The 1993Thanksgiving game between the Cowboys and Dolphins was defined by a rare snowstorm and a bungled play. 2 minutes later. Thanksgiving Day to sports fans is just as important as the turkey dinner. The tradition of watching high school football in the morning is as old as time. It's as old as time. The Detroit Lions have played on Thanksgiving every year since 1934, except for when the games were stopped during World War II. The home game for the Dallas Cowboys was added in the 1960s. Fans of these teams only know football on Thanksgiving. There were three games added to the prime-time window in 2006 with no host team. The schedule for Thanksgiving Day this year. The Lions and Cowboys play each other on Thanksgiving. What does the day look like for the people who put their holiday celebrations on hold? There is a lot of food at the stadium. The reporters were asked to explain the history. We took a journey back in time to explore the biggest and best moments on the turkey day stage, as well as laying out the Thanksgiving statistics and numbers you should know. Jump to:
Thanksgiving records | By the numbers
Best moments in Thanksgiving history The Lions hosted their first game in 1934 against the Bears. The Detroit Lions football team was purchased by Richards earlier in the year and renamed. The Bears, the defending back-to-back world champion, defeated the Lions 19-16 in front of a large crowd at the University of Detroit Stadium. Thanksgiving has become a tradition in Detroit with the Lions going 37-42-2 in the holiday classic. The Cowboys joined as a home team in 1966 and played their first game on Thanksgiving the following year. The holiday game made perfect sense because the general manager wanted more publicity for the Cowboys. The Cowboys received a certain amount of gate revenue from the league. There were 80,259 fans who showed up. The Cowboys haven't played on Thanksgiving Day in 37 years. The Cowboys played on Thanksgiving two years in a row. Pete Rozelle wanted to see if the St. Louis Cards could build their popularity under coach Don Coryell, who had teams nicknamed the Cardiac Kids because of their exciting endings. The Cowboys took the Thanksgiving game back after the Cards lost two games in a row. In 1988 he said it was a dud in St. Louis. Pete asked if we would return it. Only if we get it permanently. You have to make it a tradition. He said it would be yours forever. The Lions have won more on Thanksgiving Day than any other team. The Bears and Packers are two other teams that have holiday traditions. Since joining the Cowboys, the running back has played on Thanksgiving only once. He doesn't have any favorites. "My favorite thing about playing on Thanksgiving is we're the only team playing and everyone is watching us," he said. Everyone is paying attention. We have the stage so we just have to do our business. When he scored a touchdown in the game against Washington, he threw the quarterback into the red kettle. "I don't think it was planned in advance," he stated. It was a spur of the moment decision. The Thanksgiving game is seen by players as a gauge for how the season is going or how it will end. He said that the Thanksgiving Day game marked the point of the season. If you want to be a playoff team, you're going to have to get into the home stretch or the stretch to where you want to be. If you want to make noise in the playoffs, you have to play better. If you are at that point in the season, everything should be going your way. Lions players can celebrate with their families on the following day. He couldn't wait until after the game was over. I went on an eating binge Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I would put on a lot of weight over the holiday because my brother would throw down if you didn't take care of him after the game. It was almost like another little open week for us. Most players with families will celebrate on Friday. Most of the time players won't get back to their homes until later in the evening, far too late for a large meal. The Pro Bowl always does a Friday dinner. "My brother is on the Raiders, so we've got a big group coming." While the Lions don't hold any traditions for the holiday game, Brown said that former coach Wayne Fontes put more emphasis on the contest throughout the season, even though he didn't hold any traditions for the holiday game. That was taken to heart by the players. When the schedule was released, Brown looked at Thanksgiving first. If we had a Monday Night Football game, then the second thing I looked at was who we were playing on Thanksgiving. When I looked at the schedule, that was the order. We used to emphasize that Thanksgiving was the most important day of the year. We told the young boys that we don't lose on Thanksgiving. The game we said we had to win was that one. This week, everything you need.
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How the Thanksgiving tradition began
Thanksgiving records
Team W L T Detroit Lions 37 42 2 Dallas Cowboys 31 21 1 Chicago Bears 19 15 2 Green Bay Packers 14 14 2 What's it like to play on Thanksgiving?
How do players celebrate Thanksgiving?
Are there any team traditions?
Every Thanksgiving game, the Cowboys open the Red Kettle campaign. Since 1997, the Salvation Army has received nearly $3 billion in donations. The Salvation Army has several initiatives led by Jerry and his daughter Charlotte.
The practice of Cowboys players visiting a Salvation Army shelter in Dallas or Fort Worth to feed those in need has been put on hold because of the swine flu.
Players used to have their wives and children with them. During his career with the Cowboys, Witten had his sons and daughters give out meals.
Witten told his children that they would have an opportunity to give back to people who are less fortunate. They do it with joy. They like seeing the fans and being able to give out food.
A group of Lions fans gather in the Eastern Market parking lot at 9 a.m. to tailgate before the game. They cook about four turkeys and each of them brings a dish. The dishes are named after the teams the Lions are facing.
Megan is a long time Lions fan and a season ticket holder. She drives five hours from Goetzville, Michigan to Detroit.
Each Thanksgiving day, Mark "Pilgrim" Mullins and his daughter, Mandie, accompany him in costume as a pilgrim for the game.
He said that they are known as the pilgrims. It's my 30th anniversary of dressing as the pilgrim and I have souvenirs from all my friends. He has changed his costume every year since he moved to Ford Field. He goes to the tailgates with his friend.
The goal was to dress like a pilgrim and get on TV. All of the people in my section were like, "Hey, big guy, you're going to be the pilgrim again?" I guess I should.
Roger Staubach may be the most famous Cowboys season- ticket holder.
Captain America holds an annual Turkey Bowl game on the day before Thanksgiving. He plans to play after the game takes a year off because of COVID-19.
Staubach sways a lot of people. McCarthy had to catch his breath as he saw the quarterback as he entered The Star.
McCarthy, a native of Pittsburgh, turned his attention to the media. I'm not sure what to think. I'm just thinking about the Super Bowls.
The night before Thanksgiving is not a team dinner for the Cowboys, but turkey and all the other ingredients are available for the players to use if they so choose. A lot of the players eat a steak, chicken, fish or pasta before the game. It's wise that the players don't eat like that because most people do.
Some people think the Lions don't have a Thanksgiving dinner. Men prefer to eat at home with their family. The Lions will serve traditional Thanksgiving fare to their players the day before the game.
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Most of their players are similar to the Joneses. On the Friday after the Cowboys game, they have a full Thanksgiving meal. The mothers of Jerry and Gene Jones have passed down their recipes for a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
Duck, dressing and sweet potatoes are family recipes.
A traditional Thanksgiving Day meal is served for all of the Cowboys' suite holders, as well as those with access to the club areas and the press box at AT&T Stadium.
The food that will be served this year is listed here.
A lot of turkey.
7,600 pounds of cheese from the Cowboys.
4,640 lbs of cornbread.
A lot of ham.
A lot of potato puree.
A large amount of cranberry sauce.
175 gallons of cream for dessert.
The day will start at 3 a.m. at Ford Field. To make sure everything is ready for the start of the game. Fans in the stadium will be able to buy turkey legs, loaded sweet potatoes and Bourbon-spiked cider. Suites serve more extensive Thanksgiving meals.
There is a breakdown of food by the pound.
A lot of turkey.
There are 1000 turkey legs.
There are 2500 slices of pie.
70 gallons of gravy.
A large amount of cranberry sauce.
25 gallons of sauce.
A lot of mashed potatoes.
A lot of green beans.
Corn is on the cob.
A lot of stuffing.
The number of teams that won't play on Thanksgiving.
There are no winning teams on Thanksgiving.
Bob Griese scored the most touchdown in a Thanksgiving game.
Since the merger, Thanksgiving Day has been blanked. The Cowboys blanked the Miami Dolphins in 1999.
The most sacks on Thanksgiving are held by Ansah.
Calvin Johnson holds the most career receiving touchdown records.
The most career touchdown passes on Thanksgiving have been held by former Cowboys and Lions quarterbacks.
The most receiving yards on Thanksgiving have been held by Witten.
Emmitt Smith holds the record for most career rushing yards on Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving, Smith has 13 rushing touchdown.
Stafford holds the record for most career passing yards on Thanksgiving.
Clint Longley took over for Roger Staubach, who was knocked out by a blow to the head. With 28 seconds left, Longley threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Drew Pearson to give Dallas the win.
The Bears overcame a 17-3 deficit to defeat the Lions in overtime. The OT period was instituted in 1974.
The @ChicagoBears tied the game on the final play of regulation.Then on the first play of overtime...
(Nov. 27, 1980 - Thanksgiving) #DETvsCHI pic.twitter.com/kta4Aq5uDA
— NFL Throwback (@nflthrowback) November 11, 2018
Lawrence Taylor returned a 97-yard pick-six for a touchdown.
He collapsed the pocket all day. Then, in the fourth quarter, he scored the game's only touchdown.It's hard for a defensive player to leave as big of an imprint on a game as Lawrence Taylor did in this Thanksgiving clash with the Lions.
(Nov. 25, 1982) @Giants @LT_56 pic.twitter.com/G3Jswhynxm
— NFL Throwback (@nflthrowback) November 23, 2018
Leon Lett was trying to recover a blocked field goal. The ball was recovered by the Dolphins at the 2- yard line. The next field goal attempt by Miami was a winner.
The Bears were defeated by the Lions 55-20, with Barry Sanders running for 167 yards and three touchdown.
His first big run of the fourth quarter didn't end so well.
So what did @BarrySanders do?
Bust another big run. (Thanksgiving, 1995) @Lions pic.twitter.com/F0xInVN2PK
— NFL Throwback (@nflthrowback) November 22, 2018
In the Vikings win over the Cowboys, Randy Moss had only three catches, but he scored three times. The three catches were made. There were three scores. 163 feet.
Three catches. Three TDs. 163 yards.
The Cowboys passed on @RandyMoss in the draft.
So when he took the field in Dallas on Thanksgiving of his rookie year, he ripped them up. (Nov. 26, 1998) @Vikings pic.twitter.com/3chjj0l8tp
— NFL Throwback (@nflthrowback) November 22, 2018
In the Colts win over the Lions, Manning threw six touchdown passes, tying Bob Griese for the most on Thanksgiving Day.
That time Peyton threw more touchdowns (6) than incompletions (5) on Thanksgiving. (Nov. 25, 2004)
📺: @ProFootballHOF Enshrinement Week -- Aug. 5-8 on @NFLNetwork pic.twitter.com/nEIOR4og6K
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Brady had a perfect passer rating. Brady threw 21 of 27 passes for 341 yards and four touchdown in the victory. Brady threw three touchdown passes, two to Deion Branch and one to Wes Welker, in a span of 13 minutes, 30 seconds in the third quarter as the Pats came back from a 17 point deficit.
There is a play that will never be forgotten. The Jets quarterback fumbled the ball after running into his teammate during the game. The Butt Fumble is also known as.
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