Comments on: Why Do The Lions & Cowboys Always Play On Thanksgiving?

By: Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:43:31 +0000

While the Lions deserve to be remembered as the team that started Thanksgiving football–and what man forced to spend the day at inlaws hasn’t thanked them for it?–it’s not a tradition that should continue. A blowout snoozer every year is no favor to fans. I would suggest that the two host teams each Turkey Day should be the two previous Super Bowl teams. Imagine how much more interesting it would be to see Pittsburgh and Arizona hosting the games…than two mediocre also-rans (let’s be honest, Dallas only won big because they played the Raiders). Football on Thanksgiving is awesome…always seeing Detroit and the Yawnboys…not so much.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:27:46 +0000

Maybe it’s just my dim, tryptophan-impaired memory, but I don’t recall anyone complaining about Detroit’s annual Thanksgiving game when it meant the nation got to watch Billy Sims or Barry Sanders. And I don’t recall anyone complaining about watching Troy Aikman every year without having a satellite dish.

By: mpcincal

mpcincal — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:06:12 +0000

I wish I could remember where I read it, but in a sports story an NFL executive explained how the Lions and Cowboys had both agreed to continue to host the Thanksgiving Day games in the 1960s when the idea of hosting a game on the holiday wasn’t really an attractive one to most owners.

Then, years later when TV got bigger and everyone started seeing the advantage of playing on Thanksgiving, suggestions were made to rotate the host teams, but the league said since the Lions and Cowboys agreed to do it as a favor to the league when it wasn’t popular to do so, they would have the privilege as long as they liked.

By: hyacinth

hyacinth — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:17:49 +0000

I can’t even make fun of the Lions anymore… since they beat the Browns last week!!! :-(

By: OkieMelissa

OkieMelissa — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:01:57 +0000

omg, I think the lion and turkey in the top picture are adorable:)

and you gotta hand it to Detroit, better season than last (…)

By: tinkerschnitzel

tinkerschnitzel — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:26:32 +0000

I love my Cowboys, especially when they play the Redskins on Thanksgiving. It won’t be so this year, but I will still be watching.