Many people look forward to the Thanksgiving holiday all year long, but for Detroit Lions fans, it is not all about eating turkey. Lions fans know that they always play Thanksgiving day. Many Lions fans either go to this game or watch it while they are with their families. This tradition makes Thanksgiving an even better holiday. This year, the game is the Detroit Lions vs the Chicago Bears.
The Lions have had this tradition going since 1934, playing almost every year except for a few years because of World War II. They originally started playing this game to increase attendance among fans and the very first Thanksgiving game hosted a sold-out crowd with 26,000 fans. This started the annual Thanksgiving game and is why people connect football to Thanksgiving. The Dallas Cowboys followed them in 1966 by creating an annual Thanksgiving game to try and boost attendance. In 2006, the NFL added a third prime-time Thanksgiving game which is not a certain team every year. These games have traditionally been played at 12:30 for the Lions game, 4:30 for the Cowboys game, and 8:20 for the prime time game. Another tradition of Thanksgiving football is the Turkey Leg MVP award introduced by John Madden in 1989. So for the games, the Most valuable players from the winning team, during this game, eat a turkey leg during an interview with reporters.
The Lions had an overall losing record of 37 wins, 44 losses, and 2 ties on Thanksgiving day. But this year could make it 38 wins because they have a current season record of 9-1, which is the first time since 1954. They play the division rival Chicago Bears and have a season record of 4-6. Last season the Lions went 1-1 against the Bears. The Lions offense has been great this season with a top three total yards per game average and number 1 scoring offense. The Bears have a bottom five total yards per game and the 11th worst scoring offense. For the Lions to continue winning, their offense needs to do as good as they have been and their defense needs to stop the Bear’s offense.
To some, this game is one of the most important things on Thanksgiving. As a Lions fan, freshman Paul Cascade said “It is a tradition in my family for all of the sports fans to sit around the living room and watch the Thanksgiving games, especially the Lions game. These next few years will be even more fun because of how much better they are now”. This is a big part of Thanksgiving and for many Lions fans it wouldn’t be the same without the game. Even though the Lions have a losing record on the Thanksgiving game we still think about it as one of the best regular season games of the year. This game usually has a very high attendance and sometimes sells out. Even fans who don’t go to the game still turn on the TV and are engaged in the game.
The Lions are working hard at practice to prepare for games, especially for their game against the Bears. As Thanksgiving is coming up, make sure to watch it at Ford Field or at your house around the TV when the Lions take on the Bears. Hopefully, this is our year to eat the turkey leg since this is our best season so far since 1954.
