Turkey. Stuffing. Green bean casserole. Fighting with your uncle about college football. Watching the Lions and Cowboys play football. These are the things that Thanksgiving is all about, but how did it get that way?
Well, see, green bean casserole was created by Campbell's Soup in 1955 by ... oh, wait, I'm not writing about the history of green bean casserole. I'm writing about the history of football on Thanksgiving. Why does it happen? Why do the same two teams play every year?
Let's talk about the NFL's history with Thanksgiving Day games, from how they began to the most memorable moments over the years, as well as looking at this year's Thanksgiving schedule.
How Thanksgiving football started and why the NFL never changed it
The tradition of football games being played on Thanksgiving Day pre-dates the NFL by a number of years, witht the first Thanksgiving game happening in 1876, when Yale and Princeton met in college football action. The University of Michigan also added Thanksgiving games in 1885.
Even before there was an NFL, other professional leagues adopted the idea of Thanksgiving football, using the event as a tentpole to build marquee matchups around. The Allegheny Athletic Association began playing Thanksgiving Day games in the 1890s, while the National Football League — no relation to the current one — played its championship game on Thanksgiving in 1902.
The NFL began life as the Ohio League, with many Ohio League teams playing their biggest matchups on Thanksgiving Day. The tradition would continue off and on for years.
Why do the Lions play on Thanksgiving? The origin of the NFL’s oldest holiday tradition
But how did the Lions wind up being the team that got the annual Thanksgiving game? Well, plenty of other teams played on Thanksgiving during the 1920s and 1930s, but for the Lions, things stuck in large part because team owner George A. Richards also owned the Detroit affiliate of the major radio network Blue Network, so he was able to get the game broadcast nationwide, increasing the attention on the game. When the NFL decided in 1953 to limit Thanksgiving to just one game, the Lions — who'd been hosting Thanksgiving Day games since 1934 — made sense.
Why do the Cowboys play on Thanksgiving?
So, how did the Cowboys get the second Thanksgiving Day game? Well...they volunteered.
The NFL wanted a second Thanksgiving game and Cowboys president Tex Schramm understood the marketing potential of being the host of that game. Dallas agreed to host in 1966 on the condition they were guaranteed a 1967 Thanksgiving game. Attendance for that first game was huge, and the Thanksgiving game stayed in Dallas, minus two exceptions, as the St. Louis Cardinals hosted in 1975 and 1977 after complaints that Dallas getting the game every year was unfair.
But since 1978, Dallas has hosted on Thanksgiving every year, something that should continue to be a thing.
When did the NFL add a Thanksgiving night game? How the primetime slot reshaped the holiday
For years, you watched the two afternoon games and then you collapsed on the couch and fell into a tryptophan coma, but in 2006 the league decided to give a third team a chance to host. This time, though, the host wasn't going to be the same team every year, but instead it would essentially just be a normal Thursday night game that happened to be on Thanksgiving.
Of course, the NFL wants to make sure the primetime Thanksgiving Day game is a good one, so we've seen plenty of rivalry games slotted in there, including this year's game between the Bengals and Ravens.
2025 NFL Thanksgiving schedule
So, what are the Thanksgiving Day games for 2025? Here's the schedule for this year's action:
Game | Time | Network |
|---|---|---|
Packers at Lions | 1:00 p.m. ET | FOX |
Chiefs at Cowboys | 4:30 p.m. ET | CBS |
Bengals at Ravens | 8:20 p.m. ET | NBC |
The most memorable Thanksgiving football moment
5. O.J. Simpson's single-game rushing record
While a few players have since surpassed him, Bills running back O.J. Simpson rushed for 273 yards on Thanksgiving Day against the Lions back in 1976. Simpson would go to...well...be O.J. Simpson, which makes a lot of people forget just how good he was at playing football.
4. Mike Tomlin is out on the field
What was Mike Tomlin thinking? In the 2013 Thanksgiving game between the Steelers and Ravens, Ravens kick returner Jacoby Jones was on his way to the house when Tomlin stepped a little too far out on to the field, slowing Jones down as he had to avoid Tomlin's foot. That allowed the Steelers to catch up and make the tackle. It remains one of the strangest moments in Tomlin's entire career.
3. Leon Lett lets down the Cowboys
It was a snowy afternoon in Dallas when the Dolphins came to town in 1993. Dallas held a 14-13 lead late in the game, but Miami kicker Pete Stoyanovich was lined up for a 40-yard field goal attempt. Jimmie Jones came across to block the kick, seemingly ending the game. Because no Dallas player touched the ball after the block, it would have been dead and the Cowboys would have won, but then Leon Lett kicked the ball, making it live. Miami recovered and kicked a game-winning field goal.
2. Butt Fumble!
This one needs no introduction, right? In 2012, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez ran into his own lineman's...well...butt. Sanchez dropped the ball and New England's Steve Gregory picked the ball up and ran it back for a score.
1. Peyton Manning's six touchdown passes
One of the all-time great quarterbacks had one of his best days on Thanksgiving in 2004, throwing six touchdown passes to demolish the Lions 41-9. Manning tied the record for touchdown passes on Thanksgiving, originally set by Bob Griese in 1977.
Will the NFL ever remove the Lions or Cowboys from Thanksgiving?
No.
I mean, it's probably that simple, right? The NFL's addition of a third game solves the issue of "making sure there's a good Thanksgiving game even if the Cowboys and Lions suck," and there's simply too much tradition behind Detroit and Dallas hosting for the league to mess with that. Yes, the NFL has made some bad scheduling decisions over the years — including the decision to introduce a Black Friday game — but there's no reason to think it will mess with this.