What NFL Teams Play on Thanksgiving?
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It’s time to start planning your Thanksgiving Day football watching schedule! Here’s a look at which NFL teams will be playing on Turkey Day this year.
The History of Thanksgiving Football
The Detroit Lions have hosted a game on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1934. The Lions are not the only team to have played on Thanksgiving, but they are the only team to have played every year since the tradition began. The Lions are usually joined by two other NFL teams, who play each other in the early and late games.
The First Thanksgiving Football Game
The first Thanksgiving football game was played on November 29, 1876, just two days after the holiday, between Yale and Princeton. The game was created as a way to entertain spectators who were unable to travel home for the holiday. It was so popular that it became an annual tradition.
In the early years of Thanksgiving football, games were occasionally played on other days of the week. However, by the early 1900s, all games were moved to Thanksgiving Day. This tradition continued until 1939 when the NFL decided to move some of the games to Sunday in order to increase attendance.
The first NFL game on Thanksgiving was played in Detroit in 1934 between the Lions and the Chicago Bears. The Lions have hosted a Thanksgiving game every year since then with the exception of four years during World War II. In 1966, Dallas joined Detroit as another team that always plays on Thanksgiving. In 2006, a third team was added to the list when the NFL decided that every year there would be a primetime Thursday night game on Thanksgiving in addition to the traditional afternoon games.
The First NFL Thanksgiving Game
The first NFL Thanksgiving game was played in 1920, between the Detroit Heralds and the Hammond Pros. The game was played on Thanksgiving Day, and ended in a scoreless tie. In the following years, several other teams would play games on Thanksgiving, including the Chicago Bears, the Chicago Cardinals, and the New York Giants.
It wasn’t until 1934 that the first official NFL Thanksgiving game was held, between the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears. The Lions won that game, by a score of 19-16. The Lions have gone on to play on Thanksgiving every year since, with the exception of 1939-1944 (during World War II). They are currently tied with the Dallas Cowboys for the most Thanksgiving appearances, with 61 games each.
The Cowboys joined the Lions as annual Thanksgiving hosts in 1966, when they began playing yearly home games on Turkey Day. Since then, three other teams have also hosted games on Thanksgiving: The Miami Dolphins (1966-1969), the Minnesota Vikings (1970), and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1977).
Current NFL Teams That Play on Thanksgiving
Every year, on the fourth Thursday of November, Americans sit down with their families to enjoy a large turkey dinner. What many people don’t know is that this time-honored tradition of eating turkey on Thanksgiving actually has its roots in football. That’s right, NFL teams have been playing on Thanksgiving Day since the league’s inception in 1920. And, while the teams may have changed over the years, the tradition of playing football on Thanksgiving has remained. So, which NFL teams currently play on Thanksgiving?
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lionsurrently play on Thanksgiving every year. They are one of three teams that do, along with the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers. The Lions have been playing on Thanksgiving since 1934, making them the longest-tenured team to do so.
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys have played on Thanksgiving Day a record 29 times since they began playing in the NFL in 1960. The Cowboys have been a part of Thanksgiving football ever since their first season when they lost to the Detroit Lions, 26-14. Dallas has played every Thanksgiving since 1966, with the exception of 1975 and 1977 when they could not participate due to scheduling conflicts with other teams. The Cowboys have a storied history on Thanksgiving, and their games are often some of the most watched and anticipated games of the NFL season.
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, dating back to 1919, and is the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team in the United States. Home games have been played at Lambeau Field since 1957.
The Packers are the last of the “small town teams” that were common in the NFL during the league’s early days of 1920–1930. Founded in 1919 by Earl “Curly” Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun, the franchise traces its lineage to other semi-professional teams in Green Bay dating back to 1896. Between 1919 and 1920, the Packers competed against other semi-pro clubs from around Wisconsin and Michigan. They joined the American Professional Football Association (APFA), now known as the National Football League (NFL), in 1921. Although Green Bay is by far the smallest major league professional sports market in North America, Forbes ranked the Packers as the world’s 26th most valuable sports franchise in 2016, with a value of $2.35 billion.
College Football Teams That Play on Thanksgiving
The NFL has had a monopoly on playing games on Thanksgiving for as long as most of us can remember. But did you know that there are actually college football teams that also play on the holiday? It’s true! And, in recent years, some of these games have been televised nationally. Here’s a look at some of the college teams that have played on Thanksgiving in recent years.
football is one of the most popular sports in the United States, and Thanksgiving is one of the most popular holidays. So it’s no surprise that many college football teams play on Thanksgiving Day.
The Army-Navy game is perhaps the most famous Thanksgiving Day football game. It began in 1890 and is usually held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Army and Navy are two of the most prestigious military academies in the country, and their rivalry is one of the oldest and most storied in college football.
Other popular college football games on Thanksgiving Day include the Harvard-Yale game (begun in 1852), the Detroit Lions-Minnesota Vikings NFL game (begun in 1934), and the Dallas Cowboys-Washington Redskins NFL game (begun in 1966).
Michigan vs. Ohio State
The game is always played on Thanksgiving Day and is traditionally the final game of the regular season for both teams. The winner of the Michigan–Ohio State game goes on to compete in the Big Ten Conference Championship Game, and if they win that, they may have a shot at playing in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
