It is a weird, greasy, wonderful tradition. You’ve got the turkey cooling on the counter, your uncle is already asleep in the recliner, and the TV is blaring the fight song of a team from Michigan. If you’ve ever wondered who played football on thanksgiving and why it feels like the same two teams are always on the screen, you aren't alone. It’s a quirk of history that has turned into a billion-dollar broadcast staple.
Honestly, it shouldn't work. By all logic, the NFL should rotate these hosting duties so every fan base gets a chance to eat stuffing while watching their home team. But tradition is a hell of a drug in the sports world.
Since 1934, the Detroit Lions have been the anchors of the morning slot. Then, in the mid-60s, the Dallas Cowboys decided they wanted a piece of the pie too. Fast forward to today, and we now have a triple-header that stretches from brunch until well after you've hit a carb-induced coma. But the "who" in this equation is more than just names on a jersey; it's a saga of marketing desperation, George Halas-level pettiness, and TV ratings that make the World Series look like a local access show.
The Detroit Lions: How a Radio Exec Saved a Franchise
George A. Richards was a guy who knew how to sell. In 1934, he bought the Portsmouth Spartans, moved them to Detroit, and renamed them the Lions. The problem? Nobody cared. Detroit was a baseball town, and the Tigers were the only show that mattered.
Richards needed a gimmick. He decided to schedule a game on Thanksgiving Day against the Chicago Bears. People thought he was crazy. Who wants to leave their family to go sit in a cold stadium on a holiday? Apparently, 26,000 people did. The Lions sold out the University of Detroit Stadium, and more importantly, Richards used his connections as a radio station owner to get the game broadcast across 94 stations nationwide.
The Lions lost that game 19-7, but they won the long game. Because that first broadcast was such a hit, the NFL basically gave Detroit a permanent lease on the holiday. Aside from a brief hiatus during World War II, the Lions have been the answer to who played football on thanksgiving every single year. It’s a bizarre birthright. Even when the team is 0-10, they are the main event on the fourth Thursday of November.
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Dallas Joins the Party (and Refuses to Leave)
If Detroit is the "traditional" host, Dallas is the "glamour" host. Tex Schramm, the legendary Cowboys GM, saw what Detroit was doing and wanted in. In 1966, the Cowboys were still a relatively young franchise looking to build a national following. Schramm figured that if people were already used to watching football on Thanksgiving, he could snag the afternoon slot and make the Cowboys "America’s Team."
The NFL was actually worried people wouldn't show up. They even guaranteed the Cowboys a certain amount of gate revenue just in case the stadium was empty. It wasn't. Over 80,000 fans showed up to see the Cowboys beat the Cleveland Browns.
There was one brief period in 1975 and 1977 where the NFL tried to switch things up. They gave the Thanksgiving slot to the St. Louis Cardinals (the football version, obviously) to try and spread the wealth. It was a disaster. The TV ratings tanked. The league realized that fans didn't just want "football"—they wanted the specific ritual of the Cowboys and the Lions. By 1978, the holiday was handed back to Dallas permanently.
The Modern Triple Header: Enter the Night Game
For a long time, it was just those two. Two games, six hours of coverage, done. But in 2006, the NFL realized they were leaving money on the table. People are still awake at 8:00 PM on Thanksgiving, and they are usually looking for an excuse to stop talking to their relatives.
The NFL Network launched a third "prime time" game. Unlike the Detroit and Dallas slots, this game doesn't have a fixed host. It rotates. This is where you see the bitter divisional rivalries. We’ve seen the Ravens vs. the Steelers, the Eagles vs. the Giants, and the infamous "Butt Fumble" game between the Jets and the Patriots.
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If you are looking at the 2024-2025 landscape, the rotation has become a high-stakes chess match for networks like NBC, CBS, and FOX. They fight over these slots because the Thanksgiving games regularly draw 30 to 40 million viewers. To put that in perspective, a "good" regular-season game usually gets maybe 15 to 20 million.
Who Played Football on Thanksgiving Most Often?
Aside from the big two, some teams have become "semi-regulars" because they are divisional rivals.
- The Chicago Bears: Because they are in the Lions' division, they’ve played more Thanksgiving games than almost anyone besides the hosts.
- The Green Bay Packers: Another frequent visitor to Detroit. The 1962 "Thanksgiving Day Massacre" where the Lions sacked Bart Starr 11 times is still a part of Michigan lore.
- The Washington Commanders: They are the most frequent opponent for the Dallas Cowboys on the holiday.
Why the "Same Old Teams" Actually Matters
There is a lot of complaining every year. "Why do we have to watch a 3-win Lions team?"
Here is the truth: it’s about the "inventory" of memories. Sports is one of the few things left in our culture that is truly synchronous. We all watch it at the exact same time. When John Madden started handing out turduckens in the 80s, it created a visual language for the holiday.
If you changed the teams every year, you’d lose that continuity. You wouldn't have the memories of Barry Sanders carving up defenses or Leon Lett’s infamous slide in the snow. It’s the consistency that makes it work. You know exactly when the game starts, you know what the uniforms look like, and you know exactly when to start carving the turkey based on the halftime show.
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The Turkey Leg Award and Other Weird Rituals
You can't talk about who played football on thanksgiving without mentioning the food. Specifically, the giant, greasy turkey legs handed out to the MVPs. This started with John Madden on CBS. He loved the idea of these massive athletes gnawing on a bird like they were at a Renaissance Fair.
It eventually evolved into the "Galloping Gobbler" trophy on FOX and various other iterations on NBC and CBS. It’s ridiculous. It’s messy. It’s exactly what the holiday is about. Players have gone on record saying that winning that turkey leg is genuinely one of the highlights of their season because it means they performed on the biggest stage of the year.
The College Factor
While the NFL dominates the day, we shouldn't forget that college football actually started the Thanksgiving tradition. In the late 1800s, the Yale-Princeton game was the biggest event of the year. In fact, for a long time, Thanksgiving was considered the unofficial start of the "bowl season." Today, most big college games (like the Egg Bowl between Mississippi State and Ole Miss) have shifted to the night of Thanksgiving or the following Friday to avoid being crushed by the NFL’s ratings juggernaut.
The Logistics of a Holiday Game
Playing on Thanksgiving is actually a massive pain for the players. They call it a "short week." They usually play on a Sunday, have a light practice Monday, a "walk-through" Tuesday, and then they are on a plane Wednesday.
It’s physically brutal. Recovery time is cut in half. However, the trade-off is that they get a "mini-bye" afterward. Once the Thanksgiving game is over, that team doesn't play again for 10 days. Most players will tell you they hate the Wednesday prep but love the Friday through Monday off-time.
Actionable Insights for the Next Thanksgiving Cycle
If you’re planning your holiday around the games, keep these logistical realities in mind to maximize your viewing:
- Check the TV schedule by network: Usually, the Lions game is on FOX (NFC) or CBS (AFC), and the Cowboys follow on the opposite network. The night game is almost always on NBC or a streaming partner like Amazon Prime.
- The "Home" Advantage is Real: Detroit and Dallas have a massive internal clock advantage. They are used to the short week; the visiting teams aren't. Betting or picking against the home teams on Thanksgiving is historically risky.
- Sync Your Meal to Halftime: The Detroit game (the early window) usually goes into halftime around 2:00 PM EST. This is the "golden window" for serving dinner if you don't want to miss a single snap of the second half.
- Watch the Injury Report: Because of the short four-day turnaround, players with "minor" Sunday injuries almost always sit out on Thanksgiving. If a star player is limping on Monday, don't expect to see them in the starting lineup on Thursday.
- Stream with Caution: Holiday internet traffic is peak. If you are streaming the game via an app, expect a 30-60 second delay. If you want to avoid spoilers from your family's group chat, put your phone face down.
The tradition of who played football on thanksgiving isn't going anywhere. The NFL has toyed with the idea of moving the games, but the backlash would be nuclear. It is one of the few things in American life that remains stubbornly, predictably the same. Whether the Lions are Super Bowl contenders or basement dwellers, they will be there at 12:30 PM, and we will be there watching them.