58 Fun Facts About Thanksgiving Football

The NFL has played games on Thanksgiving Day since its founding in which year?

1920: the league, founded that September as the American Professional Football Association, staged several games on its first Thanksgiving, 25 November 1920; it took the name National Football League in 1922.

Which team has hosted a game every Thanksgiving since 1934, apart from a wartime gap?

Detroit has hosted every Thanksgiving since 1934, bar 1939 to 1944; owner George A. Richards moved the franchise to the city from Ohio that year and used the holiday game to draw fans away from the baseball Tigers.

Which asset of Lions owner George Richards spread the 1934 Thanksgiving game nationwide?

A radio station: Richards owned WJR, a powerful NBC affiliate, and persuaded NBC to carry the 1934 Thanksgiving game on a national hookup of some 94 stations, which made the Lions a holiday fixture.

Whom did the Lions host in their first Thanksgiving game in 1934?

George Halas's team won 19-16 in front of 26,000; the tradition then paused from 1939 to 1944.

The Lions' Thanksgiving tradition was interrupted from 1939 to 1944 because of what?

World War II is the reason usually given: the Lions' holiday game lapsed after 1938, the league's wartime seasons ran with depleted rosters, and the tradition returned in 1945 against the Cleveland Rams.

In which year did the Dallas Cowboys begin hosting a Thanksgiving Day game?

1966: the Cowboys took the second Thanksgiving slot that year, beating the Cleveland Browns before a then-record Cotton Bowl crowd of more than 80,000, and have hosted every year since except 1975 and 1977.

Which Cowboys executive pushed for the team to take on Thanksgiving hosting duties?

Tex Schramm, the general manager who ran the front office, asked the league for the second Thanksgiving game and reportedly secured a promise that Dallas could keep it; Landry coached, Murchison owned and Brandt scouted.

Which team replaced Dallas as Thanksgiving host in 1975 and 1977?

The St. Louis Cardinals hosted in 1975 and 1977, when the league tried rotating the second game, and lost both, the 1977 game 55-14 to Miami; the Cowboys hosted the Cardinals in 1976 and from 1978 were hosts again.

A third Thanksgiving game, played at night, was added to the schedule in which year?

2006 brought the first Thanksgiving night game, Kansas City at Denver, after the league expanded the holiday from its two afternoon fixtures to a third game; the night game rotates among teams rather than having a fixed host.

The Thanksgiving MVP drumstick tradition began in 1989 with which player?

Reggie White, the Eagles' defensive end, received the first turkey leg after Philadelphia's 27-0 win at Dallas in 1989; the award later grew into a six-legged turkey so that a whole offensive line could share.

Which Cajun chef trademarked the name of the turducken that became a broadcast-booth staple?

Paul Prudhomme, the New Orleans chef behind K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen, trademarked the name turducken in 1986; the dish became a broadcast-booth staple after Louisiana fans sent one up to the announcers at a Saints game.

Which unknown Cowboys backup replaced Staubach in 1974 and hit Drew Pearson to beat Washington 24-23?

Clint Longley came on when Staubach was knocked out of the game and threw a 50-yard touchdown to Pearson with 28 seconds left; 'the Mad Bomber' later punched Staubach in training camp and was traded to San Diego.

How many yards did O.J. Simpson rush for against the Lions on Thanksgiving 1976, then an NFL record?

273 yards on 29 carries, with two touchdowns, set the single-game record that Walter Payton broke with 275 the following season; the Bills lost 27-14 all the same.

What was the score when the Lions beat a 10-0 team on Thanksgiving 1962?

26-14: the Lions' defensive line spent the first half in the visitors' backfield and built a 26-0 lead before two late touchdowns, handing the eventual champions their only loss of the 1962 season.

Which team was the Lions' Thanksgiving opponent every year from 1951 through 1963?

The Green Bay Packers visited the Lions on Thanksgiving for thirteen straight years from 1951 to 1963, a series that ended when Vince Lombardi tired of always being the visitor; their 1962 loss there spoiled a perfect season.

Whose illegal challenge flag let Justin Forsett's 81-yard touchdown run stand on Thanksgiving 2012?

Jim Schwartz, the Lions' head coach, threw his challenge flag even though scoring plays were reviewed automatically; the penalty cancelled the review, so Forsett's run, on which he was clearly down, stood, and Houston won 34-31 in overtime.

In the 1989 'Bounty Bowl', the Eagles were accused of putting a bounty on which Cowboys player?

The kicker, Luis Zendejas, had been cut by Philadelphia weeks earlier; Jimmy Johnson claimed Buddy Ryan's Eagles put a bounty on him after he was flattened on a kickoff, and Ryan mocked the charge as Dallas lost 27-0.

How did Leon Lett turn a blocked field goal into a Dolphins win in the 1993 snow game at Texas Stadium?

Touching the live ball was the blunder: after Jimmie Jones blocked Pete Stoyanovich's kick, the ball lay dead until Leon Lett slid into it, Miami recovered at the 1-yard line, and Stoyanovich kicked the 19-yard winner for 16-14.

How many touchdown catches did rookie Randy Moss have against Dallas on Thanksgiving 1998?

Three: Moss caught just three passes from Randall Cunningham for 163 yards, and every one was a touchdown in a 46-36 Vikings win; he later called the game payback for Dallas passing on him in the draft.

Which Steelers running back was at the centre of the botched Thanksgiving 1998 coin toss?

Jerome Bettis, 'The Bus', insisted he called tails, but the referee announced heads; the Lions took the ball, drove into range, and Jason Hanson's field goal won it 19-16.

After the 1998 Thanksgiving coin-toss controversy, when did the NFL rule a captain must call?

Before the flip: from the following week the captain had to announce heads or tails before the coin went up rather than while it was in the air, so that the call could not be disputed afterwards.

Which referee awarded the Lions the disputed 1998 Thanksgiving overtime toss on live television?

Phil Luckett said the captain began 'hea-' before switching to 'tails', so he took the first word and gave the Lions the overtime ball; the league backed his account but changed the procedure the next week.

Which Green Bay guard's arm did Ndamukong Suh stomp on, earning a suspension, on Thanksgiving 2011?

Dietrich-Smith, the Packers guard Evan Dietrich-Smith, had his helmet shoved into the turf by Suh, who then stamped on his arm; Suh was ejected from the game and suspended without pay for two games.

In the 2012 'Butt Fumble', Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez ran into the backside of which teammate?

Brandon Moore, the Jets' right guard, was the backside Sanchez ran into after a botched handoff; Steve Gregory returned the fumble for a touchdown as New England scored 21 points in 52 seconds on the way to a 49-19 win.

For how many consecutive weeks did the Butt Fumble top ESPN's worst-play voting before retirement?

40 straight weeks: the play won SportsCenter's 'Worst of the Worst' fan vote every week until ESPN retired it in 2013, by which time it had become the defining lowlight of Mark Sanchez's Jets career.

In 2008, the 0-11 Lions lost 47-10 on Thanksgiving to which 10-1 team?

The Tennessee Titans, at 10-1 the league's best team, rolled up 47 points, and the Lions went on to finish 0-16, the first winless 16-game season in NFL history.

On which day of the week was the COVID-postponed 2020 Thanksgiving Ravens–Steelers game eventually played?

It moved to Wednesday 2 December, one of several reschedulings that season.

Roughly how many viewers watched the 2025 Chiefs-Cowboys Thanksgiving game, then a regular-season record?

57 million is the rounded figure: CBS reported 57.2 million viewers for the Cowboys' win over the Chiefs, the most-watched regular-season game in NFL history up to that point.

Which channel first carried the Thanksgiving prime-time game when it was introduced?

NFL Network, the league's own channel, launched the Thanksgiving night game and carried it for six seasons before a broadcast network took it over in 2012, the night of the Butt Fumble.

Thanksgiving Day football dates to 1876, when which two colleges began playing on the holiday?

Yale and Princeton met in Hoboken, New Jersey, on Thanksgiving 1876, the first holiday game; by the 1890s their championship clash at Manhattan's Polo Grounds drew tens of thousands and made Thanksgiving football a national habit.

Which coach's Chicago team ended Michigan's 56-game unbeaten run 2-0 on Thanksgiving 1905?

Amos Alonzo Stagg's Chicago Maroons won 2-0 on a safety when Michigan's Denny Clark was tackled in his own end zone, ending a run of 56 games without defeat under Fielding Yost that stretched back to 1901.

Against which historically Black college does Alabama State play its Thanksgiving Day Classic?

Tuskegee has been Alabama State's traditional opponent in the Turkey Day Classic, played in Montgomery since 1924 and billed as the oldest Black college football classic; Grambling and Southern meet in the Bayou Classic the following Saturday.

The Egg Bowl is the rivalry between Ole Miss and which team?

Mississippi State and Ole Miss have met since 1901, and the Golden Egg trophy dates from 1927; the game has often been played on Thanksgiving night, including 2017 to 2019.

Since which year have Wellesley and Needham played America's oldest public high school football rivalry?

1882 was the first Wellesley-Needham game, which gives the series its claim to be the nation's oldest public high school football rivalry; Boston Latin and Boston English have met since 1887.

Texas and Texas A&M played their rivalry on Thanksgiving from 2008 until the series ended in which year?

2011 was the last game before Texas A&M left for the SEC, Texas winning 27-25 on a last-second field goal on Thanksgiving night; the rivalry resumed on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2024 once Texas joined the SEC.

The Lions played their Thanksgiving games in which suburban dome from 1975 to 2001?

The Silverdome in Pontiac, an 80,000-seat stadium under an air-supported fabric roof, was home from 1975 until the Lions moved to Ford Field downtown in 2002; Tiger Stadium had hosted them before that.

The Cowboys left Texas Stadium for their Arlington stadium in which year?

2009: the Cowboys opened their Arlington stadium that September after 38 seasons at Texas Stadium in Irving, whose hole-in-the-roof design dated from 1971; before that they played at the Cotton Bowl.

The NFL franchise that made Thanksgiving its own began life in 1928 in which Ohio town?

The Portsmouth Spartans joined the NFL in 1930 and moved to Detroit amid money troubles in 1934, the same year the Thanksgiving tradition began.

Which team beat Oklahoma 35-31 in the 'Game of the Century' on Thanksgiving 1971?

Nebraska, ranked No. 1, beat No. 2 Oklahoma 35-31 in Norman on Thanksgiving Day 1971, Johnny Rodgers' 72-yard punt return opening the scoring and Jeff Kinney's late touchdown deciding it; the Huskers went on to a second straight national title.

Which team beat the Cowboys 36-33 in overtime on Thanksgiving 2021?

The Las Vegas Raiders won 36-33 when Daniel Carlson kicked a field goal in overtime, ending a penalty-strewn game in which the officials flagged 28 accepted infractions, 14 against each side.

Doug Flutie's 'Hail Flutie' pass beat which team the day after Thanksgiving in 1984?

Miami, the defending national champion, lost 47-45 when Flutie's 48-yard heave on the final play was caught by Gerard Phelan in the end zone on 23 November 1984, the Friday after Thanksgiving, a play that helped seal Flutie's Heisman.

Which Steelers coach was fined $100,000 for straying onto the field during a 2013 Thanksgiving return?

Mike Tomlin drifted onto the field with his back to the play as Jacoby Jones raced up the sideline in Baltimore, forcing Jones to cut inside; the NFL fined Tomlin $100,000 for the blunder.

Tony Romo threw five touchdown passes in his first Thanksgiving start against which team?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost 38-10 as Romo, making his first Thanksgiving start in the season he took over from Drew Bledsoe, threw five touchdown passes, a mark only a handful of Cowboys quarterbacks have reached.

Which quarterback threw six touchdown passes against the Lions on Thanksgiving 2004?

Peyton Manning threw six touchdown passes before sitting out the fourth quarter of the Colts' 41-9 win, part of the 2004 season in which he set a then-record 49 touchdown passes.

Which team beat the Cowboys 26-15 on Thanksgiving 2019?

The Buffalo Bills won 26-15 in their first Thanksgiving game in 25 years, Josh Allen throwing one touchdown and running for another as the Cowboys fell to 6-6.

How many straight Thanksgiving games had the Lions lost before their 40-10 win in 2013?

Nine: the Lions lost every Thanksgiving game from 2004 to 2012, from a 41-9 thrashing by the Colts to an overtime loss to Houston, before the 40-10 win in 2013 gave them their first holiday victory since 2003.

Which brothers were the first to face each other as NFL head coaches, on Thanksgiving night?

The Harbaughs: John's Ravens beat Jim's 49ers 16-6 in Baltimore on Thanksgiving night in the first meeting of brothers as NFL head coaches; they met again in the Super Bowl fourteen months later, John winning 34-31.

Which third-string quarterback led the Cowboys to a 42-31 Thanksgiving win in 1994?

Jason Garrett, starting because Troy Aikman and Rodney Peete were both hurt, threw for 311 yards and two touchdowns in a come-from-behind win; he later coached the Cowboys from 2010 to 2019.

Which team did the Cowboys beat 28-20 on Thanksgiving 2022?

The New York Giants lost 28-20 at AT&T Stadium; the game drew a then-record 42 million television viewers, the most for an NFL regular-season game up to that point, a mark later eclipsed.

Which Washington quarterback threw for 449 yards in a 31-26 Thanksgiving loss at Dallas in 2016?

Kirk Cousins threw for 449 yards, yet rookie Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott kept the Cowboys ahead in a 31-26 win that moved Dallas to 10-1.

Which Chicago Cardinals star scored all 40 points in a 1929 Thanksgiving rout of the Bears?

Ernie Nevers scored six rushing touchdowns and kicked four extra points for all 40 of the Cardinals' points in a 40-6 win at Comiskey Park on 28 November 1929, a single-game scoring mark unmatched for over ninety years.

Which network was the first to televise NFL Thanksgiving Day games, in 1953?

DuMont, the short-lived fourth network, carried the Lions' 1953 Thanksgiving game nationally; CBS took over NFL coverage in 1956, and the 1965 Thanksgiving Lions-Colts game was the first NFL telecast in colour.

How many times did the Lions sack Bart Starr in the 1962 'Thanksgiving Day Massacre'?

Eleven: Roger Brown, Alex Karras and the Lions' front four dropped Starr eleven times for 110 yards in losses, with Brown tackling Starr in the end zone for a safety.

Which AFL team owner lobbied for years to make his club a permanent Thanksgiving host?

Lamar Hunt, AFL founder and Chiefs owner, lobbied the NFL for years for a permanent Kansas City Thanksgiving game; the Chiefs hosted AFL holiday games in the late 1960s and played the first Thanksgiving night game weeks before his death.

The expansion 1952 Dallas Texans won their only game ever on Thanksgiving at which Ohio venue?

The Rubber Bowl in Akron hosted the nominally home game on Thanksgiving 1952 after the league took over the bankrupt Texans; George Halas rested his starters and the Bears lost 27-23 before a crowd of about 3,000.

Which Cowboys cornerback set the NFL record for pick-sixes in a season on Thanksgiving 2023?

DaRon Bland returned his fifth interception of the season for a touchdown in a 45-10 rout of the Washington Commanders, breaking the previous single-season record of four.

Which Bills kicker hit the walk-off field goal in the 2022 '23 Seconds Game' against Detroit?

Tyler Bass kicked a 45-yard field goal as time expired for a 28-25 win after Josh Allen drove the Bills into range in the final 23 seconds, echoing the '13 Seconds' playoff loss to Kansas City the previous January.

Which network took over the Thanksgiving prime-time game in 2012?

NBC added the Thanksgiving night game to its Sunday Night Football package in 2012, opening with New England's 49-19 rout of the Jets; the two afternoon games belong to the league's other broadcast partners.