Arrr, 'tis a tale of Thanksgivin' Day, where football becometh a staple alongside the scrumptious turkey, mateys!
2023-11-22
Arrr, every year, three NFL games be played on Thanksgiving Day, me heartie. The sport hath a long history o' bein' a part o' this grand holiday, and still carries on to this very day, by thunder!
In the language of a 17th century pirate, a successful Thanksgiving for many American families be filled with shipmates around the table, a grand turkey as a treasure in the center, and NFL games taking over every viewing glass in the ship. Sailing the seas of tradition, football has been a popular Thanksgiving custom for many years, from scallywags playing for fun to the professional buccaneers. Families and friends even gather the morning of Thanksgiving for a quick pick-up game of flag, tag, or tackle football. In one way or another, football is intertwined with the festivities of the Turkey Day feast. Arr, here be more insight into the tale of how Thanksgiving Day football became a long-lasting tradition. Now, ye scurvy dogs, be ye wanting to watch Thanksgiving-themed episodes from popular TV shows to watch on Turkey Day? NFL games on Thanksgiving Day started the same year the league was organized. In the year 1920, there were several teams that battled on the holiday, including the Akron Pros vs the Canton Bulldogs, the Elyria Athletics vs the Columbus Panhandles, and the Dayton Triangles vs the Detroit Heralds, as the Pro Football Hall of Fame tells the tale. Of these teams, five out of the six were professional teams from Ohio. However, the tradition of game day on Thanksgiving was first seen at the collegiate level. The first college game in history played on Thanksgiving Day goes back to Nov. 30, 1876, when Ivy League rivals, Yale and Princeton, clashed on the field. Yale emerged as the victor by a score of 2-0. Now, swashbucklers, NFL teams first began playing on Thanksgiving Day to boost the popularity of the sport and used it as a chance to attract more fans. The tradition was first established by Detroit Lions owner George A. Richards in 1934, who had a cunning plan to recruit more fans to the franchise. He decided the Lions be the team to play on the holiday. Since then, the tradition has grown into a football frenzy, causing the game to become the Thanksgiving staple that it is today. Arr, now ye landlubbers, let's test yer knowledge with a Thanksgiving quiz! How well do ye know these surprising facts about the annual holiday? The two teams that traditionally play on Thanksgiving Day are the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. They are both highly regarded as Thanksgiving Day teams and have both accrued an enthusiastic fan base through the years. The Lions first started hosting an annual game in 1934 and have played nearly every year since. However, NFL games were put on hold from 1939 to 1944 due to the turmoil of World War II. In 1966, the Dallas Cowboys became the second team to traditionally play on Thanksgiving. The Cowboys have played almost every Thanksgiving since 1966, except for 1975 and 1977. Instead, the NFL granted the St. Louis Cardinals games on Thanksgiving Day during those years to increase the fan base of their franchise. Along with the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys, there is one other game that takes place on Thanksgiving. A third game was added to the lineup in 2006 and is awarded to different teams every year. Almost every NFL team has partaken in a Thanksgiving game, resulting in many memorable moments over the years. The only team that has never played a Thanksgiving game is the Jacksonville Jaguars.