NFL Thanksgiving Games: History, traditions and best moments

In 2013, Leon Lett and other players reflected on the rare snowstorm and subsequent botched play that defined the 1993 Thanksgiving game between the Cowboys and Dolphins. (2:12)

Thanksgiving Day to sports fans is as much about football as it is about the traditional turkey dinner. From high school football in the morning to watching the afternoon game on TV as dinner starts, this tradition is as old as time. Well, almost as old as time.

The Detroit Lions have played at home on Thanksgiving every year since 1934 - except when games were paused from 1939 to 1944 during World War II. The annual holiday tradition expanded to add a home game for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1960s. These franchises - and their fans - only know football on Thanksgiving. In 2006, the NFL added a third game with no specific host team to the prime-time window.

The 2023 Thanksgiving Day schedule:

So why do the Lions and Cowboys always play at home on Thanksgiving? What does the day look like for the coaches, players, families and fans who put their holiday celebrations on pause to take part? And how many thousands of pounds of food is served at the stadium? We asked NFL Nation reporters Todd Archer and Eric Woodyard to explain the history.

We have also laid out the Thanksgiving stats and numbers you should know and even took a journey back in time to explore the biggest and best moments on the turkey day stage. (Note: This article was originally posted in November 2021 and has been updated for 2023.)

How the Thanksgiving tradition began

The Lions were first up to host games every year: In 1934, Lions owner G.A. Richards scheduled a holiday matchup between the Lions and the Bears. Earlier that year Richards had purchased the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans football team and moved it to the Motor City, renaming it the Detroit Lions. The defending back-to-back world champion Bears beat the Lions 19-16 in front of 26,000 at the University of Detroit Stadium on Nov. 29, 1934.

Now, more than eight decades later, Thanksgiving football has become a staple in Detroit, with the Lions going 37-44-2 in the annual holiday classic. - Woodyard

Thirty-two years later, the Cowboys joined as a home team: The Cowboys first played on Thanksgiving in 1966, beating the Cleveland Browns 26-14 at the Cotton Bowl. General manager Tex Schramm wanted more national publicity for the Cowboys - this was before they were known as America's Team - and thought the holiday game made perfect sense. The NFL was a bit worried, however, and guaranteed the Cowboys a certain amount of gate revenue. A crowd of 80,259 showed up and a tradition was born. The Cowboys have played on every Thanksgiving Day since - except in 1975 and 1977.

Why didn't the Cowboys play on Thanksgiving those two years? Prior to the 1975 season, then-commissioner Pete Rozelle wanted to see if the St. Louis Cardinals could build their popularity under coach Don Coryell, whose teams were nicknamed the Cardiac Kids because of their exciting finishes. So he scheduled them to host Thanksgiving games in 1975 and 1977. The Cardinals lost both games decidedly, and Rozelle went back to Schramm to ask whether the Cowboys would take the Thanksgiving game back.

"It was a dud in St. Louis," Schramm said in 1988 to the Chicago Tribune. "Pete asked if we'd take it back. I said only if we get it permanently. It's something you have to build as a tradition. He said, 'It's yours forever.'" - Archer

Thanksgiving records

Given how long the series has lasted, it's not a surprise that the Lions have the most wins and losses on Thanksgiving Day. But two other teams that frequent the holiday tradition are the Bears and Packers.

What's it like to play on Thanksgiving?

Cowboys guard Zack Martin has grown accustomed to playing games on "Monday Night Football" and "Sunday Night Football," but there's something different about playing on Thanksgiving.

Martin grew up in Indianapolis and starred at Notre Dame before the Cowboys made him a first-round pick in 2014, and he would always watch the Lions play the early game and the Cowboys play later on the holiday.

"It may be different to the outside world, but for us I think it's different because it's just that tradition that you know the Cowboys play on Thanksgiving," Martin said. "I didn't grow up a Cowboys fan, but I always knew they played on Thanksgiving, so coming down here, being part of that is pretty cool."

After the game, the Martins will eat at AT&T Stadium before returning home to relax. Their traditional Thanksgiving meal comes on Friday.

"For me, [the best part of the game] is just being able to have my family and everyone down for Thanksgiving," Martin said. "Normally teams would miss that because they're practicing during the week, but we get to play and then have some time with family and friends." - Archer

Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is gearing up to play in his third NFL Thanksgiving game with the team, though to him the experience is not so unusual because he would always have at least a practice on the holiday in high school.

Still, playing Thanksgiving in the NFL is a big tradition - and one he has embraced.

"We always play on Thanksgiving, but I think it's kind of nice because if you have a game on Sunday, you've got to practice on Thursdays, which kind of runs until 5 o'clock, but if you have a game, we have a game at 12:30, we play and then after that we're free and we can hang out with family the rest of the day. You don't have to worry about getting up the next day, so I like the tradition," St. Brown told ESPN.

"It's fun and everyone's tuned in on Thanksgiving. Everyone is watching football. I remember as a kid, watching Thanksgiving football because you're out eating with friends and then you just throw football on." - Woodyard

How do players celebrate Thanksgiving?

Celebrations generally don't happen until the next day, when Lions players can celebrate with their families. Lomas Brown, former Lions Pro Bowl OT (1985-95), says he "couldn't wait until after the game was over, man."

"Because look, it wasn't just that Thursday night, at least for me, I went on an eating binge Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I would put on weight over the holiday because a brother would throw down because you didn't have no more responsibility after that game until next week. So, it was almost like another little open week, and that's the way we kind of looked at it, too." - Woodyard

For the Cowboys, most players with families will also celebrate on Friday. With a late-afternoon kickoff, most of the time players will not get back to their homes until later in the evening, far too late for such a heavy meal. - Archer

Teams give back to community

The Cowboys open the Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign kickoff at halftime of every Thanksgiving game. Since 1997, nearly $3 billion has been raised and aiding the Salvation Army is a long-standing priority for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Jerry, along with his daughter Charlotte, have led multiple initiatives year-round with the Salvation Army , from raising money with the 50/50 raffle at games to holiday initiatives that benefit local communities.

In most years, Cowboys players will visit a Salvation Army shelter in Dallas or Fort Worth and feed early Thanksgiving Day meals to those in need, although that practice was put on hold in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic before being restarted in 2022.

In the past, players often were joined by their wives and children. Former tight end Jason Witten had his two sons and two daughters participated in handing out meals during his career with the Cowboys.

"I just try to tell [my kids], 'Look, you're going to have an opportunity to give back to people that are less fortunate,'" Witten said a few years ago. "They do it with a happy heart. I think they like seeing those fans and being able to hand out that food." - Archer

The Lions also give back to the community during Thanksgiving week, distributing 2,500 meal kits with whole turkeys at six different locations throughout Metro Detroit.

Each kit contains approximately 26 pounds of food (turkey, vegetables, stuffing, potatoes, macaroni and cheese, gravy, etc.) and will be distributed to about 56,000 people. Players and other volunteers helped assemble the kits. - Woodyard

What are some season-ticket holder traditions?

There is a tailgating group of more than 100 die-hard Lions fans who gather bright and early at 9 a.m., typically in the parking lot of Detroit's Eastern Market. Usually, they cook about four turkeys and each signs up to bring a side dish. The dishes are named based on the team the Lions are facing - for example, Bears Stew and Mac-And-Not-Packer-Cheese.

Megan Stefanski, a lifelong Lions fan and longtime season-ticket holder, helps organize the festivities. She makes a five-hour drive from Goetzville, Michigan - located in the Upper Peninsula - to Detroit.

Mark "Pilgrim" Mullins has been a season-ticket holder since 1991 and dresses up yearly as a pilgrim for each Thanksgiving Day game with his daughter, Mandie, accompanying him also in costume.