NFL Thanksgiving: Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys uphold league’s yearly tradition on US holiday

A brief history of the NFL’s long tradition of playing Thanksgiving football; Watch Thursday Night’s Triple Headline – Bills @ Lions, Giants @ Cowboys and Patriots @ Vikings – live on Sky Sports NFL from 5:30 pm Thursday.

Touchdowns, traditions and roast turkey! Welcome to Thanksgiving in the NFL.

The first time American football was played on Thanksgiving Day was back in 1876, shortly after the sport was born and the first NFL game was played in 1920, the year the league was launched.

In that first Thanksgiving game, the Decatur Staleys faced the Chicago Tigers and the Staleys won the “thriller” 6-0. Those same Staleys became the franchise we now know as the Chicago Bears and the Tigers folded at the end. that season.

Since then, annual Thanksgiving games have become a tradition, although not necessarily in Chicago. No team in the NFL has played more Turkey Day than the Detroit Lions, who have participated 82 times with a 37-43-2 record during that period. The Dallas Cowboys follow the best with 54 games and a 31-22-1 comeback. And this year the couple will again become the hostess of the holiday.

The Lions (4-6) welcome the Buffalo Bills (7-3) into town for the second time in four days after the Bills used Lions Ford Field as their “home” stadium for Sunday’s victory over ” The Cleveland Browns required a move after a severe snowstorm in Buffalo. Meanwhile, the Cowboys (7-3) take on the New York Giants (7-3) in the NFC East divisional showdown.

Since 2006, a third prime-time game has been added on Thanksgiving (with the exception of 2020, when the Covid outbreak forced the postponement of a game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers). This year’s celebration will culminate in a mouth-watering matchup between the Minnesota Vikings (8-2) and the New England Patriots (6-4).

Here we will introduce you to this year’s Triple Header, as well as a brief history of Turkey Day football traditions…

Back in 1934, Detroit radio station owner George A. Richards had just bought the then Portsmouth Spartans, founded five years earlier, before deciding to move the team to Detroit.

But the crowds did not initially flock to watch the movement. College football and baseball tended to dominate the sports landscape at the time, and the Lions were left to play catch-up with the Tigers, who had just won the 1934 American League pennant.