforms for their annual Thanksgiving game.
Since the 2005 season, teams have been permitted to wear their throwback jersey on any two weeks of the year, not necessarily Thanksgiving.
While not usually playing on Thanksgiving, the San Diego Chargers also wore their throwback white helmets and "powder blue" jerseys on Thanksgiving weekend during this time. The popularity of the throwback jerseys led to the team returning to white helmets in 2007 as well as several other teams (beginning with the Buffalo Bills in 2005 and subsequently with many other teams in 2007) adopting throwback uniforms as their third jersey.
During the years when throwbacks were used regularly, NFL.com altered its team logo frame to have the logos of each team be retro.
Memorable games
The 1921 Thanksgiving matchup between the Chicago Staleys and the Buffalo All-Americans was notable in that the two teams were undefeated; after Buffalo defeated Chicago, the Staleys (who had refused to play any games outside of their home stadium at all that year) demanded a rematch. Buffalo agreed, on the condition that the rematch be considered an exhibition game and not be counted in the standings. After Chicago won the December 4 rematch, team owner George Halas turned to the league and demanded the game be counted. The league agreed with Chicago, and furthermore instituted a now-obsolete tiebreaker saying the rematch actually counted more than the original game, giving the championship to Chicago in a decision to this day referred to as the "Staley Swindle" by some Buffalo sports fans.
CBS was the first network to televise Thanksgiving games in 1956; in 1965, the first ever color television broadcast of an NFL game was the Thanksgiving match between the Lions and the Baltimore Colts.
Some memorable Thanksgiving Day games include the 1974 Cowboys-Redskins game in which unknown Cowboys backup quarterback Clint Longley took over for an injured Roger Staubach with the team down 16-3 and rallied them to an improbable victory on two deep passes. A similar experience occurred in 1994 when Troy Aikman was injured and third-string Cowboys quarterback Jason Garrett was forced to start against the Green Bay Packers and won in a shoot-out with Brett Farve 42-31. Furthering this a decade later, Drew Henson started for the Cowboys in 2004 against the Bears; after showing no performance in the first half, he was benched in favor of Vinny Testaverde. Testeverde, with the help of then-rookie running back Julius Jones, led the Cowboys to a 21-7 win.
In the 1976 Thanksgiving matchup between the Lions and the Buffalo Bills, the Bills put forth at the same time one of the best and the worst performances in Thanksgiving history. On the positive side, running back O. J. Simpson set the league record for most rushing yards in a single game, with 273. However, Simpson achieved this feat due in large part to the fact that the Bills' backup quarterback, Gary Marangi, gained only 29 yards passing and completed only 4 out of 21 passes, in addition to throwing an interception affording a passer rating of 19.7. Despite Simpson's record-setting performance, the Bills lost the game, 27-14. Simpson's record would later be surpassed numerous times (the current record is 296, set by Adrian Peterson in 2007 against San Diego).
In 1980, Chicago Bear David Williams returned the opening kickoff in overtime for a touchdown against Detroit, the only time that has happened on a Thanksgiving game.
The 1989 Bounty Bowl between the Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, a 27-0 drubbing of the home team, led to allegations that the Eagles had placed a bounty on the Cowboys kicker, thus becoming the first of a string of three bitterly-contested games between the two teams, the other two being Bounty Bowl II later that year and the Porkchop Bowl the next season.
Some of the games have been infamous for other reasons. In 1993, the Cowboys led the Dolphins 14-13 with just seconds remaining in a snow-filled Texas Stadium. Miami's Pete Stoyanovich attempted a game winning 40 yard field goal that was blocked by the Cowboys' Jimmie Jones. Dick Enberg of NBC proclaimed "The Cowboys will win." However, Cowboys defensive lineman Leon Lett chased the ball and touched it, giving the Dolphins a chance to regain possession, and then kick a much shorter field goal to take an improbable 16-14 victory.
In 1998, the Steelers and Lions went to overtime. Pittsburgh's Jerome Bettis called the coin toss in the air, but confusion surrounded the call. The officials misheard Pittsburgh's call and awarded Detroit the ball, who went on to win 19-16 on their first drive in overtime. As a result of the fiasco, team captains are now required to call the coin toss before the coin is tossed.
Home team controversy
While it has remained a tradition to keep the games in their host cities every season, in recent years NFL fans as well as other teams have wanted the Thanksgiving games rotated on an annual basis. The NFL somewhat reached a compromise in 2006 when it added the third game to NFL Network, which, while it is rotated on an annual basis, also allowed the Cowboys and Lions to keep their annual home games.
The issue once again came ahead in 2008, albeit solely focusing on the Lions, heading into that year's Thanksgiving games. Leading into the game, there was already some popular support (including from NFL.com columnist Nick Bakay and ESPN personalities Mike Ditka, Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic) for removing the Lions from the Thanksgiving game and replacing it with a game with more of a playoff impact, either through rotation like the night game or one that is flexibly scheduled. The Lions matchup was with the Tennessee Titans, whose undefeated season had come to an end in their regular Sunday game that week to the New York Jets, while the Lions were entering the game winless and, by the end of the seaosn, had become the first NFL team to lose every game in a season since the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished 0-14 in their expansion season. The team has also had three local blackouts heading into the game, the first non-sellouts for the team since 2001, and required an extension to sell out the Thanksgiving game in time for it to be televised locally. Indeed, the Titans improved to 11-1 for the year by crushing the Lions 47-10, dropping the Lions to 0-12 and handing them their worst loss ever (measured by margin of loss, 37 points) on Thanksgiving.
Following the 2008 season, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed that the Lions will be permitted to keep their Thanksgiving game for at least the 2009 season, though league owners may revisit the situation "later in the year" (possibly referring to the owner's meeting, which takes place before the schedule is set) if they so choose. If a change were to be made, under current television contracts, the early game (with a 12:30 start time) would have to be hosted by a team in the Eastern Time Zone and in the United States (if it were to be moved back a half-hour, the Central Time Zone would also be eligible to host, but because of numerous issues including extended halftime shows, this is unlikely; the annual game in Toronto is also out of the running because the date of American Thanksgiving is not a holiday in Canada), and their opponent be of the opposite conference of the one playing the Cowboys (as it is today). Furthermore, such a move would leave the Dallas Cowboys as the only team to always play on Thanksgiving, and there have been far fewer calls to remove them. SI.com columnist Peter King has speculated that when the current schedule rotation ends after 2009, both the Cowboys' and Lions' home Thanksgiving games will be reassessed by the league and possibly revoked.
Game results
(Winning teams are denoted by boldface type; tie games are italicized.)
1920–1959
Note: The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) also played Thanksgiving Day games between 1946 and 1949.
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
! Season !! Visiting Team !! Score !! Home Team !! Score
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|Nov. 25, 1920||Canton Bulldogs||0|| Akron Pros||7
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| ||Decatur Staleys||6||Chicago Tigers||0
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| ||Detroit Heralds||0||Dayton Triangles||28
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| ||Columbus Panhandles||0||Elyria Athletics*||0
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| ||Hammond Pros||0||Chicago Boosters*||27
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| ||All-Tonawanda *||14||Rochester Jeffersons||3
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| Nov. 24, 1921 || Canton Bulldogs || 14 || Akron Pros || 0
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| || Buffalo All-Americans || 7 || Chicago Staleys || 6
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| Nov. 30, 1922 || Buffalo All-Americans || 21 || Rochester Jeffersons || 0
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| || Chicago Bears || 0 || Chicago Cardinals || 6
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| || Milwaukee Badgers || 0 || Racine Legion || 3
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| || Oorang Indians || 18 || Columbus Panhandles || 6
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| || Akron Pros || 0 || Canton Bulldogs || 14
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| Nov. 29, 1923 || Toledo Maroons || 0 || Canton Bulldogs || 28
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| || Chicago Cardinals || 0 || Chicago Bears || 3
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| || Hammond Pros || 0 || Green Bay Packers || 19
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| || Milwaukee Badgers || 16 || Racine Legion || 0
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| Nov. 27, 1924 || Buffalo Bisons || 0 || Akron Pros || 22
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| || Chicago Bears || 21 || Chicago Cardinals || 0
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| || Dayton Triangles || 7 || Frankford Yellowjackets || 32
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| || Milwaukee Badgers || 10 || Cleveland Bulldogs
Played at Canton, Ohio|| 53
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| || Green Bay Packers || 17 || Kansas City Blues || 6
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| Nov. 26, 1925 || Chicago Cardinals || 0 || Chicago Bears || 0
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| || Kansas City Cowboys || 17 || Cleveland Bulldogs
Played at Hartford, Connecticut|| 0
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| || Rock Island Independents || 6 || Detroit Panthers || 3
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| || Green Bay Packers || 0 || Pottsville Maroons || 31
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| Nov. 25, 1926 || New York Giants || 17 || Brooklyn Lions || 0
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| || Los Angeles Buccaneers || 9 || Detroit Panthers || 6
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| || Chicago Cardinals || 0 || Chicago Bears || 0
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| || Green Bay Packers || 14 || Frankford Yellowjackets || 20
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| || Providence Steam Roller || 0 || Pottsville Maroons || 8
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| || Akron Pros || 0 || Canton Bulldogs || 0
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| Nov. 24, 1927 || Chicago Cardinals || 3 || Chicago Bears || 0
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| || Providence Steam Roller || 0 || Pottsville Maroons || 6
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| || Green Bay Packers || 17 || Frankford Yellowjackets || 9
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| || Cleveland Bulldogs || 30 || New York Yankees || 19
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| Nov. 29, 1928 || Providence Steam Roller || 7 || Pottsville Maroons || 0
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| || Dayton Triangles || 0 || Detroit Wolverines || 33
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| || Green Bay Packers || 0 || Frankford Yellowjackets || 2
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| || Chicago Cardinals || 0 || Chicago Bears || 34
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| Nov. 28, 1929 || New York Giants || 21 || Staten Island Stapletons || 7
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| || Green Bay Packers || 0 || Frankford Yellowjackets || 0
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| || Chicago Cardinals || 40 || Chicago Bears || 6
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| Nov. 27, 1930 || New York Giants || 6 || Staten Island Stapletons || 7
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| || Providence Steam Roller || 12 || Brooklyn Dodgers || 33
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| || Green Bay Packers || 25 || Frankford Yellowjackets || 7
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| || Chicago Cardinals || 0 || Chicago Bears || 6
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| Nov. 26, 1931 || Green Bay Packers || 38 || Providence Steam Roller || 7
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| || New York Giants || 6 || Staten Island Stapletons || 9
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| || Chicago Cardinals || 7 || Chicago Bears || 18
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| Nov. 24, 1932 || Green Bay Packers || 7 || Brooklyn Dodgers || 0
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| || New York Giants || 13 || Staten Island Stapletons || 13
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| || Chicago Cardinals || 0 || Chicago Bears || 24
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| Nov. 30, 1933 || New York Giants || 10 || Brooklyn Dodgers || 0
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| || Chicago Bears || 22 || Chicago Cardinals || 6
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| Nov. 29, 1934 || Green Bay Packers || 0 || Chicago Cardinals || 6
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| || New York Giants || 27 || Brooklyn Dodgers || 0
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| || Chicago Bears || 19 || Detroit Lions || 16
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| Nov. 28, 1935 || Green Bay Packers || 7 || Chicago Cardinals || 9
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| || New York Giants || 21 || Brooklyn Dodgers || 0
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| || Chicago Bears || 2 || Detroit Lions || 14
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| Nov. 26, 1936 || Chicago Bears || 7 || Detroit Lions || 13
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| || New York Giants || 14 || Brooklyn Dodgers || 0
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| Nov. 25, 1937 || Chicago Bears || 13 || Detroit Lions || 0
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| || New York Giants || 13 || Brooklyn Dodgers || 13
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| Nov. 24, 1938 || Chicago Bears || 7 || Detroit Lions || 14
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| || New York Giants || 7 || Brooklyn Dodgers || 7
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| Nov. 23, 1939 || Pittsburgh Steelers || 14 || Philadelphia Eagles || 17
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| Nov. 28, 1940 || Pittsburgh Steelers || 7 || Philadelphia Eagles || 0
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|colspan=5|No game held from 1941-1944 due to WWII
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| Nov. 22, 1945 || Cleveland Rams || 28 || Detroit Lions || 21
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| Nov. 28, 1946 || Boston Yanks || 34 || Detroit Lions || 10
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| AAFC || New York Yankees || 21 || Brooklyn Dodgers || 7
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| Nov. 27, 1947 || Chicago Bears || 34 || Detroit Lions || 14
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| AAFC || Cleveland Browns || 27 || Los Angeles Dons || 17
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| || San Francisco 49ers || 21 || Brooklyn Dodgers || 7
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| Nov. 25, 1948 || Chicago Cardinals || 28 || Detroit Lions || 14
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| AAFC || Cleveland Browns || 31 || Los Angeles Dons || 28
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| || Buffalo Bills || 39 || Chicago Rockets || 35
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| Nov. 24, 1949 || Chicago Bears || 28 || Detroit Lions || 7
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| AAFC || New York Yankees || 17 || Los Angeles Dons || 16
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| || Cleveland Browns || 14 || Chicago Hornets || 6
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| Nov. 23, 1950 || New York Yanks || 14 || Detroit Lions || 49
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| || Pittsburgh Steelers || 28 || Chicago Cardinals || 17
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| Nov. 22, 1951 || Green Bay Packers || 35 || Detroit Lions || 52
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| Nov. 27, 1952 || Green Bay Packers || 24 || Detroit Lions || 48
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| || Chicago Bears || 23 || Dallas Texans
Played at Akron, Ohio|| 27
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| Nov. 26, 1953 || Green Bay Packers || 15 || Detroit Lions || 34
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| Nov. 25, 1954 || Green Bay Packers || 24 || Detroit Lions || 28
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| Nov. 24, 1955 || Green Bay Packers || 10 || Detroit Lions || 24
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| Nov. 22, 1956 || Green Bay Packers || 24 || Detroit Lions || 20
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| Nov. 28, 1957 || Green Bay Packers || 6 || Detroit Lions || 18
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| Nov. 27, 1958 || Green Bay Packers || 14 || Detroit Lions || 24
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| Nov. 26, 1959 || Green Bay Packers || 24 || Detroit Lions || 17
* Non NFL team games between league teams and non league teams counted in the 1920 standings. The All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks later joined the league as the Tonawanda Kardex, albeit only for one game.
1960–1969
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
! Season !! Visiting Team !! Score !! Home Team !! Score
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| Nov. 24, 1960 || Green Bay Packers || 10 || Detroit Lions || 23
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| AFL || New York Titans || 41 || Dallas Texans || 35
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| Nov. 23, 1961 || Green Bay Packers || 17 || Detroit Lions || 9
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| AFL || Buffalo Bills || 14 || New York Titans || 21
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| Nov. 22, 1962 || Green Bay Packers || 14 || Detroit Lions || 26
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| AFL || New York Titans || 46 || Denver Broncos || 45
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| Nov. 28, 1963 || Green Bay Packers || 13 || Detroit Lions || 13
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| AFL || Oakland Raiders || 26 || Denver Broncos || 10
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| Nov. 26, 1964 || Chicago Bears || 27 || Detroit Lions || 24
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| AFL || Buffalo Bills || 27 || San Diego Chargers || 24
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| Nov. 25, 1965 || Baltimore Colts || 24 || Detroit Lions || 24
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| AFL || Buffalo Bills || 20 || San Diego Chargers || 20
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| Nov. 24, 1966 || San Francisco 49ers || 41 || Detroit Lions || 14
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| || Cleveland Browns || 14 || Dallas Cowboys || 26
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| AFL || Buffalo Bills || 31 || Oakland Raiders || 10
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| Nov. 23, 1967 || Los Angeles Rams || 31 || Detroit Lions || 7
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| || St. Louis Cardinals || 21 || Dallas Cowboys || 46
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| AFL || Oakland Raiders || 44 || Kansas City Chiefs || 22
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| || Denver Broncos || 20 || San Diego Chargers || 24
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| Nov. 28, 1968 || Philadelphia Eagles || 12 || Detroit Lions || 0
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| || Washington Redskins || 20 || Dallas Cowboys || 29
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| AFL || Buffalo Bills || 10 || Oakland Raiders || 13
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| || Houston Oilers || 10 || Kansas City Chiefs || 24
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| Nov. 27, 1969 || Minnesota Vikings || 27 || Detroit Lions || 0
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| || San Francisco 49ers || 24 || Dallas Cowboys || 24
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| AFL || Denver Broncos || 17 || Kansas City Chiefs || 31
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| || San Diego Chargers || 21 || Houston Oilers || 17
1970–present
- Note: From 1970 to 2005, three NFC teams played each Thanksgiving, as opposed to one AFC team. In 2006, Kansas City hosted a prime time Thanksgiving game. The game marked a new "Thanksgiving Tripleheader" tradition. The Denver/Kansas City game marked the first time more than two games were played on Thanksgiving (as well as the first and, to date, only all-AFC holiday matchup) since the AFL-NFL Merger in 1970.
- The two afternoon games are held at Detroit (12:30 p.m. EST) and Dallas (4:15 p.m. EST), respectively. Detroit always hosts the first game because a 12:30 p.m. EST kick-off at Dallas would be 11:30 a.m. local time (CST), and the NFL avoids starting games before noon locally. The two games rotate annually as intra-conference (NFC vs. NFC) and inter-conference (AFC vs. NFC) games. This is largely due to the format of the television contract with CBS and FOX. Since both Detroit and Dallas are NFC teams, in order for CBS to televise one of the games, one game must be against an AFC opponent. Inter-conference games of which the AFC team is away, are televised on CBS. For fairness between both networks and markets, the two games rotate annually between the two networks.
- Since 2006, three contests have been played on Thanksgiving. In addition to the traditional Detroit and Dallas home afternoon games, a third game is now played in primetime and televised by NFL Network. This game has been played at Kansas City (2006), at Atlanta (2007), and at Philadelphia (2008). Current plans call for the various NFL teams (other than the Lions and Cowboys) to take turns hosting the night game on a rotation basis.
- Dallas was replaced by the St. Louis Cardinals as a host team in 1975 and 1977; Dallas and St. Louis faced each other in Dallas in 1976. Because of the long-established Kirkwood–Webster Groves high school football game that takes place on Thanksgiving in St. Louis, the Cardinals' hosting of the Thanksgiving game was not popular. Dallas returned to hosting the game in 1978 and has hosted ever since.
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
! Season !! Visiting Team !! Score !! Home Team !! Score !! OT
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| Nov. 26, 1970 || Oakland Raiders || 14 || Detroit Lions || 28 ||
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| || Green Bay Packers || 3 || Dallas Cowboys || 16 ||
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| Nov. 25, 1971 || Kansas City Chiefs || 21 || Detroit Lions || 32 ||
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| || Los Angeles Rams || 21 || Dallas Cowboys || 28 ||
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| Nov. 23, 1972 || New York Jets || 20 || Detroit Lions || 37 ||
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| || San Francisco 49ers || 31 || Dallas Cowboys || 10 ||
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| Nov. 22, 1973 || Washington Redskins || 20 || Detroit Lions || 0 ||
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| || Miami Dolphins || 14 || Dallas Cowboys || 7 ||
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| Nov. 28, 1974 || Denver Broncos || 31 || Detroit Lions || 27 ||
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| || Washington Redskins || 23 || Dallas Cowboys || 24 ||
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| Nov. 27, 1975 || Los Angeles Rams || 20 || Detroit Lions || 0 ||
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| || Buffalo Bills || 32 || St. Louis Cardinals || 14 ||
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| Nov. 25, 1976 || Buffalo Bills || 14 || Detroit Lions || 27 ||
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| || St. Louis Cardinals || 14 || Dallas Cowboys || 19 ||
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| Nov. 24, 1977 || Chicago Bears || 31 || Detroit Lions || 14 ||
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| || Miami Dolphins || 55 || St. Louis Cardinals || 14 ||
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| Nov. 23, 1978 || Denver Broncos || 14 || Detroit Lions || 17 ||
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| || Washington Redskins || 10 || Dallas Cowboys || 37 ||
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| Nov. 22, 1979 || Chicago Bears || 0 || Detroit Lions || 20 ||
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| || Houston Oilers || 30 || Dallas Cowboys || 24 ||
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| Nov. 27, 1980 || Chicago Bears || 23 || Detroit Lions || 17 || (OT)
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| || Seattle Seahawks || 7 || Dallas Cowboys || 51 ||
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| Nov. 26, 1981 || Kansas City Chiefs || 10 || Detroit Lions || 27 ||
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| || Chicago Bears || 9 || Dallas Cowboys || 10 ||
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| Nov. 25, 1982 || New York Giants || 13 || Detroit Lions || 6 ||
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| || Cleveland Browns || 14 || Dallas Cowboys || 31 ||
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| Nov. 24, 1983 || Pittsburgh Steelers || 3 || Detroit Lions || 45 ||
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| || St. Louis Cardinals || 17 || Dallas Cowboys || 35 ||
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| Nov. 22, 1984 || Green Bay Packers || 28 || Detroit Lions || 31 ||
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| || New England Patriots || 17 || Dallas Cowboys || 20 ||
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| Nov. 28, 1985 || New York Jets || 20 || Detroit Lions || 31 ||
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| || St. Louis Cardinals || 17 || Dallas Cowboys || 35 ||
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| Nov. 27, 1986 || Green Bay Packers || 44 || Detroit Lions || 40 ||
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| || Seattle Seahawks || 31 || Dallas Cowboys || 14 ||
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| Nov. 26, 1987 || Kansas City Chiefs || 27 || Detroit Lions || 20 ||
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| || Minnesota Vikings || 44 || Dallas Cowboys || 38 || (OT)
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| Nov. 24, 1988 || Minnesota Vikings || 23 || Detroit Lions || 0 ||
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| || Houston Oilers || 25 || Dallas Cowboys || 17 ||
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| Nov. 23, 1989 || Cleveland Browns || 10 || Detroit Lions || 13 ||
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| || Philadelphia Eagles || 27 || Dallas Cowboys || 0 ||
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| Nov. 22, 1990 || Denver Broncos || 27 || Detroit Lions || 40 ||
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| || Washington Redskins || 17 || Dallas Cowboys || 27 ||
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| Nov. 28, 1991 || Chicago Bears || 6 || Detroit Lions || 16 ||
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| || Pittsburgh Steelers || 10 || Dallas Cowboys || 20 ||
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| Nov. 26, 1992 || Houston Oilers || 24 || Detroit Lions || 21 ||
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| || New York Giants || 3 || Dallas Cowboys || 30 ||
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| Nov. 25, 1993 || Chicago Bears || 10 || Detroit Lions || 6 ||
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| || Miami Dolphins || 16 || Dallas Cowboys || 14 ||
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| Nov. 24, 1994 || Buffalo Bills || 21 || Detroit Lions || 35 ||
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| || Green Bay Packers || 31 || Dallas Cowboys || 42 ||
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| Nov. 23, 1995 || Minnesota Vikings || 38 || Detroit Lions || 44 ||
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| || Kansas City Chiefs || 12 || Dallas Cowboys || 24 ||
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| Nov. 28, 1996 || Kansas City Chiefs || 28 || Detroit Lions || 24 ||
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| || Washington Redskins || 10 || Dallas Cowboys || 21 ||
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| Nov. 27, 1997 || Chicago Bears || 20 || Detroit Lions || 55 ||
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| || Tennessee Oilers || 27 || Dallas Cowboys || 14 ||
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| Nov. 26, 1998 || Pittsburgh Steelers || 16 || Detroit Lions || 19 || (OT)
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| || Minnesota Vikings || 46 || Dallas Cowboys || 36 ||
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| Nov. 25, 1999 || Chicago Bears || 17 || Detroit Lions || 21 ||
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| || Miami Dolphins || 0 || Dallas Cowboys || 20 ||
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| Nov. 23, 2000 || New England Patriots || 9 || Detroit Lions || 34 ||
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| || Minnesota Vikings || 27 || Dallas Cowboys || 15 ||
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| Nov. 22, 2001 || Green Bay Packers || 29 || Detroit Lions || 27 ||
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| || Denver Broncos || 26 || Dallas Cowboys || 24 ||
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| Nov. 28, 2002 || New England Patriots || 20 || Detroit Lions || 12 ||
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| || Washington Redskins || 20 || Dallas Cowboys || 27 ||
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| Nov. 27, 2003 || Green Bay Packers || 14 || Detroit Lions || 22 ||
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| || Miami Dolphins || 40 || Dallas Cowboys || 21 ||
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| Nov. 25, 2004 || Indianapolis Colts || 41 || Detroit Lions || 9 ||
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| || Chicago Bears || 7 || Dallas Cowboys || 21 ||
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| Nov. 24, 2005 || Atlanta Falcons || 27 || Detroit Lions || 7 ||
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| || Denver Broncos || 24 || Dallas Cowboys || 21 || (OT)
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| Nov. 23, 2006 || Miami Dolphins || 27 || Detroit Lions || 10 ||
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| || Tampa Bay Buccaneers || 10 || Dallas Cowboys || 38 ||
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| || Denver Broncos || 10 || Kansas City Chiefs || 19 ||
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| Nov. 22, 2007 || Green Bay Packers || 37 || Detroit Lions || 26 ||
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| || New York Jets || 3 || Dallas Cowboys || 34 ||
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| || Indianapolis Colts ||31 || Atlanta Falcons ||13 ||
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| Nov. 27, 2008 || Tennessee Titans ||47 || Detroit Lions ||10 ||
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| || Seattle Seahawks ||9 || Dallas Cowboys ||34 ||
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| || Arizona Cardinals ||20 || Philadelphia Eagles ||48 ||
Thanksgiving Day standings
Of current NFL franchises. This includes American Football League and All-America Football Conference games.
The current active franchises that have never played on Thanksgiving through 2009 include:
None of these teams, under the current schedule arrangement, can play the Cowboys or Lions on Thanksgiving in 2009. The only way these teams can play on Thanksgiving that year is if they are chosen for the night game or if the Lions are replaced.
Baltimore and Houston, however, have had previous franchises based in the city play the Thanksgiving game.
Thanksgiving Day records of defunct teams
*All-America Football Conference team.
Game MVPs
In 1989 (the year of the infamous Bounty Bowl), John Madden of CBS awarded the first "Turkey Leg Award," for the game's most valuable player. It is an actual turkey. Reggie White of the Philadelphia Eagles was the first recipient. The gesture was seen mostly as a humorous gimmick relating to Madden's famous multi-legged turduckens served on Thanksgiving, which as of 2008 he has given up. Since then, however, the award has gained subtle notoriety, and currently, each year at least one MVP has been chosen for both the CBS and FOX games. Madden brought the award to FOX in 1994, but it was abandoned and replaced with the "Galloping Gobbler" -- a running silver turkey wearing a football helmet -- when Madden left for ABC in 2002. When CBS returned to the NFL in 1998, they introduced their own award, the "All-Iron Award", which is, suitably enough, a small silver iron, a reference to Phil Simms' All-Iron team for toughness. The All-Iron winner also receives a skillet of blackberry cobbler made by Simms' mother. The NFL Network has given out the Pudding Pie Award for MVPs of the night game since 2007; the award is an actual pudding pie.
Because of the informal nature of the award, the awards can be given to multiple players. John Madden has done this five times (all on Fox), to as many as four players (in fact, for Fox's first Thanksgiving broadcast in 1994, Madden actually issued the Turkey Leg Award to players on both teams, the only time this has ever happened). Since Madden left Fox, the network's "Galloping Gobbler" has only been awarded to one player. CBS never issues the award to more than one player, but does occasionally issue a "group award" in addition to a single player award (the network has done so three times, Madden did it in 1992 and Simms did it in 2004 and 2007). In 2008, Simms stated it was "too close to call" and gave four players the award.
NBC did not issue an MVP award for Thanksgiving games they aired prior to 1998, and does not hold rights to Thanksgiving games at this time. However, Madden (who is currently at NBC) has an equivalent award, the "Horse Trailer Award," for all Sunday night games, including before and after Thanksgiving. These winners are not, however, listed here.
† Of the members of the 2007 Cowboys defense, Chris Canty, DeMarcus Ware, Terence Newman and Greg Ellis were particularly noted.
External links
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